THE ARTS

Music Appointments: Former “Tonight Show” music director Doc Severinsen will become the first principal pops conductor of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, effective in September. Severinsen will conduct three programs next season, as well as oversee the planning of the pops series, including the selection of guest artists and musical arrangements. The appointment marks his fourth such position: Severinsen is also principal pops conductor of the Minnesota Orchestra, the Phoenix Symphony and the Buffalo Philharmonic. . . . Omus Hirshbein, founder of the New York Chamber Symphony and director of performing arts for the 92nd Street Y in New York, has been named director of the music program at the National Endowment for the Arts. Hirshbein will oversee an $11-million grant program covering classical, jazz and multicultural music.

* Coming Theater Fare: San Diego’s Old Globe Theatre summer season will feature Brian Friel’s “Dancing at Lughnasa” (July 6-Aug. 7) and a compilation of Shakespeare’s “Henry IV,” Parts I and II (Aug. 31-Oct. 2) in the Lowell Davies Festival Theatre; Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night” (July 16-Aug. 28) and the West Coast premiere of A. R. Gurney’s “Later Life” (Sept. 16-Oct. 30) in the Old Globe itself, and Frank McGuinness’ “Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me” (July 13-Aug. 21) and a yet-to-be-announced title in the Cassius Carter Centre Stage (Sept. 14-Oct. 23). . . . In Orange County, Terrence McNally’s “Lips Together, Teeth Apart” will play South Coast Repertory’s Second Stage from April 26 to May 29, and Tennessee Williams’ “A Streetcar Named Desire” will open the Mainstage season next fall.

EVENTS

Best Bette: Bette Midler will present an award to a longtime friend and colleague, Emmy-winning writer Bruce Vilanch, on Tuesday at an AIDS benefit for the group L.A. Shanti. The event at the Scottish Rite Theater also includes a tribute to Howard Ashman, the Oscar-winning lyricist of “Beauty and the Beast,” “The Little Mermaid” and “Aladdin,” who died of complications of AIDS in 1991. Melissa Manchester, Jodi Benson, Nell Carter, Sheryl Lee Ralph and others will perform his songs. Composer Alan Menken, who was Ashman’s writing partner, and Disney studio chief Jeffrey Katzenberg, are the evening’s honorary co-chairmen. Others expected to appear include Lily Tomlin, Patrick Swayze, Tim Curry and Brett Butler.

TV & RADIO

‘Arsenio Hall Show’ Sued: Three actors filed a sexual-battery complaint Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court against Paramount Pictures, “The Arsenio Hall Show” and writer Lawrence Amoros, alleging that Amoros handled their buttocks and genitals during closed-door casting interviews for the syndicated talk show. Screen Actors Guild members Raul Reformina, Richard Yett and Hieu Dang say they had responded to a casting call seeking “men with small butts” for a skit titled “Buttmaster,” spoofing the Thighmaster exercise device. Paramount and “The Arsenio Hall Show” said Thursday that they conducted an investigation after hearing of the charge and that “Mr. Amoros has been terminated.”

* Top 10 Reasons to Do Radio: CBS Radio plans to syndicate David Letterman’s “Top 10 List” to radio stations. The three-minute production, set to premiere April 1, will feature Letterman reading his list from the previous night’s show. Although specific stations carrying the list have not yet been announced, it will be offered first to CBS-owned and affiliated stations, and KCBS-FM (93.1) expects to run the feature locally.

QUICK TAKES

A spokeswoman for Frank Sinatra said Thursday that the 78-year-old singer is in good health and “looking forward to going out on the road again.” Sinatra, who collapsed Sunday during a concert in Virginia, is scheduled to resume his tour March 24 in Tulsa, Okla. . . . Fox TV has moved back the airdate for “Hostage for a Day,” the directorial debut of the late John Candy, to April 25. The move makes room for the premiere of the two-hour TV movie “Honor Thy Father and Mother: The True Story of the Menendez Murders,” on April 18. CBS, meanwhile, plans to air its four-hour miniseries “The Menendez Murders” during the May sweeps. . . . Los Angeles video director Kevin Kerslake has sued rock group Nirvana and lead singer Kurt Cobain for copyright infringement, claiming that the band stole his ideas for its “Heart Shaped Box” video, then went on to shoot it with another director. Kerslake previously directed four clips for Nirvana, including “Come as You Are.” . . . Former KFI talk-show host Tom Leykis will return to Los Angeles this spring as host of a new syndicated talk show for Westwood One Inc. It has not yet been determined if his show will be heard on a Los Angeles station.

* Quotable: “Last year, there was a big stink about actors making political statements. Then they turn around and ask me to host. They don’t know what they’ve done.”--Whoopi Goldberg on Tuesday’s “One on One With Magic Johnson,” talking about her job as host of this year’s Oscar show, which airs March 21 on ABC.