FIRST OFF . . .

Former Broadway producer Adela Holzer was arraigned in New York Wednesday on second-degree grand larceny charges that she duped investors out of at least $1.5 million in oil investments that she actually used to help finance an upcoming pop opera. The judge in Manhattan’s state Supreme Court entered a plea of not guilty for Holzer, who appeared alone, allegedly because she failed to pay her lawyer. Holzer, 54, was ordered to return with a lawyer on Wednesday for a hearing. Holzer was arrested after a wary investor hired a private investigator to look into her background. She allegedly used some of the money to finance two pop operas conceived by Tom O’Horgan, “Senator Joe” and “Nimrod and the Tower of Babel.”