STAGEA Longer ‘Kiss’: In addition to her...

STAGE

A Longer ‘Kiss’: In addition to her previously announced Dec. 26-Jan. 7 stand at the Orange County Performing Arts Center, Chita Rivera will reprise her 1993 Tony-winning role in “Kiss of the Spider Woman” at the Pasadena Civic Jan. 9-14 and at the Music Center’s Ahmanson Theatre March 14-April 21. Rivera’s co-stars in the Harold Prince-directed production will be Argentine native Juan Chioran and film and television actor Dorian Harewood (“Roots: The Next Generation”).

MOVIES

‘Evita’ Update: British film director Alan Parker, in Buenos Aires seeking actors and locations for his movie version of the musical “Evita,” assured Argentina Tuesday that he would not insult the revered memory of Eva Peron. “More than anything I want to be balanced in my portrayal,” Parker (“Midnight Express,” “Fame,” “The Commitments”) said on Argentine television. The $60-million film, with Madonna in the title role, Jonathan Pryce as Juan Peron and Antonio Banderas as revolutionary Che Guevara, has drawn a hostile reception in Argentina, including from President Carlos Menem, who backs instead a home-grown film version with local soap opera star Andrea del Boca. Although one production source said it still looks as if Menem will not allow Parker to film on the balcony of the Casa Rosada palace, from where Peron and Evita addressed adoring crowds, Parker said that Menem has reassured him that the film will not be obstructed. The film’s three-month shooting is scheduled to begin on Jan. 18, with many exteriors shot in Budapest, where Parker hopes to re-create the ambience of 1940s and ‘50s Buenos Aires.

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Kudos for ‘Pocahontas,’ ‘Simpsons’: Disney’s “Pocahontas” won four honors at the International Animated Film Society’s 23rd Annual Annie Awards, including outstanding achievement in an animated theatrical feature and best music for an animated project (the award went to composer Alan Menken and lyricist Steven Schwartz). Among other honors, Fox’s “The Simpsons” was named best animated TV show, and Nancy Cartwright, who supplies Bart Simpson’s voice, won for best voice acting.

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Cue the Director: Actress-director Jodie Foster will speak on the art of filmmaking tonight after a 7 p.m. screening of her current movie, “Home for the Holidays,” at the Paramount lot’s Paramount Theater, 5555 Melrose Ave. Tickets for the event, which will be taped by the Independent Film Channel to air in early 1996, are $25. . . . Director Barry Sonnenfeld will also speak tonight after a 6:30 p.m. screening of his film “Get Shorty” at the American Film Institute’s Mark Goodson Screening Room, 2021 N. Western Ave. Tickets are $20.

TELEVISION

Cable Battle Shapes Up: CNN announced plans Tuesday for its latest venture, a financial network to take on CNBC. The new cable network, to be called CNNfn, will begin in January with 12 hours a day of financial news. CNN financial anchor Lou Dobbs will be the executive in charge. Planned shows include “Outta the Box,” concentrating on the opening of world markets every day; “In the Game,” a look at stock performance, and “Plugged In,” during which viewers can interact with industry experts.

ART

Skirball Preview: Comedian Sandra Bernhard will host a “Preview Gala” Saturday at the new $100-million Skirball Cultural Center in the Sepulveda Pass. The gala--the first public event at the center, which is scheduled to open permanently in April--is a benefit for the Los Angeles Jewish AIDS Services and will honor L.A. City Councilman Joel Wachs and Rabbi Elliot N. Dorff for their work to battle the AIDS epidemic. Tickets are $200.

QUICK TAKES

Kevin Costner’s mega-budget adventure flick “Waterworld” comes out on MCA/Universal Home Video on Jan. 23. No list price has been announced. . . . Starting in January, Paris’ famed Louvre museum will waive its $8 admission fee on the first Sunday of every month, as part of a plan to make French museums more accessible to the public. . . . Cleveland’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, which has been closed on Mondays since its Sept. 1 opening, is now open seven days a week. About 200,000 people have visited the museum thus far. . . . “Star Search” host Ed McMahon, 72, entered an unidentified hospital Monday for removal of a benign polyp from his colon, and is expected to be released in a few days.

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Quotable: “OK, sure there’s gridlock, sure there’s pollution, sure there’s noise, but let me ask you this: Where else can you get a hot dog for $7?”

--Talk-show host David Letterman, reassuring New Yorkers that he will keep his “Late Show” based in the Big Apple.