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

POP/ROCK

Interscope Reigns: Bush’s “Razorblade Suitcase” entered the nation’s pop album sales chart Wednesday at No. 1, helping Interscope Records become the first distributor of the top four albums on the chart since Columbia Records did it in 1976. The British rock group’s CD sold nearly 294,000 copies last week, according to SoundScan, and was followed by Snoop Doggy Dogg’s “Tha Doggfather” (205,000 copies sold), No Doubt’s “Tragic Kingdom” (157,000) and Tupac Shakur’s “The Don Killuminati--The 7 Day Theory” (154,000). Together, the albums represented about $10 million in sales. Interscope has distribution deals with both Death Row Records and Trauma Records, the top four albums’ labels. Interscope also topped the nation’s singles chart for the fifth week in a row with Blackstreet’s “No Diggity.” For more on the Interscope sweep, see today’s Business Section. Meanwhile, Prince’s three-disc “Emancipation,” his first release since breaking from Warner Bros. Records, failed to make the Top 10, debuting in 11th place. And Madonna’s “Evita” soundtrack, No. 6 last week, dropped to No. 28.

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Selena’s Hometown Remembrances: Construction could begin Monday on a Corpus Christi, Texas, memorial to slain singing star Selena, who was shot to death in 1995. Pending the expected city council approval, the memorial, which would include a sea-wall with a statue of the Tejano singing star, should be completed by April 16, the late singer’s birthday. The city has already changed the name of its Bayfront Auditorium to Selena Auditorium.

STAGE

‘Rent’ Dispute: “Rent,” the hit Broadway musical, has been hit by a $40-million lawsuit from a New York University drama professor who claims she collaborated with the play’s late author, Jonathan Larson, who died of a heart ailment just before “Rent’s” opening. Larson’s former teacher, Lynn Thomson, claims she edited Larson’s uncertain early drafts and was personally responsible for a third of the completed musical’s book. “I’m not trying to take anything away from Jonathan,” Thomson insists. “He was a class act. . . . If he were alive today, he’d be laying gold bricks at my doorstep.” However, Larson’s father, whose initial offer of $100,000 was refused by Thomson, vowed to fight Thomson’s claims, saying that the suit would never have been brought if Larson were still alive. In a statement, the Larson family claims that Thomson did no more than “dot the I’s and cross the T’s.”

QUICK TAKES

Sarah Ferguson--still known as Britain’s Duchess of York despite her divorce from Prince Andrew--apparently hopes to become the duchess of television. According to her spokesman, Fergie is fielding offers to host a daytime talk show that could begin in 1997 and is also considering other TV opportunities. . . . Reruns of “Late Night With Conan O’Brien” will begin airing Monday on NBC’s cable outlet. The show will air weeknights from 7-8 , with each CNBC program running 30 days after its original NBC broadcast. . . . Henry Rollins’ performance Friday at the Galaxy Theatre in Santa Ana has been postponed until Jan. 15 due to slow ticket sales because of the holiday. He is still scheduled to perform Dec. 6-7 at the El Rey Theatre. . . . The Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts has named Kurt Swanson, community and cultural services director for the city of Cerritos, as acting executive director, replacing Victor Gottesman, who resigned earlier this month. A national search is in progress to fill the position permanently. . . . The Music Center this week kicked off a$9-million fund-raising campaign to support its resident companies (L.A. Philharmonic, L.A. Opera, Center Theatre Group and Master Chorale) and educational activities. This year’s fund-raising theme is “The Power to Create, the Power to Educate and the Power to Safeguard the Arts.”