The Happy Hoofer

A 100% audience score at a movie test screening? Come on!

But producer Gary Adelson swears it happened with Tri-Star’s “Tap”--a fusion of dance, rock ‘n’ roll and black social drama starring Gregory Hines--which means every viewer rated it either “excellent” or “very good.” (A terrific score for a preview, one that execs brag would about in the trade press, would be in the low 90s.)

Adelson put the boffo results in context--the preview was before an enthusiastic, largely black group in South L.A.: “It was an audience that truly responded to the music and drama.” Two other tests--in Sherman Oaks and Pasadena--got solid marks in the mid-80s. “Based upon the (combined) screenings, we proved to the studio that the film gets good response across the board,” Adelson added.

“Tap,” directed by Nick Castle, is set for release in late January.

Talking tests, director Leonard Nimoy reveals it took him many previews and four studio sessions before he was satisfied with Diane Keaton’s closing voice-over narration in Touchstone’s “The Good Mother.” The drama about a woman fighting an ugly legal battle for the custody of her child will open for Thanksgiving.

Keaton’s voice-over was crucial because it had to convey a change of mood with the passage of time, Nimoy said. “So we concentrated on shading. We literally worked word by word, often simply changing tone or tense. . . . Believe me, it gave the whole mood a different spin.”