People

By Howard G. Chua-Eoan

"What's the hurry?" Irving Berlin said on his 99th birthday when told of plans to celebrate his centennial. Last week, at the only gala he sanctioned for his 100th, the reclusive songwriter stayed home. Smart move. Taped for broadcast on CBS on May 27, the show may sound better on television than it did live in Carnegie Hall. But it did have its high points: Broadway and TV Star Nell Carter hip-hopping through Alexander's Ragtime Band, Michael Feinstein singing I Love a Piano, and Garrison Keillor reciting All Alone. But then there were the lows: tinny amplification, an overpowering brass section, Bea Arthur's oomphless Hostess with the Mostes' and Leonard Bernstein's self- indulgent twelve-tone parody of A Russian Lullaby. Bernstein was also notable for ad hoc choreography. In seamless motion during the final bows, he embraced Shirley Maclaine, knelt before Marilyn Horne and lodged himself beside Frank Sinatra. The show is ended -- thank God, Berlin's melodies linger on.