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?PETER AND THE WOLF.? Isaac Mizrahi, left, narrates the classic at the Guggen - heim this weekend, collaborating with other legendary names, including the Brazilian design duo the Campana Brothers. (1071 Fifth Ave., Saturday and Sunday, 2:30 and 4 p.m., $35). METRO

Common?s sense

The rapper takes ?Control? on the dance floor

G. VALENTINO BALL gvalentino.ball@metro.us INTERVIEW. While Common has been spending a fair amount of time earning the slash in ?rapper/actor,? his love for music has brought him back to the mic with his eighth studio album, ?Universal Mind Control,? which dropped this week on the Geffen label. After having Kanye West produce his last two successful albums (2005?s ?Be? and 2007?s ?Finding Forever?), the Chicago native had Outkast?s Mr. DJ and The Neptunes take over board duties. Noted for his intelligent and thoughtful lyrics, this time around he?s aimed at the dance floor. ?I wanted to have a fresh new sound,? he says. ?I was looking for music that could really feel upbeat, bright, and could make you feel good.? Q Why did you decide to go in the feelgood direction? I had been overseas, in Paris and A Barcelona and in the U.K. I felt what it was like to party out there and

?It?s healthy for people to laugh and let go and dance.?

Common

enjoy yourself, and none of my music was being played there. I realized that you have to have a certain energy when you make those records. You can?t talk about anything too heavy. You can?t talk about abortion and people are partying to it. It?s necessary and healthy for people to enjoy themselves; to laugh and let go and dance. Q There?s nothing wrong with that. A lot of rappers get it in their minds that if they make a record that people can dance to, then something is wrong. I didn?t feel like that at all. I think if you A would have checked for me earlier in my career, I would have felt like I was doing something wrong. But I am at a point now that I just love what I do. Q You dropped your first record in ?92. BARNEYS WINDOW DISPLAY. Swing by Barneys? unpredictable holiday win - dow display. Santa?s definitely amiss in this department store spread, but you will be greeted by a free-love flavored theme (660 Madison Ave., through Jan. 1, 2009). Hippie Holidays! METRO BRUNCH. Switch up your weekend breakfast routine by trekking over to Columbia University?s backyard. Enjoy brunch at the Amsterdam Restaurant & Tapas Lounge -- it just reopened last month -- where options include Asian, Mediterranean and Latin dishes (119th Street and Amsterdam, 212-662-6330). METRO

Weekend

How are you sustaining it? Because there are guys from ?92 we haven?t heard from since. That?s God just looking out and A guiding every- thing. And following my heart, too. ... That?s why it?s very important what Kanye just did with his new album [?808s and Heartbreak?]. He is expressing what he is feeling at this moment. To me, that?s what makes an artist. An artist doesn?t just say, ?I?m gonna make this ?cause the crowd will love it.? When you paint a picture, you need to be inspired. That?s what I strive to do with my albums. People respect that.

On catching the acting bug

Appearing in the new ?Terminator? movie this spring, Common says he began acting because he felt music?s limitations: ?Hip-hop would only allow me to do so many things,? he says. ?Acting was that avenue that I could express myself in a new way.? But he isn?t ?just a rapper turning into an actor.? ?I want us to interview 30 years from now, and you say, ?Man, you have won two Oscars and been nominated seven times. Did you think you would be here??? We?ll pencil in that interview for 2038. METRO

John Patrick Shanley

on the obstacles of transitioning his 2004 play ?Doubt? to film.

?The play has four characters and a couple of locations ? the film had 300 people in it.?