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

POP/ROCK

Van Halen Confirms Plans: Eddie and Alex Van Halen on Friday confirmed speculation that they are only a signature away from naming Gary Cherone of Extreme as Van Halen’s new lead singer. Van Halen members have been publicly feuding this week with former Van Halen singer David Lee Roth, who said he had been led to believe he was replacing fired singer Sammy Hagar, only to learn that another vocalist had been chosen. The brothers, appearing on L.A. radio station KLOS-FM (95.5), said that they had already written seven new songs with Cherone, whom they met through their mutual manager.

THE ARTS

Outerbridge Sale Results: Thirty photographs by Modernist photographer Paul Outerbridge Jr. owned by the Orange County Museum of Art were sold in New York Thursday for $753,360--more than $250,000 above pre-sale estimates. The auction was the last of three controversial sales offering 90 Outerbridge works from the museum’s collection. In all, 70 of the works sold, fetching a total of about $1.7 million. The unsold works will be returned to the museum, which will determine whether to keep them or to authorize future sales. The auctions had drawn criticism from some in the art world who believed the Outerbridge images were among the museum’s most distinguished assets. But museum trustees--who will use the proceeds to buy new artworks--said the photos did not fit the museum’s mission.

United They Stand: Two national arts groups--the business-minded American Council for the Arts and the more grass-roots National Assembly of Local Arts Agencies--have merged to form Americans for the Arts, a new Washington-based entity that organizers hope will bring about increased arts funding through better ties between the nonprofit arts world and corporate America. Board members of the new organization include Michael Greene, president of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, as well as Al Nodal, general manager of Los Angeles’ Cultural Affairs Department, who was the only member of both groups’ board of directors. Organizers of the merger--which has already raised $1 million in start-up funds and also encompasses smaller groups such as the National Coalition of United Arts Funds and the U.S. Urban Arts Federation--also hope to strengthen future arts leadership nationwide.

Heading East: Keith Antar Mason’s Santa Monica-based performance group, the Hittite Empire, will join a host of international artists in the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s annual Next Wave Festival. Hittite Empire was chosen by Jamaican-born photographer Albert Chong to collaborate on “Black Fathers and Sons: A U.S. Perspective,” to be performed Nov. 21-23 as part of “Artists in Action,” a festival component designed to give visual artists a leadership role in developing performance works. . . . Another L.A. artist, Roger Guenveur Smith, will perform his one-man piece, “A Huey P. Newton Story,” at Joseph Papp Public Theatre Feb. 5-23, as part of the Public’s eight-show season.

TELEVISION

What Month Is It?: With the fall premiere season still under way, the syndicated “Babylon 5” seems to be traveling in a different time dimension: The science-fiction show is gearing up for its season conclusion. The show--starring Bruce Boxleitner--will wrap its third year with a two-part episode airing Oct. 24 and 31 on KCOP-TV Channel 13, guest starring Boxleitner’s wife, actress Melissa Gilbert. The series then jumps right back into business with its fourth-season premiere on Nov. 7.

New Channel 5 Head: John Reardon has been named vice president and general manager of KTLA-TV Channel 5, replacing Greg Nathanson, who on Friday was named executive in charge of development for Fox Television Stations and Twentieth Television, where he will develop and distribute new programming. Reardon has been station manager of KTLA since 1992.

ATTRACTIONS

Electrical Parade Extended: Due to overwhelming public demand and record attendance, Disneyland has extended the run of its Main Street Electrical Parade through Nov. 25. The parade had been scheduled to conclude its 24-year run Oct. 15. Because the park has already begun a charity program to sell off the parade’s lightbulbs, no further extensions are possible, park officials said.

QUICK TAKES

When the new 24-hour Fox News Channel launches Monday morning, it only will air locally on Tele-Communications Inc. cable systems in the East San Fernando Valley, Brentwood and Arcadia. . . . Pop star Michael Jackson performs in Tunisia on Monday in what will be his first concert in either Africa or the Arab world. Proceeds will benefit a Tunisian anti-poverty charity. . . . Auditions will be held at the Music Center Monday at 6 p.m. for 25 male extras needed for the L.A. performances of Pina Bausch’s new theater piece “Nur Du.” (See review of Berkeley performance, Page F1.) Applicants should be ages 20 to 60; no dance experience is required. . . . Dale Kristien, Kirby Tepper, Charlotte Rae, Gretchen Wyler and JoAnne Worley perform at the Pasadena Playhouse on Monday in “Aardvarks to Zebras 5,” an annual musical benefit for the AIDS charity PAWS/LA. Tickets are $40 and $85.