Arts and entertainment reports from The Times, national and international news services and the nation’s press.

MOVIES

Updating Malle’s ‘Elevator’: A remake of the late Louis Malle’s first feature film, 1957’s “Elevator to the Gallows,” is in early pre-production at Phoenix Pictures, the new company formed by Mike Medavoy and Arnold Messer. The updated version of the film--a suspense thriller about a woman who plots with her lover to kill her wealthy husband that launched actress Jeanne Moreau’s film career--will be produced by Vincente Malle, Louis Malle’s brother and producing partner, and Neil Koenigsberg, the PMK publicity firm co-founder. A spokesman for Medavoy said that Malle gave the project his blessing before his death last year.

CLASSICAL MUSIC

Sibelius Work Discovered: A Finnish orchestra has discovered and recorded a symphonic poem by composer Jean Sibelius that had been neglected for nearly a century, its director said Friday. Sibelius wrote “The Wood Nymph” in the late 1800s about the same time as his best-known works, such as “The Karelia Suite.” The piece was featured prominently in a performance of Sibelius’ First Symphony in 1899, but it has not been played since--and Sibelius never pursued efforts to get it published. “The experts agree that this is a great piece,” Tuomas Kinberg, director of the Lahti city orchestra, said. “The mystery is why Sibelius didn’t take care of it.” Kinberg said Sibelius scholars knew the work existed, but its whereabouts were unknown until it was discovered languishing in the Helsinki University Library, where it had been donated in 1982 along with other papers from the composer’s family. Swedish classical music company BIS Gramophone aims to put the recording on sale by April.

EVENTS

King Day Celebrations: Dan Aykroyd, Jim Belushi, Shari Belafonte, Lou Rawls, Sinbad, Little Richard, Chuck D of Public Enemy and actor John Goodman are among the confirmed performers for “Spirit of the Dream ‘96,” the House of Blues’ annual Martin Luther King Day celebration, on Monday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Others scheduled to take part in the free event include Jasmine Guy, Isaac Hayes, “Partners” star Catherine Lloyd Burns, Congresswoman Maxine Waters, State Sen. Diane Watson, the Clara Ward Singers and the L.A. Cathedral Choir. . . . Actor Denzel Washington will receive the Martin Luther King Jr. Award on Sunday during L.A. County’s 1996 National King Holiday Commemoration at Martin Luther King Jr. Hospital. Following the 3 p.m. program will be a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the hospital’s new Denzel Washington Pediatric Pavilion.

STAGE

FEMA Aids Actors Alley: The North Hollywood theater company Actors Alley has been notified that it will receive a long-awaited $1.5 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, enabling the completion of repairs and renovations of Actors Alley’s new, larger facility, El Portal Theatre. The company was a few weeks away from opening at the El Portal in January 1994 when the building was severely damaged by the Northridge earthquake. Officials now hope to open the El Portal’s new 350- and 99-seat spaces by the end of 1996.

TELEVISION

Laughing Matter: Television director James Burrows (“Cheers,” “Taxi,” “Frasier,” “Friends”) will be honored for career creative achievement at the 10th annual American Comedy Awards, taking place Feb. 11 at the Shrine Exposition Center, for future broadcast on ABC. Among the “funniest” actor nominees announced this week were stars from TV’s “Seinfeld” (Jerry Seinfeld, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Jason Alexander, Michael Richards), “Friends” (Jennifer Aniston, Lisa Kudrow, Matthew Perry, David Schwimmer), “Frasier” (Kelsey Grammer, David Hyde Pierce), “Mad About You” (Helen Hunt, Paul Reiser), “Murphy Brown” (Candice Bergen, Faith Ford) and “The Larry Sanders Show” (Garry Shandling, Janeane Garofalo). In the film categories “Get Shorty” got the most nominations--for actors John Travolta, Gene Hackman, Dennis Farina and Bette Midler.

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Comedy Festival Plans: The 1996 U.S. Comedy Arts Festival kicks off in Aspen, Colo., on Feb. 28 with the taping of “Catch a Rising Star’s 50th Anniversary--Give or Take 26 Years,” a May CBS special hosted by Rosie O’Donnell and celebrating New York’s legendary Catch a Rising Star nightclub. Also being taped is an hourlong spring special for cable’s Comedy Central, starring Bill Maher and featuring Margaret Cho, Jack Coen, Lewis Black and Jimmy Tingle, and a March 2 Comedy Central late-night special hosted by Drew Carey and featuring comics including Janeane Garofalo. The festival’s closing event is a March 2 live edition of Dennis Miller’s “HBO Comedy Hour,” for cable’s HBO.

QUICK TAKES

Paul Kellogg has been named general and artistic director of the New York City Opera, replacing the late Christopher Keene, who died Oct. 8. During a 17-year tenure at his last post, Kellogg, 58, turned the Glimmerglass Opera in Cooperstown, N.Y., from a $70,400 operation into a $3.5-million program. . . . Comic George Lopez will record a live comedy CD tonight during his 7, 9 and 11 p.m. shows at the Ice House in Pasadena.