TV Reviews : Musical Salute to Columbus Day a Strange Mishmash

“In Performance at the White House,” airing Sunday at 8 p.m. on Channel 28, is a strange, unsettled program based on a theoretically uplifting but ultimately unsatisfying premise.

Ostensibly a Columbus Day celebration, this 57-minute mishmash brings together an odd assortment of artists, most of whom represent the immigrant American experience. “We’ve all come here from somewhere else,” says Britain’s Lynn Redgrave--a questionable point, since the Benny Carter Quartet consists of four native-born Americans.

Redgrave’s vocal rendition of “I’ve Got to Get Back to New York,” which might best be described as parochial/patriotic, leads to a series of heavy-handed reminders that this is a truly global presentation. Carter’s group plays “Around the World,” with elegant solos by the leader on alto sax and pianist Dick Hyman, who doubles as musical director.

A series of dramatic readings about the immigrant experience enables Redgrave and F. Murray Abraham to display their control of a variety of accents; this aside, the stories too often fall flat and end abruptly.

Teresa Stratas, after informing us that her father tended goats barefoot in the mountains of Crete, sings a Puccini aria. Ray Price, who seems nervous, is accorded three numbers in the country-Western and country-blues idioms, aided by part of the United States Marines Band.

In a devastating anticlimax, everyone files on stage to sing “Christopher Columbus,” mixed in with a medley of songs that contain “world” in their titles.

President and Mrs. Bush are frequently shown enjoying the show; to top it off, the President, quoting Carl Sandburg, talks about the rich heritage of our land.

It is indeed rich enough to overcome the impact of this embarrassing show, in which good intentions lead only to awkward inventions.