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Arts:VDoc' ,ef$ Holeville%u201d Is An Audacious HitBY JOHN S. PATTERSONHoleville is the land of Barbie dolls and %u201c untermenschen%u201d . It%u2019s where plastic flowers gr'W in poverty slime. It is that union of opposites known as economic democracy. Its geography includes Riverdale and the South Bronx, 5th Avenue from 72nd to 125th, the Waldorf-Astoria and the Minnesota Strip. Holeville is American economics and the liberty and justice for which they stand.%u201c Holeville\by the Dodger Theater at BAM, is a hoot. It is clever, fast-paced, expertly performed, and joyously free of conventional storytelling or social analysis. It stands toe-to-toc with the ridiculous distribution of wealth in this country and gives it back its theatrical money%u2019s worth.The story is simple oghwatch out. Mother a - G%u201d Q: id have just moved to H .t vilh along with the family dog. Mr. Frisks, but minus Dad. They%u2019re just settling into a formica/plastic delight of an abode (which probably sells for about eighty thou these days) and don%u2019t seem to notice the ragged, dirty hordes of %u201c criminals and bums%u201d%u2014those marvelous musicians Philip Casnoff, Randy Klein, Curth Neishloss, David Rinehimer, and Steven Singer%u2014 p%u00ab*<*r through their windo-vs an;' :oam through the gloom surro. .ding their middle income oa s of comfort. Heid' Landsman%u2019s alternately gleaming and gioomy set is a brilliant interpretation of the musical%u2019s central theme and leads us quickly into this metaphorical land of wealth, poverty and discord.When Mother heads for the supermarket, neighborhood kids %u2014in their 20%u2019s or 30%u2019s%u2014Sal Video and Rich Forester drop by. These days our government describes their real life equivalents as the %u201c permanent underclass.%u201d Rich%u2019s description%u2014with Sal as Exhibit A%u2014is quicker and more direct: he and his friends are %u201c scum.%u201d You know, (he folks who are robbing Andy Stein and pushing people off subway platforms.They terrorize poor Gus Quid until Mother brings on the cops%u2014 one of whom happens to be Daddy Quid%u2014who join right in these symbolic hi-jinks, triumphantly arrest the lunatic pair, as if that would make a difference, and then explain their behaviour in the psychological jargon which currently passes for common sense.The merry-go-round goes on, jangling out an old tune: %u201c reexamine each neurosis...re-condition each psychosis..safety in the streets of every town... peace across our land!%u201d According to playwright Jeff Wanshel and lyricist/director Dcs ' \\n ff pea' e is exactly whai .e oi 'in to be seeking since the: %u00bbafu! seal %u2022 war taking placein the America the > perceive. It%u2019s bet the haves and the havenots, you know, that great multitude discarded by the system but constantly stimulated by advertising to strive for what the middle and upper cl. ..s already possess.This mav nd hk 1 a grim topic for p musical, it i< it may also sound hkr i turn-off, it isn%u2019t. W;- McAnuff et al havedc tt :%u2022 mart-assed little musical w%u2019 /.'s 'he job done when it c %u25a0 s to upending standard showbiz h i! ho ard spoofing inequiti< ; . accepted norms.T have a raucous,be i Jucious sense ofhu. t e a vision and theskill ' reab/ it.musi, i- an unusual blend of coo western, disco and bluesDeborah Rush sings asChristopher Murney listens in %u201c Holeville%u201d playingat BAM through Dec. 16.and it is exactly the right framework for the wonderfully off the wall lyrics by McAnuff: %u201c ...dust a bit, scrub-a-dub it...scrape and polish and then spray and pour...it keeps your mind off what%u2019s in store...you%u2019re sweeping all your fear away.%u201dThe performances are a perfect match for this style of production. First of all there%u2019s that dog: Mr. Frisks is a human in white-face%u2014 Christopher Murney by name%u2014 who makes such a skillful blend ofThe world of performing arts has been anxiously awaiting the premiere of the collaboration of ihc three artists, Lucinda Childs, Philip Glass and Sol Lewitt. While it has become more usual for music and dance to be created concurrently and interdependent^, it is rare for a third element to be added. When it happens, it often occurs within the realm of the avant garde, notably in Merce Cunningham%u2019s collaborations. Last week, among the post moderns, this type of event was staged at The Brooklyn Academy of Music.Everything about the concert was lively: The dancers began the evening at a very high energy leve1 and sustained it throughout: The music was, in all its variations, usually frenetic: The films were of the dancers and appeared, then disappeared at the pace set by the other artists.man and beast that dogs will never look the same to me again. As man%u2019s best friend he saves the day%u2014and very nearly steals the show.Don Scardino and John Bottoms play Sal and Rich like a lobotomized Abbott and Costello overdosed on speed. There is a raunchy ridiculousness to their every move which is as refreshing as it is sinister.If there is an award for Best Performance As A Kewpie DollThe entire evening had a ritualistic quality about it. There was constant repetition in each 1 m and if it wasn%u2019t moving so quickly with so much change of direction and tone (in movement and music respectively), one could have been readily mesmerized by it all. Yet with the sustained energy, the dancers were without aliveness. There was no contact and just a touch of awareness that each was performing with other human beings.The group works were nevertheless exciting. The dancers were quick and accurate and as they performed behind a scrim that served as the screen for the film, the overlaid quality was rich in texture. The starkness of the h%u2019 ck and white film was quite F.autifully set off by the warmu* of the back lighting on