THE ARTSBusy Tenor: Placido Domingo has renewed...

THE ARTS

Busy Tenor: Placido Domingo has renewed his affiliation with the Los Angeles Music Center Opera. Domingo, recently named artistic director of the Washington Opera, will act as the local company’s artistic adviser and principal guest conductor. He will continue as a member of its board of directors.

* Inaugural Show: The Skirball Museum has invited about 100 well-known and emerging Southern California artists to create or lend works to celebrate the opening of its new Skirball Cultural Center of Hebrew Union College in October, 1995. The works will be included in “Blessed Are You . . . A Celebration of New Beginnings,” one of the first exhibitions at the center’s new home in the Santa Monica mountains. About half the artists on its list have accepted thus far, says Skirball director Nancy M. Berman, including Jo Anne Callis, Sam Francis, Minoru Ohiro, Victor Raphael, Peter Shire and Ruth Weisberg. Who Has the Crayons?: A virtual who’s who of local artists--including Mike Kelley, Chris Burden, Raymond Pettibon, Manuel Ocampo and Gronk--will be at the Museum of Contemporary Art today for “Color This!,” a book signing celebrating the publication of a playful new coloring book for grown-ups created by the artists and published by the Foundation for Art Resources. The free celebration, from 3 to 5 p.m., includes museum admission, entertainment and hors d’oeuvres.

MOVIES

Rush to Video: The last quarter of the year could see a major battle of blockbusters in video stores, with the release of 20th Century- Fox’s summer hit “Speed,” starring Keanu Reeves, Universal’s long-awaited “Jurassic Park” and “The Flintstones,” and Disney’s classic “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.” Fox plans to unveil its video marketing plans at a press conference on Tuesday for the action film, which has grossed $115 million to date at the box office.

* Party! Party!: Want to party like it’s 1999? The last minutes of that year will be the scene being set in downtown L.A. next Saturday for the filming of the movie “Strange Days,” directed by Kathryn Bigelow, produced by James Cameron and starring Ralph Fiennes, Angela Bassett and Juliette Lewis. To gather a millennial crowd, the filmmakers turned to concert promoters Moss Jacobs and Philip Blaine, who have planned a huge rave that will feature performances by Deee-Lite and Aphex Twin, plus all the cyber-techno accessories they could scrape up. The event will start at 9 p.m. and run until dawn in a four-block roped-off area. Tickets are available in advance only; the $10 price includes parking at secured lots. Information: (213) 960-5077.

TELEVISION

Donations Requested: Pedro Zamora, the HIV-positive member of MTV’s “Real World III,” is back in Miami in a hospital after having recently been hospitalized in New York City for an AIDS-related illness. Zamora, 22, has no medical coverage, and MTV is urging its viewers to send money to a trust fund for him in Florida, the actor’s home. Zamora was one of a half dozen Generation Xers who lived together on San Francisco’s Lombard Street for several months for the cinema verite show, which finished taping in June. Zamora, an outspoken activist and an AIDS educator, became an instant icon to AIDS activists in the United States. Donations can be mailed to: Pedro Zamora Medical Needs Trust, Trust and Investment Management Group, Sun Bank, 300 Royal Ponciana Plaza, Palm Beach, Fla., 33480.

JAZZ

Sax Soars: An alto saxophone owned by Charlie (Bird) Parker brought $140,000 after just two minutes Thursday at Christie’s auction house in London. The cream-colored Grafton plastic sax went to the Jazz Hall of Fame in Kansas City, Mo., for a bid that set a record price for a saxophone. The former record, $33,000, was for a tenor saxophone played by President Clinton.

PEOPLE WATCH

Singin’ the Blues: The B.B. King Blues Club at Universal’s CityWalk will open its doors Sunday with the first of its weekly “Gospel Brunches.” A gala event will celebrate King’s 69th birthday Sept. 20 at 7 p.m. and will feature a performance by the legendary bluesman. For information, call (818) 6-BB-KING.

* Papa’s Got a Brand New Street: The Godfather of Soul, James Brown, 61, unveiled a sign Thursday that designates the block outside the Apollo Theater as James Brown Boulevard. The temporary sign will stay up for the duration of Brown’s five-night stint at the famous Harlem nightspot. The “hardest working man in show business” first played the Apollo on April 24, 1959.

QUICK TAKES

In their first interview as a family, the father, stepmother and siblings of Ronald Goldman will talk to Barbara Walters on the Sept. 16 edition of ABC’s “20/20” . . . . Milton Berle will hold a Q&A; session today at 2 p.m. at the Improvisation, 8162 Melrose Ave., Hollywood. Seating is limited and on a first-come, first-served basis at no charge to the public.