THE ARTSPhilip Glass Opera: Minimalist composer Philip...

THE ARTS

Philip Glass Opera: Minimalist composer Philip Glass will present “La Belle et la Bete” (Beauty and the Beast), an opera for ensemble and film, at UCLA’s Wadsworth Theatre Nov. 9-12. The performances, presented by the UCLA Center for the Performing Arts, will be the only Southern California dates on a 35-city tour of the production, which has been performed in Europe and had its American premiere at the 1994 New Wave Festival at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. The 90-minute work is the second in a continuing Glass theatrical trilogy based on the films of French artist Jean Cocteau. Glass composes the music to accompany Cocteau’s films. Tickets go on sale in May. Glass’ work is based on the same fable as Disney’s theatrical version, which opens April 13 at the Shubert Theatre.

*

Stage Dispute: Defying what he calls an “eviction” notice, “Shakespeare for My Father” producer John Clark began Thursday to advertise an extension through March 12 of Lynn Redgrave’s one-woman show at the Canon Theatre. Although he didn’t sign a written contract, “we were told we could stay as long as we wanted pending the building coming down,” Clark said, adding that he’d sent “what amounts to a legal notice” to theater officials that he would bring action if the show is forced out. Joan Stein, one of the theater’s executive directors, declined to address Clark’s specific complaints, but said the show “was brought in for a limited run through Jan. 29, with one extension through Feb. 26.”

*

Testimonial: The acclaimed PBS documentary “The Civil War” could not have been made without a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, producer Ken Burns told members of Congress on Thursday. In an impassioned plea before a House Appropriations subcommittee, Burns asked lawmakers to reject conservative efforts to eliminate or slash the budgets of the NEH and its sister agency, the National Endowment for the Arts. “Please do not be the author of their destruction, the finisher of their important good works,” Burns said. “They are the best thing we have to remind us why we still all agree to cohere as a people.”

*

Helping the NEA: The NEA, meanwhile, got a boost on Thursday with the announcement of a new donation program set up by Michigan-based book and music retailer Borders Inc. The company, which has 75 stores nationwide and plans to open 30 more in 1995, has guaranteed the NEA a minimum of $50,000 in 1995, and also plans to mount in-store displays highlighting the works of NEA-funded artists in an attempt to increase public awareness of NEA programs.

TELEVISION

New Awards Show: Blockbuster Entertainment announced Thursday that it will tape its first Blockbuster Entertainment Awards, honoring “the American public’s favorite stars” of movies, home videos and music, in Los Angeles in May, for broadcast June 6 as a two-hour prime-time special on CBS. Winners will be selected by electronic balloting in March in more than 3,400 Blockbuster Video and Blockbuster Music stores nationwide.

RADIO

Musica en Espanol: A new Spanish-language radio station was born this week with the launch of “Variedades” KVAR-FM (97.5). The Los Angeles station, offering a playlist ranging from contemporary hits to oldies from the ‘60s through the ‘80s, takes over a frequency last occupied by Riverside County country music station KHTZ-FM. When bought by Embarcadero Media Inc., the station was rebuilt and the antenna refocused so that the station reaches a broader audience, covering most of Los Angeles County. KVAR becomes the third Spanish-language FM station in Southern California. Of those, KLAX-FM (97.7) “La Equis” has ranked as No. 1 among all Los Angeles stations for more than two years, according to Arbitron ratings. A fourth station is planned to take over from KNAC-FM (105.5) later this year.

*

Goodby, KNAC: Speaking of KNAC-FM, vocalist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich of the rock group Metallica were on hand Wednesday afternoon to bid farewell to the longtime hard-rock and metal station. The duo appeared on-air for the station’s final broadcast, playing their favorite KNAC classics. The station, which had featured the popular show “Mandatory Metallica” nightly at 9, played the group’s “Fade to Black” as its swan song.

QUICK TAKES

Rock singer Courtney Love is offering a reward for the five-carat diamond and ruby engagement ring given to her by her late husband, Nirvana singer Kurt Cobain. Love, who wouldn’t disclose the award’s amount, said the ring was stolen in New York on Valentine’s Day. . . . Ellen DeGeneres (TV’s “Ellen”) has a leading man for her first starring film role, in Caravan Pictures “Mr. Wrong.” He’s Bill Pullman (“Wyatt Earp,” Steven Spielberg’s upcoming “Casper”). . . . Jennifer Holliday, Esther Rolle, Rhodena Preston and Billy Preston perform tonight in “The Black Music & Civil Rights Movement Concert,” at 8 at Los Angeles’ Visions Complex. Tickets are $17. . . . KCBS-TV Channel 2’s Linda Alvarez will move from weekday noon newscasts to become weekend anchor for “Channel 2 Action News,” starting Saturday. Alvarez will co-anchor with Michael Scott the station’s newscasts at 5 and 11 p.m. Saturdays, and 6 and 11 p.m. Sundays.