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

POP/ROCK

Earphones Idea Unplugged: Elton John has canceled his planned June 28 and 29 concerts in Hong Kong to mark the colony’s changeover from British to Chinese rule. John’s managers said the shows had been pulled because Hong Kong authorities refused to waive stringent noise restrictions at the territory’s main stadium. Local politicians had instead suggested that fans could listen to the concert by earphones--an idea widely ridiculed in the Hong Kong press. A government spokesman said John had been offered two alternative sites but found them unsuitable for his special effects. Hong Kong, a British colony for more than 150 years, reverts to China at midnight on June 30.

TELEVISION

Upping the Ante: Prosecutors have added a conspiracy charge in the $40-million extortion case against Autumn Jackson, who claims to be Bill Cosby’s daughter. The new charge came during the indictment in New York Thursday of Jackson and Jose Medina, her alleged accomplice, and raises their possible prison sentences to 12 years (plus fines of $750,000) if convicted. Cosby has denied that Jackson, 22, is his daughter, although he acknowledged in a CBS interview that he did have a “rendezvous” with the girl’s mother.

It’s Sure Not ‘Santa Barbara’: Mexico’s Televisa network had figured that “Tijuana” would be the perfect name for its new soap opera, which takes on issues relevant to both sides of the border, including drugs, violence and illegal immigration. Tijuana officials, however, disagreed, saying that real-life stories about those issues have done enough damage to their city. So after weeks of controversy, and a final two-hour negotiating session Wednesday, Tijuana Mayor Guadalupe Osuna Millan emerged victorious, with producer Raul Araiza agreeing to change the title and delete all references to the city from his script. Araiza also agreed to have his writers consult with Tijuana leaders when scripting the soap opera about a romance between a reporter investigating illegal immigration and a young Mexican man who sneaks across the U.S. border.

STAGE

‘Ragtime,’ Taper News: The cast of “Ragtime,” opening June 15 at the Shubert Theatre, will include the original Toronto company’s Brian Stokes Mitchell as Coalhouse Walker Jr., plus John Rubinstein as Tateh, Marcia Mitzman Gaven as Mother, La Chanze as Sarah and Judy Kaye as Emma Goldman. . . . A May 7-18 double bill of Kelly Stuart’s “Demonology” and Quincy Long’s “The Joy of Going Somewhere Definite” will kick off the revival of the Mark Taper Forum’s New Theatre for Now series, on the Taper main stage. Also in the series: Jose Rivera’s previously announced “The Street of the Sun” (May 27-June 8) and the U.S. premiere of Winsome Pinnock’s “Mules” (June 17-29).

His Cup Runneth Over: Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber will auction off more than 18,000 bottles from his wine collection on May 21 at Sotheby’s in London. Sotheby’s called the sale, expected to bring in a whopping $3.3 million, “undoubtedly the greatest single collection ever to appear at auction. . . . Virtually every bottle falls into the category of the world’s most desirable wine.” An auction house spokeswoman noted that Lloyd Webber is not entirely cleaning out his cellars; he merely realized he had “collected enough wine for at least five lifetimes.”

MOVIES

DGA Documentary Nominees: The Directors Guild of America announced its nominees for outstanding documentary director on Friday. The nominees are Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky for “Paradise Lost,” Leon Gast for “When We Were Kings,” Jeanne Jordan and Steven Ascher for “Troublesome Creek: A Midwestern,” designer Isaac Mizrahi for “Slaughter, the Great War and the Shaping of the 20th Century” and Al Pacino for “Looking for Richard.” All are first-time nominees except for Berlinger and Sinofsky, who won the award in 1992 for “Brother’s Keeper.”

Holy Bat Suit: Warner Bros. has filed a federal lawsuit against four Los Angeles area residents, claiming they used fake security badges to sneak onto the sets of “Batman and Robin,” film the production in progress and sell the tape to TV’s “Inside Edition.” Defendants Michael Robert Carri, Gary DeRosa and Kimberly Weiant were arrested Oct. 19 after allegedly breaking in to a Warner Bros. lot in Burbank. The suit alleges the trio also sneaked on to a Long Beach set Sept. 26 and the Warner Bros. set Oct. 4 before being caught. A fourth defendant, Peter Brandt, is accused of arranging the sale to “Inside Edition,” which broadcast the footage on Oct. 15, according to the suit, which seeks at least $100,000 in damages from each defendant.

QUICK TAKES

After a nearly three-week strike, the members of New York’s Dance Theatre of Harlem returned to work this week. The dancers--scheduled to begin an eastern U.S. and European tour in March--signed a new two-year contract that grants them a 5% yearly wage increase and overtime pay. . . . A block of Hollywood Boulevard--from Vine Street to Argyle Avenue--will be renamed Elizabeth Taylor Way on Sunday in honor of the actress’ 65th birthday party at the Pantages Theatre. . . . It’s official: KCAL-TV Channel 9 has named Don E. Corsini vice president and general manager of the station. Corsini was most recently KCAL’s vice president of sports, operations and production.