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- CRITICS' CHOICE, Page 11
-
- TELEVISION
-
- GORE VIDAL'S BILLY THE KID (TNT, May 10, 8 p.m. EDT). Turns
- out he wasn't such a bad kid after all. The author of Burr and
- Lincoln re-examines the legendary Western outlaw (Val Kilmer)
- in a made-for-cable movie.
-
- RAY CHARLES IN CONCERT WITH THE NEW YORK CITY BALLET (PBS,
- May 12, 9 p.m. on most stations). Such Charles classics as Hit
- the Road Jack and What'd I Say provided the inspiration for
- Peter Martins' ballet A Fool for You, being presented Live from
- Lincoln Center.
-
- ROE VS. WADE (NBC, May 15, 9 p.m. EDT). Background viewing
- for Supreme Court watchers: Holly Hunter (Broadcast News) plays
- the Texas woman who sued to terminate her pregnancy in this
- docudrama about the landmark abortion case now under review.
-
- ART
-
- MASTERPIECES OF IMPRESSIONISM AND POST-IMPRESSIONISM: THE
- ANNENBERG COLLECTION, Philadelphia Museum of Art. Fifty prime
- paintings by artists from Van Gogh and Cezanne through Gauguin
- and Braque, acquired over the past four decades by publisher
- Walter Annenberg and his wife. May 21 through Sept. 17.
-
- TIMUR AND THE PRINCELY VISION: PERSIAN ART AND CULTURE IN
- THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY, Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian
- Institution, Washington. The reigns of the legendary warlord
- Timur (known as Tamerlane in the West) and his successors
- produced some of Islam's finest paintings, ceramics, carvings
- and other works, all richly sampled here. Through July 6.
-
- MASTERWORKS OF MING AND QING PAINTING FROM THE FORBIDDEN
- CITY, Cleveland Museum of Art. The show's 76 treasures, lent by
- the Palace Museum in Beijing, consist mostly of painted scrolls
- from China's last two imperial dynasties (1368-1644 and
- 1644-1911). Through May 21.
-
- BOOKS
-
- COLLECTED POEMS by Philip Larkin (Farrar, Straus & Giroux;
- $22.50). The pre-eminent poet of his time, Larkin died in 1985
- at age 63. This collection includes works previously unpublished
- or unavailable in book form, and documents the triumph of a poet
- who found his style by lowering his voice.
-
- CITIZEN WELLES by Frank Brady (Scribner's; $24.95).
- Anecdote and scholarship are nicely balanced in this new
- biography of Orson Welles, whose roller-coaster career in stage,
- screen and radio covered the spectrum from classics to
- commercials.
-
- THEATER
-
- ARISTOCRATS. Brian Friel's depiction of a gilded Irish clan
- in decline, sensitively acted off-Broadway, is the best play on
- view in New York City and merits comparison with Chekhov's The
- Cherry Orchard.
-
- IMPERIAL BELLS OF CHINA. The clang and whir of hypnotic
- musical instruments, the swish of dancers' 6-ft. sleeves and the
- rainbow splendor of ceremonial robes are explained by Gregory
- Peck's recorded narration in this imported spectacle now touring
- the U.S.
-
- MINAMATA. The premonitory 1948 pollution tragedy in a
- Japanese fishing village inspired the images in this harrowing
- multimedia alarm at the Los Angeles Theater Center.
-
- MOVIES
-
- LOVERBOY. Delivering pizza in Beverly Hills offers all
- sorts of erotic opportunities -- and comic ones too -- in this
- cheeky romantic romp. Patrick Dempsey has the charm and director
- Joan Micklin Silver the knack to bring off a modern farce in the
- classic style.
-
- SCANDAL. It's all here: the loveless romances of Christine
- Keeler with a Soviet spy, a Jamaican drug dealer and John
- Profumo, Secretary of War in Harold Macmillan's Cabinet. This
- express tour through swinging London plays like News of the
- World headlines set to early '60s rock 'n' roll.
-
- MISS FIRECRACKER. Holly Hunter reprises her stage role as
- a lovelorn orphan determined to win a beauty contest. Mary
- Steenburgen and Alfre Woodard also shine in Beth Henley's
- comedy about the danger of holding on to youthful dreams and
- the liberating effect of letting them go.
-
- MUSIC
-
- LOUIS ARMSTRONG: THE HOT FIVES & HOT SEVENS, VOLUME III
- (Columbia). Young "Satch" at the peak of his force and creative
- genius. Featuring Johnny Dodds, Kid Ory and Earl Hines, these
- 16 digitally remastered sides from 1927 and 1928 spearhead the
- latest batch of releases in Columbia's outstanding Jazz
- Masterpieces series.
-
- PHOEBE SNOW: SOMETHING REAL (Elektra). Real is right: ten
- raw and lyrical bits of musical autobiography from one of the
- '70s' best singer-songwriters. On the evidence, she should be
- flourishing in the '90s too.
-
- MADONNA: LIKE A PRAYER (Sire). The title track is creating
- all the fuss, but this is a fine pop album, with a couple of the
- best tracks ('Til Death Do Us Part and Promise to Try) sounding
- as intimate as a confessional. Memorable from start to finish,
- and danceable throughout.
-