PEOPLE WATCH

Babs Speaks: Barbra Streisand delivered a speech at Friday’s Hollywood Women’s Political Committee luncheon, which honored First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton. “For the first time in over a decade, we have an administration that truly cares about the American people,” Streisand said. The singer also discussed California politics--expressing her opposition to Proposition 187, Gov. Pete Wilson and “the radical right, who have been busy organizing at the grass-roots level.” Gubernatorial candidate Kathleen Brown was among the political figures present at the luncheon. Comedian Whoopi Goldberg introduced the First Lady.

LEGAL FILE

Property Dispute: The Rudolf Nureyev Dance Foundation is suing the late ballet star’s family over the rights to property stored in the landmark Dakota apartment building in Manhattan. Nureyev died Jan. 6, 1993. The suit, filed in Manhattan, asks the court to find that the Chicago-based foundation is the true owner of the property under a deed of gift signed by Nureyev on Oct. 21, 1992. The foundation said in its suit that it has arranged to sell the dancer’s personal property including furniture, artwork and musical instruments at a public auction in January. However, lawyers representing certain members of Nureyev’s family have notified the foundation they intend to file suit to stop the auction.

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Who’s Zoomin’ Who?: Comedian Martin Lawrence is being sued for fraud and breach of contract arising from the cancellation of his concert tour this year. In the suit filed in U.S. District Court in Cleveland, Oasis Entertainment claims it entered into contracts for three performances by the star of the Fox-TV series and has been unable to get a refund of its $182,000 deposit money. The suit adds that promoters in Louisiana, Wisconsin and Illinois are also seeking deposit refunds. Lawrence denies any liability, according to his publicist.

STAGE

Fill-In Norma: Elaine Paige will fill in for six months as Norma Desmond in the London production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Sunset Boulevard,” replacing Betty Buckley, who is recovering from a ruptured appendix and is expected to be out until Jan. 9. Paige previously starred as London’s first Eva Peron in Lloyd Webber’s “Evita.” “Sunset Boulevard,” based on the 1950 film noir classic by Billy Wilder, starts previews Tuesday in New York, where it opens on Broadway opening Nov. 17 starring Glenn Close.

KUDOS

Hefty Gift: Steven Spielberg has agreed to donate more than $2 million to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington for the creation of the Steven Spielberg Film and Video Archive, spokesmen for the museum and the filmmaker’s production company said. Marvin Levy, a spokesman for Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment, said the gift is not related to a charitable foundation founded by the director to help various Holocaust causes and Jewish groups, and to which he has donated all his earnings from “Schindler’s List.” The archive will identify, acquire, preserve and catalogue film and video images of the Holocaust now located in the United States and abroad.

NEW MEDIA

Log On: “Cybermania ‘94: The Ultimate Gamers Awards,” will be broadcast Nov. 5 on the cable’s TBS Superstation at 5:05 p.m. Leslie Nielsen and Jonathan Taylor Thomas will host the show, which recognizes the best in interactive programming, computers, cartridge games, interactive music CDs and CD-ROM games. Winners will be determined by the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences, mail-in and phone-in votes. Viewers may cast their votes on Prodigy by using the Jump: Cybermania command.

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Start Him Up: On Monday, Keith Richards will appear live from the Rolling Stones Voodoo Lounge on America Online. The forum will allow fans to ask questions via the interactive service immediately prior to the Stones’ Halloween night concert at the Oakland Coliseum. The rock ‘n’ roll chat is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m., PST. This special online conversation is provided by In Concert’s “LamiNet,” the network’s interactive online music forum. The America Online keyword is “ABC.”

QUICK TAKES

“Frasier” star Kelsey Grammer will host “The 1994 Clio Awards,” airing Monday on Fox. The special honors the year’s most creative commercials. . . . Cirque du Soleil broke its single-day ticket sale record for the second time in its Santa Monica run by selling 11,460 tickets on Sunday, beating the previous record set Oct. 11 by 2,485 tickets. . . . Rocker Iggy Pop will join “The Adventures of Pete & Pete” for a special Halloween episode airing on Nickelodeon tonight at 8:30. . . . Sources say that CNBC is in negotiations with actor Charles Grodin to take over for Tom Snyder as host of Snyder’s talk show when he leaves to go to CBS. Snyder’s show on CBS will debut in December or January.