the live dancers.The film was made at different angles so that sometimes it paralDeborah Rush and Saul Rubinek should share it. They raise suburban plastic to an art form.Given half a chance %u201c Holeville%u201d will stomp its frenetic way right into your heart. Bravo for the Dodgers! They%u2019ve hit a homer.HOLEVILLE by Jeff Wanshelwith songs and direction by DesMcAnuff, BAM, The Attic Theater, through December 16,636-4100.Iclcd the dancers on stage, sometimes it reflected them at a forty-five degree angle and sometimes the view was from above.he Philip Glass Ensemble accon tiiicd the dance and film, sometimes by recordings, one time live. The sounds were produced by voice, electronics, keyboard and wind instruments. They ranged from atonal to an almost jazzy rhythmic quality and were altogether too loud, particularly in the final section when they performed live.With the evening lasting 100 minutes without intermission, somehow the repetitive nature of the work was more difficult to find value in and there was an odd quality about it: It was interesting but not likeable: It was energetic and lively and unalive: It was constant motion and sound and no change.D A N C E : E n e r g y I n T h r e e M e d i aBY JUDITH STUARTR o s t e n H a i l e d A s B r o o k l y n %u2019s O w nBY JEANNETTE WALLS%u201c I hadn't always planned on becoming a writer,%u201d admits Norman Rosten. %u201c It was one of those things that...just happened.%u201d And for Brooklynite Norman Rosten something that %u201cjust happened%u201d has developed into a way of life, a career, has made him somewhat of a local celebrity, and has earned him the title of Brooklyn%u2019s Poet Laureate.Sitting at the kitchen table of his Brooklyn Heights home, the charismatic writer grins and discusses his position. %u201c It%u2019s one of those honorary titles,%u201d he explains, %u201c %u2019it means as much...as you make it.%u201d %u201c Actually,%u201d he adds, %u201c I guess it makes me rather proud.%u201d Distinctive as the title may sound, Rosten receives $1 a year for his services. A slow way to become a millionaire, perhaps, but %u201c at least I%u2019m not unemployed,%u201d he laughs, adding that he hasn%u2019t gotten this year%u2019s %u201c salary%u201d yet. %u201c I asked (Borough President) Howard Golden about it and he said, %u2018Well, you know with these budgets cuts and all...%u2019 %u201d .Kings and Queens often had Poet Laureates. Many states and countries still do%u2014but Rosten%u2019s appointment may well be the first of its kind. Appointed to the position early last year by the Borough President%u2019s office, Rosten has written a few pieces in commemoration of Brooklyn, including one to Brooklyn Borough President Howard Golden. %u201c At least I made it in ;.v >ugh to miss theu i c c i i i c i t i i i * ' , .. n c g m i N .Being v -I Laureate can also nic. official recognition of your work. The Bo-ought Hall Building was the site of a reception given to ihc Laureate November 19 in recognition of a ' %u2022- of poemsPresident and Howard Golden at a Borough Hall reception inrecognition of his new book %u201c Selected Poems.%u201d (FeldmanPhoto)released earlier that month. %u201c Selected Poems,%u201d released November 8 by George Braziller, Inc., is an impressive collection of poetry including works dating back to 1940 dl ilie way t > the present, as well as some new works. The works, consistent in style, but evolving ini %u2022 . %u2022 . %u2022 %u2022 i r ii i c i m c , a i c. nv. i i .n u i w a n a u m ^ i i u u i ,uonest and frank Word1- andp'l scs rush to. , creating images tl n arc ahv!' o v v sonvthr s maybe too true.Tbe b\b'u raphica; poem, then select?,poems from his first book, %u201c Return Again, Traveller,%u201d touching such topics, believe it or not, as Daniel Boone, Walt Whitman, and other pioneers of body and soul. Fro n there it >oc - o*i to %u201c Tin Fourth Decad a historical book that nlo political and social- P %u2019%u2022 '%u00bb b U U U l ' M I IN U t%u00ab S ' 11from hio th: book %u201c The BtToad\and th. tone changes dramatic by the fourth book it sentimental ballads in %u201c Songs u Patricia.\a social theme in his fifth book%u201cThe Plane and the Shadow%u201d then returns to people (%u201c My favorite theme,%u201d he admits) in %u201cThrive upon the Rock.%u201d The scvcntli chapter contains new works.It%u2019s difficult to sav which chapter is %u201c best%u201d%u2014as all unfold a certain sort of beauty and power. Each reflects the changes one goes through with age, and the ability to %u201crelate%u201d to one more than the other would depend on which state of mind the reader is in. Personal favorites are contained in %u201c Thrive Upon the Rock.%u201dFor a confessed Br 'klyn chauvinist very few poems are about the borough, yet he has written down his feelings about hm home town. %u201c Brooklyn has gotten the unfai reputation of being full of lunk heads,%u201d he says %u201c 1 hink it all started in the World War II moviewin c the guy who was always dumb and always hra\\ I think he wu. us illy played by William Bcndix, would wish he was back in Brooklyn.%u201d Rosten wrote about these misconceptions i i an article for Travel and Lei ure called \1\\ But stronger fv lings about tl writer%u2019s native borough arc to be found in the widely acclaimed book %u201c Under the Boardwalk,%u201d It%u2019s a bittersweet story ah i a Jewish boy growing up in Coney Island. It'- In ind of book that every write* tst do once, and the kind a re ader can%u2019t get off his mind. \back to Coney Island sometimes,%u201d Rosten says. %u201c Every ting always s' etas, somehow smaller. Muchs. V 1 I .So the writer spends most of his :im e in the more subdued Heights with his w iiL : > f%u00bb**d his typewriter doing%u2014what else%u2014writing and being Brooklyn's only Poet L a u re ate.utrV t'S&J- -1%u00bb- -D ecem bers 1979, The PHOENIX, Page 17