THE ARTSLawmakers Target CAC: The annual battle...

THE ARTS

Lawmakers Target CAC: The annual battle over California Arts Council funding got under way in earnest Wednesday when a state Senate budget subcommittee voted to fund the agency for only the first half of fiscal 1995-96 (through Dec. 31), then shift the CAC to the Trade and Commerce Agency, where it would be supported solely through private contributions and receive no further state funding. The Senate subcommittee is the same group that has recommended large CAC cuts in the past (including 50% last year), although it has previously recommended that the CAC remain an autonomous agency. Gov. Pete Wilson has proposed that the CAC’s 1995-96 state funding remain unchanged at $12.5 million, and an Assembly budget subcommittee approved that recommendation last week. The two opposing recommendations must ultimately be reconciled in a conference committee later this spring.

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Stage Winners: The Tiffany Theatre’s “Oleanna” took top honors as production of the year at the L.A. Weekly Theater Awards, while Interact Theatre’s “Counsellor-at-Law” was named revival production of the year and the Blank Theatre Company’s “The Cradle Will Rock” won the musical of the year award. But the most honors went to the Cast Theatre’s “Still Life With Vacuum Salesman,” which won three: for female one-act performance (Laurel Green), one-act direction and set design.

POP/ROCK

Pop Chart: Incarcerated rapper Tupac Shakur’s “Me Against the World” sold 118,000 copies last week and continues to command the No. 1 spot on Billboard magazine’s pop chart. New Top 10 entries this week include rapper Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s “Return to the 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version,” which ranked No. 7 with 81,000 in sales, and country crooner John Michael Montgomery’s self-titled sophomore album, which nabbed No. 10 with 68,000 units sold. Latin star Selena’s “Amor Prohibido” album, which was released 13 months ago, entered the pop chart at No. 91, with sales jumping from 1,800 to 12,000 units last week following the singer’s shooting death Friday in Corpus Christi, Tex.

RADIO & TV

Stern Shocks Again: Speaking of Selena, a Texas-based Latin American labor group is considering filing a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission against radio shock jock Howard Stern, who created a stir in the state when he made fun of the singer by playing her music accompanied by gunfire sounds on the day of her funeral, a Fort Worth newspaper said Wednesday. The report said callers jammed the switchboards at Dallas radio station KEGL-FM, which carries Stern’s nationally syndicated show, after the Monday broadcast in which he also parodied weeping mourners and made disparaging remarks about Mexican Americans. At Stern’s L.A. outlet, KLSX-FM (97.1), General Manager Bob Moore said Wednesday that the station had received only 15 to 20 calls about the broadcast, including some complaints.

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‘Liz’ Airdate: NBC will air “Liz: The Elizabeth Taylor Story,” its four-hour miniseries starring Sherilyn Fenn (“Twin Peaks”) as the violet-eyed movie star, on May 21 and 22, during the all-important May ratings sweeps. The miniseries is based on an upcoming unauthorized biography by C. David Heymann (“A Woman Named Jackie”). Taylor lost a court battle to stop the production.

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‘GMA’s’ News Focus: “Good Morning, America” has moved out of the ABC Entertainment division and will report instead to ABC News. ABC News President Roone Arledge told “GMA” staffers that there will not be dramatic changes in the program, although the show will likely make more use of ABC News correspondents. “GMA’s” competitors, NBC’s “Today” and “CBS This Morning,” are also network news shows.

QUICK TAKES

O.J. Simpson trial witness Brian (Kato) Kaelin will be the sole guest on CNN’s “Larry King Live” on Friday, and will take viewer calls during the hour. Another trial witness, Nicole Brown Simpson’s sister, Denise Brown, will guest the same night on CBS’ “Late Late Show With Tom Snyder.” . . . Actor Benjamin Bratt (“Texas,” “Nasty Boys”) will join NBC’s “Law & Order” next season as a police detective. He replaces Christopher Noth, who was fired two weeks ago for creative reasons. Executive producer Dick Wolf said Bratt will “bring a younger and more conservative voice to the series.” . . . “NYPD Blue” co-star Gail O’Grady’s former live-in companion, artist Robert Claypool, is suing the actress for $1.2 million. Claypool claims that O’Grady defamed, libeled and slandered him by allegedly telling her producers, the TV show “A Current Affair” and others that Claypool had made “death threats” against her. In the Los Angeles lawsuit, Claypool denies any such actions. . . . Tom Hanks’ back-to-back Oscars for “Philadelphia” and “Forrest Gump” also won him the top ranking for an actor on Premiere magazine’s annual list of Hollywood’s 100 most powerful people. The magazine’s May issue ranks Hanks No. 6, up from 29 last year. The list’s No. 1 power mogul remains the same this year as last--director Steven Spielberg.