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

STAGE

Kidder Plans Comeback: Plans are afoot for Margot Kidder to return to the stage this fall, just months after suffering an apparent emotional breakdown in Los Angeles. According to her manager, John Blake, the actress who played Lois Lane in the 1978 movie “Superman” is slated to make her Broadway debut Oct. 3 opposite Stacy Keach in “Stieglitz Loves O’Keeffe.” A five-week run is scheduled at the Royale Theater followed by a tour of U.S. and Canadian cities, Blake said. Kidder and Keach toured in the play last year, mostly at East Coast venues, but also did two benefit performances at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Kidder, 47, was hospitalized in April after she was found cowering in a Glendale backyard following her disappearance from Los Angeles International Airport. Police concluded that she had spent three days wandering the streets, hacking off her hair during that time. Blake, who did not disclose Kidder’s whereabouts, said she is working on her autobiography for Simon & Schuster and is going to give a TV interview soon. He said she is “a real survivor” and is eager to get back to work. Keach’s agent, Lionel Larner, said contracts have not yet been signed but negotiations are underway.

MOVIES/TV

Burton’s Eagle Flies: LeVar Burton, via his production company Eagle National Films, has signed a deal with Paramount to develop series, telefilms and miniseries and to produce and direct feature films. Burton, co-star in the upcoming movie “Star Trek: First Contact,” also hosts and helps produce “Reading Rainbow” for PBS. Eagle National’s first project for Paramount Network Television will be a half-hour comedy series, “Daddy’s Little Girl,” in which Burton will star. The company’s first film for Paramount Pictures will be “Life and Teachings of the Masters of the Far East,” based on a series of books by Baird T. Spaulding that focuses on scientists who deal with beings of phenomenal power.

Writers Sought: The Writer’s Film Project, an industry-backed effort that seeks to identify and encourage screenwriting talent, has set Aug. 15 as the deadline for this year’s applications. The project, which originated in 1990 at Amblin Entertainment, grants up to five $20,000 fellowships annually and has seen its alumni graduate to many major studios. The program is co-sponsored by the Chesterfield Film Co. and the Kennedy/Marshall Co. and counts industry leaders such as Steven Spielberg among its backers. Potential applicants should contact the Chesterfield Film Co. Information: (213) 683-3977.

POP/ROCK

Nothing to Hoot About: Some 500 New Yorkers who paid up to $150 each for choice seats to Hootie & the Blowfish are being told to fergetit. The band declared the tickets void after learning that someone in the box office at Jones Beach had set aside the tickets in the first 10 rows for their Aug. 3 and 4 concerts. Two box-office workers were fired and ticket holders were advised to call Ticketmaster. While the tickets were believed to have been sold by scalpers at vastly inflated prices, they can be redeemed only for the face value--$25.

Darn That Dream: Yankeetown, Fla., wants nothing to do with an Elvis Presley Highway. Fans of the King wanted the town to dub Levy County Road 40 the “Follow That Dream” Parkway for the movie Presley made 35 years ago in Yankeetown and Inglis. Inglis went along, but Yankeetown has refused. “Elvis Presley does not personify Yankeetown. He only came to this area to make a movie for his own benefit,” said Yankeetown Mayor Jimmie Wall. Five of the highway’s six miles are in Yankeetown, so only a one-mile stretch in Inglis will honor Elvis.

QUICK TAKES

Thousands of Internet users in 27 countries have voted Miles Davis the first Duke Ellington Lifetime Achievement Award and picked saxophonist Joshua Redman as jazz artist of the year and best tenor saxophonist. Other winners in Jazz Central Station’s four-month Global Jazz Poll include Cassandra Wilson (best jazz vocalist), saxophonist James Carter (best new jazz artist) and Fourplay (best jazz group, best contemporary group and best new jazz release, for “Elixir”). . . . Actor Anthony Quinn, 81, was discharged Tuesday from a Providence, R.I., hospital after a two-night stay for apparent heart problems, a hospital spokesman said. The two-time Academy Award winner, who has a history of coronary problems, was staying at his Bristol, R.I., vacation home when he became ill Sunday. . . . A legal battle over the purchase of a Batmobile by illusionist David Copperfield has been settled, with the parties agreeing to make a charitable contribution to an organization established by Copperfield to teach magic and theatrical arts to disabled persons, a spokesman for the magician said. Copperfield made the winning bid on the vehicle at Butterfield & Butterfield auctioneers but sought to cancel his purchase from owner Michael Eisenberg when he learned that it had not been used in the movie “Batman.” The Batmobile has been sold to another buyer. . . . Courtney Love, with a new stylish brunet image, gets premiere play for her video, “Gold Dust Women,” on MTV today at 6 a.m., 8 a.m., 1 p.m., 3 p.m., 6 p.m. and 9 p.m.