Eli Wallach, musical comedies and children's theatre will all be a part of The Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts' up-coming 1999-2000 season. The Center, located at Brooklyn College, presents classical music, ballet, opera, pop and theatre from fall until spring.

Eli Wallach and the Metropolitan Opera's Terry Cook and Camellia Johnson will be among the artists narrating and singing Genius in Love Oct. 24. An intimate look at the loves and desires that inspired some of classical music's greatest composers and compositions, Genius will celebrate Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Mendelssohn and others.

Musical theatre at the CPA means comedy in the '99-'00 season. The Jerry Herman classic, Hello, Dolly! will play Oct. 17 at the Center. With popular songs like the title number and "Before the Parade Passes By" Dolly follows matchmaker Dolly Levi as she fixes up the love lives around her, while pursuing her own perfect match. Ain't Misbehavin', the Fats Waller musical, with a performance Nov. 6, features Waller tunes like "Honeysuckle Rose," "Squeeze Me" and "The Joint is Jumpin'." April 2, 2000, the New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players will perform Gilbert and Sullivan's H.M.S Pinafore, whose satiric score includes "I'm Called Little Buttercup," "We Sail the Ocean Blue" and "For I am an Englishman."

For the kids, the CPA begins its season with the Fred Garbo Inflatable Theater Company Oct. 31. Creators Fred Garbo and Daielma Santos entertain by rolling, tumbling and dancing in huge inflatable props. Next, on Jan. 9, 2000, the Bits 'N Pieces Puppet Theatre will use actors and nine foot tall puppets to tell the classic Washington Irving tales of a man who falls asleep for 20 years in Rip Van Winkle. April 15, 2000 Brooklyn College's Opera Theatre will present The Three Little Pigs, a retelling of the children's tale with music and scenes from four Mozart operas. The final offering will be the May 7 presentation of Theatreworks/USA's adaptation of Margret E. Rey's Curious George, the story of a well-meaning monkey and the messes in which he finds himself embroiled.

For subscriptions and ticket information, call Brooklyn Center at (718) 951-4600 ext. 25. The Brooklyn Center is on the web at http://www.BrooklynCenter.com. -- By Christine Ehren