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MA in the TBw spotlight The barb's fly in Verdi's censored "Rigoletto" The tragic ramifications of deception and cruelty will be brought to the television screen when Verdi's master­ piece "Rigoletto" is telecast on Wednesday, December 16 over PBS as the "Live From the Met" series con­ tinues. (Check local listings for date and time.) "Rigolet­ to" will be televised with English subtitles and simulcast in stereo on FM radio stations in many cities. Soprano Christianc tda-Pic-rre sings the role of beautiful, young Gilda; baritone Sherrill Milnes (above) is her father, the hunchbacked jester Rigoletto; and tenor Luciano Pavarotti is the lecherous Duke of Mantua. James Levine conducts the Metropolitan Opera or­ chestra and chorus. The original libretto for "Rigoletto" had the same characters as Victor Hugo's play "Le Roi s'amuse" ("The King Amuses Himself"). Hugo's play was closed by cen­ sors after only two performances in Paris. The censors in Venice also objected to Verdi's opera for its anti-royalist slant. Verdi's confrontations with the censors are well- known. His outrage at the suggestion to change the "Rigoletto" libretto was particularly fierce. He insisted that Rigoletto be hunchbacked, that the monarch be a libertine, and that Monterone denounce his feudal lord. "Rigoletto" premiered triumphantly on March 11, 1851 with only the location and the characters' names changed--the plot remained otherwise intact. Funding for the December 16 telecast of "Rigoletto" is made possible by a major grant from Texaco Inc. with additional grants from the Charles E. Culpeper Founda­ tion and the National Endowment for the Arts. The "Live From the Met" series is produced by the Metropolitan Opera Association and presented over the Public Broadcasting Service by WNET/Thirteen, New York. TV ROASPUIOC SIRVICIS INC by Joey Sasso CONFIDENTIAL REPORT: The man who's filling the boots of the late Jim Davis in "Dallas," TV's top nighttime soap opera, says he's every bit as tough as J.R. and can't wait to prove it. He's musical comedy star Howard Keel and he plays Dusty's father, Clayton Farlow. As a good-guy, fatherly type, he takes over where Jock Ewing left off--as the only man in Texas with some control over the wicked J.R. "J.R.'s been pushing people around long enough," Keel said in a recent interview. "Dusty and I have just as much money as he does, and we can hire the same lawyers. That's all it takes." Keel, with his rumbling baritone, broad shoulders and barrel chest, is well suited to the role of swaggering, super-rich Texan and chief adversary of J.R. Keel's character in "Dallas" has amass­ ed his fortune in oil and cattle and owns an enormous ranch called the Southern Cross. While Keel's timely ap­ pearance as a father figure in "Dallas" appears to be 1 ing the void left by Jim Davis' death, a Lorimar Produc­ tions spokesman says it wasn't even planned that way. "Clayton Farlow was written into the show even before Davis died," the spokesman told me. "He and his son were to provide another rival family for the Ewing family. Clayton and Jock have a lot of similarities in that they both have money and power, but Clayton was never meant to replace Jock." Keel agrees. "I'm a totally new character stepping in and picking up the reins," he told me. TV BACKSTAGE: "General Hospital" hearthrob Tony Geary (Luke) gave Kansas City Royals baseball players Amos Otis and Clint Hurdle the royal treatment when they visited L.A. He even arranged for them to appear as extras on the show . .. Gloria Loring (Liz) of "Days of Our Lives" and hubby Alan Thicke hosted a star-studded bash to celebrate the premiere of her Days of Our Lives Celebrity Cookbook. Erik Estrada, Beverly Sassoon, Gary Owens, Debra Lee Scott, and the whole "Days" cast helped welcome the book with proceeds going towards Juvenile Diabetes Research .. . After some technical delays, singer/actor Wayne Massey (Johnny Drummond on "One Life to Live") is bringing out his se­ cond album in time for Christmas . . . The new Timex Quartz is so accurate you may have to reset it only once this year. Thin, sleek, more beautiful than any watch you've owned before. It is built and priced in the Timex tradition . .. "General Hospital" star Kin Shriner will be back in his old role as Scotty Baldwin. Kin signed a one- year contract and his first show should air soon . Richard Bekins and Christopher Rich ("Another World's" Jamie and Sandy) have had to get unlisted phone numbers because of late-night calls from amorous women . . . Ex-prizefighter Archi Moore will step back in to the ring again for a role on "Search for Tomorrow." The former world light-heavyweight champ plays washed-up boxer Kid Granite, who helps train Brian Emerson (played by Larry Joshua). 1 TV COMPOLOG MRVTCES, INC.