£1)0Wasljington¡Jos^monday, December “A Chorus Line" rehearsing for the gala, top: honorees, above, cloc kwise from top left, Richard Rodgers in 1953, Fred Astaire in 1936, George Balanchine in 1978, Marian Anderson in 1951 and Arthur Rubinstein in 1959; below, Rubinstein at the White House with the Carters, and at. the. Kennedy Center, bottom foreground, honorees Astaire, Anderson and Rodgers. 6* Honors': Superstars and tSimple Fluffs HONORS, From Bl ‘ ?/ something quickly. assembled Qnd un- a. Astaire, the cast of “A Chorus Line” Edward Villella, and even Aretha w rehearsed. v performed its finale on stage. It was Franklin do not draw big.crowds to have been the Ed Sullivan Show all There- were* a number of simple• ,■■■' v dh'fe of several moments in the eve­ the tube. over again—sans Ed of course. fluffs. A descending curtain nearly ning that was genuinely spellbinding. The show was placed by CBS in a The ostensible point of the project bopped Farrell on the head as she On television, the program is bound nearly sacrificial position in the sched­ is to pay tribute to five American took her bow. Singer Florence Hen­ to move more quickly that it did last ule—opposite the all-powerful Tues­ superstars in the performing arts, all derson barely defeated the orchestra night — nart'y because a lot of it will day-night lineup of situation comedies of whom were present last night: in a battle of tempos; she crossed her- end____ up_ on__ the__ legendary...... cutting-room„„..... o......... on ABC. That means most' viewers Marian Anderson, Fred Astaire, self apologetically as she went off- floor — ana TV viewers, unlike those will not see Tony Bennett do an George Balanchine, Richard Rodgers stage. Mary Martin got the wrong cue in the audience last night, will not be altogether superb performance of “I and Arthur Rubinstein. cards and made a premature introduc­ subjected to blinding, murderous Wish I Were in Love Again,” hear tion, and Stevens himself trotted on Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) But the show, taped for airing, in spotlights shining in their faces pronounce Jose Ferrer’s first name edited form, Tuesday night on the stage to summon from the audience throughout most of the performance. Sen. Charles Percy (R-Ill.) who appar­ with a hard “J,” hear Art Buchwald CBS television network, really was When TV moves in, everything else proclaim that “On this very site, just sounding the opening trumpet in the ently had dozed off and missed his must accommodate it, and oh, cue. Percy’s job was to introduce a few years ago, there were buffalo,” Kennedy Center’s bid to become a brother, does it ever. The event was or get the benefit of Bernstein’s force in American commercial tele­ Hunter. manufactured by the Center with grandiloquence. vision and thus more of a national But beyond mere' goofs, the pro­ television specifically and prominent­ cultural center. ly in mind. Bernstein reviewed the program gram was conceptually disheveled — even as it began by hailing it from It was, said a thick printed program, another smorgasbord approach to the For all that, the show is likely to the stage as “a glorious beginning for “a production of Kennedy Center arts that offered a little of everything land among the bottom 10 in Nielsen this new form of national tribute.” Television Productions Inc.,” super­ and not enough of anything. Also one ratings for the week after its Tuesday Even allowing for variations in the vised by George Stevens Jr., on tem­ got the feeling that many of those in night airing. Formidable as they are; eyes of beholders, “glorious” is clear­ porary leave as director of the Amer­ the black-tie audience only viewed names like that of Leonard Bernstein, ly too strong a term. ican Film Institute, and Nick Vanoff the performance as a respite between of “Hollywood Palace” fame and parties, which both preceded and “Hee Haw” notoriety. followed the show itself. Opening, like a baseball game, with For the record, the loudest and the Star-Spangled Banner—a sure way longest of the standing ovations given to get the audience on its feet—the all five honorees was probably the show did have its highlights. These one accorded Astaire. The crowd included a show-stopping rendition of broke into frequent applause at film “I Cried for You” by 82-year-old blues clips of Astaire dancing alone, with dowager Alberta Hunter and a fairly Ginger Rogers — who stood up and exquisite pas de deux by Suzanne took a bow in the audience — and Farrell and Peter Martins of the New with several mirror images of him­ York City Ballet. But the evening was self in the spectacular “Puttin’ on plagued with the haphazard jitters of the Ritz” number. As a tribute to.