SHORT TAKES : Dudley Moore Has ‘Em Rolling in the Aisles and on the Stage

Dudley Moore had to contend with a piano that went clunk and another that wandered across the stage during a benefit.

The concert Sunday at Cal State Long Beach was to help pay for $30,000 in repairs on a Steinway grand piano and the replacement of another valued at $50,000 that was destroyed when a concert hall roof collapsed July 2.

“Hmmm. A broken string. This is actually a true Steinway,” the comic actor said of the piano borrowed for the benefit. “I want you all to think about this when you buy that new Steinway.”

The star of such films as “10” and “Arthur” got another piano from the wings, but it began to glide across the stage as he played. He gazed at the crowd and said, “I love playing on moments of sheer panic and desperation.”