MUSICUSC Grad Wins Prokofiev Contest: In a...

MUSIC

USC Grad Wins Prokofiev Contest: In a stunning victory that recalled the accomplishment of Van Cliburn almost four decades ago, a 24-year-old Los Angeles pianist won the Second International Prokofiev Piano Competition held in St. Petersburg’s Philharmonic Hall last week, it was learned Monday. Robert Thies, a May graduate of USC, was awarded the highest points from an international jury composed of well-known pianists. (Jury member Daniel Pollack, who is Thies’ instructor, exempted himself from the voting.) The victory by an American was unlike anything since Van Cliburn won the First International Tchaikovsky Piano Competition in 1958. The Prokofiev piano competition, established in 1991 to honor the composer who was born in St. Petersburg, attracted 65 participants worldwide this year.

MOVIES

Paramount Signs Bochco: Pioneering TV producer Steven Bochco is going to try his hand at filmmaking for Paramount Pictures. The film company announced Monday it has signed a three-year agreement under which Bochco will develop and produce motion pictures that he may also write or co-write. That follows a June announcement that Bochco has a deal to write and produce a movie about the Supreme Court for MGM. Bochco has won 10 Emmy Awards--six for “Hill Street Blues,” three for “L.A. Law” and one for “NYPD Blue,” among numerous honors. His newest series is the critically acclaimed but low-rated “Murder One,” on which he is executive producer and co-creator.

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Honored in Havana: Taking three top awards, Mexico’s “El Callejon de los Milagros” (Big Street of Miracles) dominated the 17th International Festival of New Latin America Cinema in Havana last week. The film won the Coral Award for feature film, best direction for Jorge Fons and script award for Vicente Lenero. A Cuban-Spanish-German co-production, “Guantanamera,” took second prize. It was jointly directed by Cubans Tomas Gutierrez Alea and Juan Carlos Tabio, who helmed “Strawberry and Chocolate.” Gutierrez Alea also was given an honorary award. Third prize was won by Mexico’s “Sin Remitente” (Anonymous Letter).

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Best in Boston: Splitting from their colleagues in New York and Los Angeles, Boston film critics picked “Sense and Sensibility” as best picture of the year. The two other film groups had chosen “Leaving Las Vegas” for top honors. All three groups picked Nicolas Cage as best actor for “Leaving Las Vegas.” Other top Boston winners: Emma Thompson, screenplay for “Sense and Sensibility” (New York and L.A. agreed); Ang Lee, director for the same film; Nicole Kidman, actress (“To Die For”); Kevin Spacey, supporting actor (“The Usual Suspects”); and Joan Allen, supporting actress (“Nixon”).

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Selena Film Slated: Warner Bros. has agreed to distribute a film biography of the slain Latin pop star Selena, according to the trade paper Daily Variety. The film company declined comment. Gregory Nava, who won praise for “Mi Familia,” which portrayed three generations of a Mexican family as it migrated to Southern California, has been tabbed to write and direct the $8-million to $10-million project. Esparza-Katz Productions signed Nava after securing the story rights from Selena’s father, Abraham Quintanilla Jr., who will executive produce and will get a seven-figure fee, Variety said. The film will feature original tunes sung by Selena, who was shot to death March 31 by her former fan club president.

TELEVISION

Fawlty Performances: Basil Fawlty and the Ministry of Silly Walks do not make John Cleese laugh. They make him cringe. The former Monty Python funny man told the Mail on Sunday newspaper in London that looking back on his acts from the 1970s, now regarded as comedy classics, makes him wonder what people were laughing at. “It was all embarrassingly awful,” he said in the interview. “All these years and nobody had ever said anything. Are they being polite, or haven’t they noticed?” In a favorite Python sketch, Cleese plays an officious bureaucrat who reviews silly walks for patent consideration. He later starred as Basil Fawlty, a neurotic hotelier, in “Fawlty Towers.” Cleese is currently readying a sequel to the 1988 hit film “A Fish Called Wanda.”

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Another Spelling Actor: Following in the footsteps of his sister Tori, Randy Spelling is going to star in a TV series about high school students that will be produced by his famous father, Aaron. The show is “Malibu Shores,” described by NBC as a drama about “two rival high schools with students from opposite sides of the track--the elite community of Malibu and the working-class San Fernando Valley.” Despite his heritage as the son of one of television’s most successful producers, Randy will play one of the Valley boys, Flipper. A premiere date has not yet been set.

QUICK TAKES

Saxophonist Kenny G, his wife and infant child escaped early Monday with minor cases of smoke inhalation when fire gutted the first floor of their Benedict Canyon house, causing $275,000 in damage, according to Fire Department spokesman Jim Wells. It took 50 firefighters and one helicopter about 45 minutes to put the fire out. The cause was listed as “accidental.”. . . First-day non-subscription sales for Mandy Patinkin’s six-performance engagement at UCLA’s James A. Doolittle Theatre broke a record Sunday with $74,660. The previous record holder was “Angels in America” with $63,045. Patinkin performs Jan. 16 -- 21.