MUSIC Pavarotti in the Park: Half a...

MUSIC Pavarotti in the Park: Half a million people gathered Saturday night to hear Luciano Pavarotti sing in New York’s Central Park for what one fan called “an Italian Woodstock.” The concert, which had more Italian songs than Italian operatic arias, was televised live by PBS, which used the breaks for fund-raising. Musicians were from the New York Philharmonic. The 57-year-old Italian tenor finished his performance with an encore of his trademark song, “Nessun Dorma,” from Puccini’s “Turandot.”

MOVIES Glad for the Ads: The trailer from the movie “Toys” featuring Robin Williams has won the Best of Show Award, the top honor at the Hollywood Reporter’s 1993 Key Art Awards, which recognize movie ads. The poster for “Unforgiven,” showing a gun behind Clint Eastwood’s back, took the English Language Key Art Award for best feature film poster. The award for best foreign language poster went to the French “Batman Returns” poster. Tony Curtis hosted the annual event at the Directors Guild of America. A Few Good Prints: Tom Cruise will make firm imprints in the cement when he leaves his footprints, handprints and signature in the famous courtyard at Mann Chinese Theatre in Hollywood today at noon. Cruise stars as young lawyer Mitch McDeere in Paramount’s “The Firm,” the movie based on John Grisham’s bestseller, which opens Wednesday. Imagine All the People: Brian Grazer and Ron Howard, founders of Imagine Films, will be honored by the March of Dimes during a Dec. 11 “Entertainment Industry Salute” at the Beverly Hilton. Imagine’s films include “Backdraft,” “Parenthood” and “Kindergarten Cop.”

STAGE ‘Yankees’ at Bat in New York: The Old Globe Theatre’s upcoming production of “Damn Yankees,” starring Bebe Neuwirth and Victor Garber and directed by Jack O’Brien, is now slated for a Broadway opening on March 3, a Globe spokeswoman confirmed. Reworked by original director, co-writer George Abbott, the musical mix of Faustian legend and baseball begins previews at the Globe in San Diego on Sept. 19, opens Oct. 1. Star-Crossed Lovers on the Backlot: “ ‘Romeo and Juliet’ on the Studio Backlot!”--an updated version of Shakespeare’s play running weekends on TV sets and a soundstage at the CBS Studio Center in Studio City--has been extended to July 25. The play features Romeo and Juliet in a motorcycle and hip-hop music world.

ART Hunting at the Huntington: The Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens in San Marino has acquired a major still life by 19th-Century American artist William Harnett. “After the Hunt” (1883) is one of a series of four startlingly realistic portrayals of dead game and antique hunting gear hung on a wooden door. The other three versions are in collections of the Butler Institute of American Art in Youngstown, Ohio; the Columbus Museum of Art, also in Ohio, and the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. The Huntington’s Harnett, which was purchased at an undisclosed price with a gift from the Virginia Steele Scott Foundation of Pasadena, will go on view July 25 in the Scott Gallery.

POP/ROCK Van Halen Relief: Van Halen is helping to fight hunger with its summer tour, which began over the weekend in Detroit. Fans are being asked to bring canned food items to the concerts, which will be donated to the National Hunger Relief for USA Harvest. Shelters in Los Angeles will benefit from the food collected when the tour stops at the Pacific Amphitheatre Aug. 27-29.

QUICK TAKES Michael Jackson will perform at the Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro in October. A Jackson spokesman said the pop star will be giving away thousands of tickets to poor children. . . . Jazz musician Herbie Hancock received the Par Excellence Music Award in Chicago at the first Music Awards Night of Entertainment sponsored by National Publications, publisher of the African-American Blackbook International Reference Guide. . . . Hungarian screenwriters Ildiko Enyedi and Laszlo Revesz are the winners of the Hartley-Merrill Prize for International Screenwriting for their screenplay, “Freischutz.”