DANCEGrigorovich Leaves Bolshoi: Yuri Grigorovich, head of...

DANCE

Grigorovich Leaves Bolshoi: Yuri Grigorovich, head of the Bolshoi Ballet for three decades, quit the famed company Thursday, admitting defeat in a long-running internal dispute over the Bolshoi’s leadership. Grigorovich, 68, the company’s chief ballet master, “is in excellent shape, but he does not want to tolerate the strife any longer,” said Bolshoi spokesman Alexander Kolesnikov. Many critics blame the strong-willed Grigorovich for the artistic decline of one of the world’s leading ballet companies; his policies and repertoire were cited by a number of Bolshoi dancers as causing them to leave Russia for the West. The embattled Grigorovich was also at the forefront of the company’s clash with the Bolshoi Theater’s director, Vladimir Kokonin. That row came to a head last December when Bolshoi dancers, after passing a motion of no confidence in Kokonin’s leadership, delayed a “Giselle” performance by 20 minutes in the first protest of its kind in Bolshoi history. But Kokonin stayed on and dancer Vladimir Vasiliyev, who left the Bolshoi some years ago after clashing with Grigorovich, returned as the Bolshoi Theater’s artistic director, a post with authority over both the opera and ballet companies. “In this connection I believe it impossible to continue cooperating with the Bolshoi Theater,” Grigorovich told the Russian news agency ITAR-Tass, indicating that he might seek a job with a ballet company in the West. Bolshoi spokesman Kolesnikov bolstered that notion Thursday when he said, “By tomorrow, (Grigorovich) will no longer be in the country.”

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UCLA Merger: The merging of UCLA’s Department of Dance with its World Arts and Cultures Program will be celebrated by the school’s 30th annual dance concert, featuring works by faculty and guest artists, tonight through Sunday at the UCLA Dance Building, Stage 200. The new department, part of UCLA’s School of the Arts and Architecture, offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs designed to prepare dancers to “survive, flourish and create in an ever-changing, postmodern, intercultural world.”

LEGAL FILE

Driver Sues: A “go-fer” hired for Chevy Chase during the Canadian filming of “Man of the House” has filed a $10-million Los Angeles lawsuit against the actor and production companies involved in the Disney film, claiming he got arrested after picking up a package for Chase that contained illegal drugs. Fred Moroz, who is also the owner of Ryken Helicopters Ltd., says he lost several “substantial” business contracts due to publicity from his criminal case, which was dropped after four months. According to the lawsuit, Moroz, as part of his duties, crossed into the United States on Aug. 4 to pick up a Federal Express package for Chase. “Prior to reaching the United States/Canadian border, Moroz was stopped by law enforcement officials, searched and arrested for possession of an illegal drug,” the plaintiff’s court papers state. Moroz says he was told the package contained the prescription drug Percocet. The lawsuit is Chase’s second legal tangle since January, when he was arrested for alleged drunken driving in Beverly Hills. Arraignment on that charge is set for April 6. Chase’s “Man of the House” was the No. 1 box-office film last weekend, its first in release.

MOVIES

Singleton Takes On Super-Hero: John Singleton (“Boyz N the Hood”) is set to direct “Luke Cage,” a film version of the contemporary black comic book super-hero. The character, created by Stan Lee (“Spider-Man,” “The Fantastic Four,” “X-Men”), is transformed from a young prisoner into a hero with superhuman powers after submitting to a dangerous experiment in exchange for his freedom. The film will be produced by Edward R. Pressman (“The Crow”), whose Pressman Film Corp. is also developing “Mutant Chronicles,” a “techno-fantasy action-adventure” based on the role-playing games of the same name.

STAGE

New ‘Assassins’ Lead: Actor Patrick Cassidy will take over the lead role of John Wilkes Booth in the Stephen Sondheim dark musical comedy “Assassins,” when the production moves to the Los Angeles Theatre Center’s 498-seat Tom Bradley Theatre on March 28. Cassidy was a member of “Assassins’ ” original New York cast in 1991, but played a different role, the Balladeer.

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Minnelli Dates Postponed: Liza Minnelli has postponed her upcoming performances at Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza (March 21-25) and Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts (March 29) because her doctors felt that she needed more time to recuperate from hip replacement surgery she underwent last December. New dates were still being worked out Thursday, with the Thousand Oaks shows likely to be the second week of August, while the Cerritos performance will be in either mid-May or early June.

QUICK TAKES

Former “CBS Morning News” co-anchor John Roberts, who has been anchoring the evening newscasts at CBS’ New York station, will return to the network news division next Monday as the anchor of the “CBS Evening News” Sunday edition. . . . Oscar producer Gil Cates was honored Thursday with the 2,045th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The star honoring Cates, who is also dean of the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television, is in front of the former Screen Actors Guild Building at 7065 Hollywood Blvd.