National Theatre

A new $10 million Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, "Whistle Down the Wind," directed by Harold Prince, will premiere at Washington's National Theatre in December, the composer's producing company announced yesterday.Based on a 1961 British movie that starred Hayley Mills and Alan Bates, "Whistle Down the Wind" is about a trio of children who discover an escaped convict, whom they believe to be Jesus Christ.The nine-week, pre-Broadway Washington run will mark the first time Lloyd Webber has premiered a musical outside his native England since "Jesus Christ Superstar" opened on Broadway 25 years ago. The National Theatre engagement will begin previews on Dec. 6, open Dec. 12 and continue through Feb. 9. The Broadway opening is scheduled for April 17, at the Martin Beck Theatre.

Arena Stage continues its season with a new British translation of a 17th-century French comedy, directed and designed by veterans of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. The play is Moliere's The Misanthrope; the translator is Ranjit Bolt, whose work has been seen at London's Old Vic as well as the Royal National Theatre and Royal Shakespeare Company; the director is Penny Metropulos, associate artistic director at the Oregon company; and the designers are William Bloodgood and Deborah Dryden, Oregon's resident scenic designer and costume designer, respectively.

The musical "Grease" has always had a cartoony feel, so the team behind the Broadway-bound revival at Washington's National Theatre made a logical choice in turning it into an exaggerated theatrical cartoon.In our first view of the fictitious Rydell High class of 1957, the actors' faces look out through holes in a huge black-and-white cartoon of a graduation class portrait. In subsequent scenes, a school bus is represented by students carrying two-dimensional yellow panels with cut-outs for the bus windows, and the cafeteria line is depicted by two actors standing in front of a cartoon of their tray-toting classmates.

"Kiss of the Spider Woman" -- Manuel Puig's novel about two cellmates in a Latin American prison -- might seem like a dense, peculiar web of a subject for a musical. At least it might if it were a musical by anyone else.But as is evident from the dark, stunning production at Washington's National Theatre, "Kiss of the Spider Woman" is a case of the right people coming together in an unlikely place.Composer John Kander, lyricist Fred Ebb and director Harold Prince have mastered equally challenging fare before -- most similarly in "Cabaret."

It was a day like any other day for a gumshoe critic. That's how it is, off season, off Broadway, off Baltimore. I poured a cup of java and contemplated my next case. It looked grim. Of all the ideas in all the theaters in all the world, this one had to walk into Washington's National Theatre. A murder-mystery musical -- the same deadly combination that did in the late lamented "Nick and Nora."But enough ersatz Raymond Chandler. It's a losing battle trying to be cleverer, funnier or slicker than the Tony Award-winning "City of Angels."

You can run, Joanie, but you can't hide.You can trade in your flashy sequin suits for a simple scarf and sunglasses to browse through a mall, but don't expect to fool everyone.This, Joan Collins learned last week."I kept on getting recognized. And I kept on saying . . .'I just don't understand this. I'm even talking with an American accent,' " she said during a phone interview from Miami.But a Yankee drawl can't hide the fact that she was once -- and perhaps always will be -- television's bad girl extraordinaire, Alexis Carrington Colby.

YOU CAN RUN, Joanie, but you can't hide.You can trade in your flashy sequin suits for a simple scarf and sunglasses to browse through a mall, but don't expect to fool everyone.This, Joan Collins learned last week."I kept on getting recognized. And I kept on saying . . .'I just don't understand this. I'm even talking with an American accent,' " she said during a phone interview from Miami.But a Yankee drawl can't hide the fact that she was once -- and perhaps always will be -- television's bad girl extraordinaire, Alexis Carrington Colby.

In John Guare's "Six Degrees of Separation," the protagonist claims that the death of the imagination is one of the great tragedies of our time. But his tragedy is that he is unable to imagine the possibilities of his own life. Instead, he attempts to co-opt the lives of others.Currently at Washington's National Theatre, this challenging, fascinating work is based on the true story of a young con artist who insinuated himself into the lives of several wealthy New York families by pretending he was Sidney Poitier's son.The play is set in the chic apartment of Flan and Ouisa Kittredge, a fictitious art dealer and his wife.

Washington -- To deluded Don Quixote, all that glitters is truly gold. But the Broadway-bound revival of "Man of La Mancha," now at the National Theatre, has a glitter deficit.For this musical rendition of Cervantes' classic to succeed, the audience must share Quixote's sparkling vision. However, despite an ennobling performance by Raul Julia in the title role, the overall production is lackluster. And for a show whose basic theme is idealism, lackluster is a serious offense.The casting of the leading lady is an ideal example.

EVENT ALL BREED DOG SHOW The Maryland Kennel Club holds its 94th All Breed Dog Show on Sunday. The competition includes more than 1,600 dogs from more than 140 breeds -- from the toy poodle to the great Dane. The dogs will first compete within their breed, and then move on to the best-in-group competition. The winners of the seven groups will then compete to see which dog is Best in Show. ....................... The Maryland Kennel Club All Breed Dog Show is Sunday from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Fifth Regiment Armory, 219 W. 29th St. Admission is $5; $3 for children ages 6-12 and seniors.