MUSIC & DANCENew ‘Romeo’ Production: The San...

MUSIC & DANCE

New ‘Romeo’ Production: The San Francisco Ballet will make its first Southern California appearance since 1991 when it performs Helgi Tomasson’s new production of “Romeo & Juliet” at the Music Center’s Dorothy Chandler Pavilion Nov. 30 through Dec. 4. The company’s last local stand was a “Nutcracker” holiday engagement at the Orange County Performing Arts Center. The group announced a self-presented engagement at the Music Center in 1993 but withdrew for financial reasons. Dance impresario James A. Doolittle will present the upcoming “Romeo & Juliet” performances, which will mark the company’s first appearance at the Music Center since 1984.

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Cliburn Tour Plans in Doubt: The death Wednesday morning of Van Cliburn’s 97-year-old mother has placed the remainder of the pianist’s cross-country tour in doubt. Cliburn, 60, whose tour with the Moscow Philharmonic had already been plagued by sickness, program changes and cancellations, appeared with the orchestra at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City Tuesday night, winning applause and giving two encores. Then he flew immediately to his ailing mother’s home in Fort Worth, reaching Rildia Bee Cliburn’s bedside in time to see her before she died. Meanwhile, Cliburn still has several tour stops scheduled--outside Rochester, N.Y.; in Pittsburgh, Detroit, Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Atlanta, and at the Wolf Trap Farm in Virginia. As of Wednesday, no decision had been made whether Cliburn will finish the tour, his first in 16 years.

TV & RADIO

Soap Bubbles: Several daytime actors will demonstrate their vocal talents on a holiday album titled “A Soap Opera Christmas--Holiday Songs From Your Favorite Daytime Stars.” A sampling of those included on the RCA Records album: Peter Bergman, Scott Reeves and Diana Barton from “The Young and the Restless”; Eva LaRue and Tommy Michaels from “All My Children”; Brad Maule of “General Hospital” and Tonya Walker of “One Life to Live.” . . . Also in time for the holidays, ABC in November will release two home videos featuring characters from its daytime dramas. “All About Erica” is the “definitive video biography” of “AMC’s” Erica Kane, starring Susan Lucci; and “Luke and Laura Volume Two: The Greatest Love of All” features longtime “GH” stars Anthony Geary and Genie Francis.

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Stern Ruling: New York’s State Supreme Court has refused to grant raunchy radio host Howard Stern a preliminary injunction against a law requiring political candidates to file a detailed financial disclosure form with the state to determine possible conflicts of interest. Stern, who is running for governor on the Libertarian ticket, has sued the Ethics Commission that enforces the law, contending it is unconstitutional to require disclosure before someone is elected. “It is especially invasive to someone like me who lives a highly visible life,” he said in court papers. Stern plans to hold an on-air “news conference” on his radio show this morning to discuss the ruling.

STAGE

New York’s ‘Public’ Season: Five world premiere plays and three Shakespeare works are among the lineup for the New York Shakespeare Festival’s 40th season, which begins Oct. 18 at the Joseph Papp Public Theater with one of those premieres, “Blade to the Heat,” a sexually charged drama about the 1950s Latino boxing world written by Oliver Mayer, a literary associate at Los Angeles’ Mark Taper Forum. Other world premieres scheduled are “The Petrified Prince” (Dec. 3-Jan. 15), a new musical directed by Harold Prince based on a screenplay by Ingmar Bergman; “Simpatico” (Nov. 1-Dec. 1), Sam Shepard’s first new play in three years that will be directed by the Pulitzer Prize-winning writer and feature an all-star cast including Beverly D’Angelo and Ed Harris; “Him” (Dec. 6-Jan. 1), written by and starring Christopher Walken in a look at Elvis Presley, and “Dog Opera” (April 11-May 14), a comedy by Constance Congdon. Also part of the season is the New York premiere of Jennifer Lewis’ “The Diva Is Dismissed” (Oct. 25-Nov. 13), recently seen in Los Angeles.

ART

Reward Offered: German insurers have offered a $250,000 reward for two paintings by 19th-Century English artist J.M.W. Turner and one by German painter Caspar David Friedrich that were stolen from a Frankfurt gallery last week. The paintings, snatched by two masked men who overpowered a security guard just after the gallery closed, were insured for $42 million. The two Turners were on loan from London’s Tate Gallery, which termed the robbery a “major loss” for European art. The works had been on display since May in an exhibition of 19th-Century painters who influenced the great German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.

QUICK TAKES

The Rolling Stones have now added their own radio network to the gamut of promotional outlets jumping on the rockers’ bandwagon. Westwood One Entertainment has created the “Stones Voodoo Lounge Radio Network” to provide stations throughout the United States and Canada with Stones interviews, tour reports and specials. . . . Movie soundtracks continued to be the top sellers on this week’s Billboard pop chart, with “The Lion King” and “Forrest Gump” taking the No. 1 and No. 2 spots, respectively. . . . Amy Yasbeck, who co-stars as the reporter in Jim Carrey’s current box-office hit “The Mask,” will join the cast of NBC’s “Wings” this season, playing the older sister of character Helen Chappel (Crystal Bernard). . . . Actresses Jean Smart and Mary Steenburgen will offer “an inside look at the antics of a completely dysfunctional family” when they star in “Marvin’s Room,” opening Sept. 15 at West Hollywood’s Tiffany Theatre.