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THE BUZZ

VERNE GAY, GLENN GAMBOA and ROBERT KAHN

October 15, 2006

Noggin is happy with its Umbilical ties

It's not often that you'll read the words "turn on Noggin tomorrow for something truly funny" but, well, turn on Noggin Monday at 11 a.m. for something truly funny. The Umbilical Brothers have arrived on the small screen.

The Umbilical Brothers? Glad you asked: They are Australians Dave Collins (he's the one with the hair) and Shane Dundas (without) who will star in a kids show unlike anything Noggin's ever done, or kids' TV for that matter (though the unusual creations of that kids' TV duo of the '70s, Sid and Marty Kroftt, may come closest.)

Collins and Dundas have been performing their mad art on stage the past couple years, most recently at the Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center, and they will appear at the New Victory on 42nd Street next month. (Of their show, "Speedmouse," the theater says "the kings of theatrical action comedy are back with the best of their worst.")

The Umbilicals' craft is of the absurdist kind: aural and visual gags, some pantomime, some physical comedy and most of it pretty much appropriate for the younger set. The new Noggin series, developed by Sesame Workshop, is called "The Upside Down Show," and each episode starts off by asking kids to press buttons on an imaginary remote which then makes Collins and Dundas bigger or smaller, or speak quickly or slowly, or ... whatever. (Noggin calls this "interactive TV.") The lads then act out whatever non-sequitur story line that viewers launch them on. Monday they draw a picture and decide to stick it on a refrigerator (small problem: no refrigerator in their airy little apartment). They then decide to take it to a museum. En route, they get lost in a fog bank, wash their invisible elephant and finally get to the museum, which has ... a refrigerator.

It's a hoot, really, and the beginning of a glorious TV run for two very amusing guys.

-VERNE GAY

The Platinum Weird story is, well, weird.

The truth is straightforward: Eurythmics' Dave Stewart and singer Kara DioGuardi, who's best known for writing songs for Kelly Clarkson, Ashlee Simpson, Marc Anthony and others, got together to write songs for possible inclusion on the Pussycat Dolls' album and hit it off. They formed the band Platinum Weird and began recording together, releasing their debut album "Make Believe" (Interscope) last week.

The rest of their story is, more or less, fictitious. The Platinum Weird back story is that Stewart formed the band in 1974 with American singer Erin Grace. That version of Platinum Weird was signed to Rocket Records, but Grace disappeared during the recording process, possibly to be with Mick Jagger, according to the band's mockumentary, which even aired (for real) on VH1 this summer to drum up interest. Then, to put a "Ghost Whisperer" spin on it, when Stewart first met DioGuardi, he began playing a song that only he and Grace had ever known and

DioGuardi began singing the chorus. (Cue dramatic twist music.)

OK, so back in reality, the Platinum Weird album is part '70s

Fleetwood Mac, part Clarkson-esque spunky pop, which both make the most of DioGuardi's promising voice. Unfortunately, the band's back story is far more interesting than any of the songs.

-Glenn Gamboa

After 8,372 London shows, 'Miz' can't miss

Just days before "Les Miz" begins previews on Broadway, the West End production of the Cameron Mackintosh saga laid claim to the title of "longest-running musical ever, anywhere."

London's "Les Miz" clocked performance No. 8,372 last weekend, continuing a run nearly three years longer than Broadway's record-holder, "The Phantom of the Opera." Cast members from the original Royal Shakespeare Company production, among them Northport native Patti LuPone, joined the current ensemble Saturday for the finale of the musical, which - as the Evening Standard cleverly pointed out - has now lasted longer than the French Revolution.

At the Queen's Theatre soiree, LuPone, the original Fantine, performed "I Dreamed a Dream." Original actors Elaine Page (also a star of "Cats," which was relinquishing its record to "Les Miz") and Michael Ball also took solo turns.

The original Broadway production of "Les Misérables" played 6,680 performances. The Oct. 24 preview at the Broadhurst Theatre kicks off a six-month limited engagement, with an opening set for Nov. 9.

-ROBERT KAHN

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