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

STAGE

Lloyd Webber Case Revived: Andrew Lloyd Webber lost a round in his New York court battle with a struggling musician when a federal appeals panel restored a copyright infringement claim against Lloyd Webber that had been dismissed. The legal battle between the Broadway composer and Ray Repp, a folk music writer, began in 1990 after Repp heard the main theme from “The Phantom of the Opera,” which he thought resembled “Till You,” a religious song that Repp had written in 1978. But Lloyd Webber denied copying from Repp, claiming that the “Phantom” song grew out of his own 1978 song “Close Every Door,” from “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat”; hence, Lloyd Webber claimed, Repp actually copied from him. Both claims were dismissed, until Tuesday, when the Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Repp had not stolen the music from “Close Every Door,” and thus can proceed to trial on his original claim, that Lloyd Webber infringed upon his copyright for “Till You.” Lloyd Webber’s legal representatives in New York were unavailable for comment.

POP/ROCK

Chiapas Protest: Zack De La Rocha of the politically charged rock band Rage Against the Machine plans to stage a protest Friday at the Mexican Consulate in Los Angeles against the Dec. 22 killing of 45 unarmed villagers in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas. Using the catch-phrase “there must not be another civil war in Mexico,” De La Rocha will join the National Commission for Democracy in Mexico and the community coalition Aguascalientes L.A. to “demand an end to senseless bloodshed and to demand the end of the genocidal war against the indigenous Zapatistas.” The latest bloodshed occurred as Mexican villagers were praying in church at midday; survivors described the attackers as supporters of the governing Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, which has clashed with the Zapatistas since Zapatista rebels launched an armed uprising in 1994. De La Rocha has made previous pleas for the Zapatistas, including in Rage’s latest project--a 78-minute video package remaking Bruce Springsteen’s “The Ghost of Tom Joad.”

TV & MOVIES

Hola Lucy?: America’s TV classic “I Love Lucy” is reportedly being reworked in an international Spanish-language version with Brazilian star Xuxa set to play the lead. According to the Hollywood Reporter, the series, which will reuse the original “Lucy” scripts, will be made by All American/Fremantle International in partnership with broadcaster Antena 3 of Spain (Fremantle International acquired “Lucy’s” international rights two years ago from CBS). Whereas in the original series, Desi Arnaz’s Ricky Ricardo would revert to his native Cuban-tinged Spanish whenever his anger got the best of him, the new series will reportedly be reworked so that Xuxa’s Spanish-speaking Lucy will be the one to mutter in her native tongue--Xuxa’s own native Portuguese--when tempers rise.

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Memo to Bob Hope: Troops in Bosnia made an informal Christmas wish list of the celebrities they’d most like to sit down and chat with, naming “Mad About You” star Helen Hunt and blond bombshells Jenny McCarthy and Pamela Lee. Other celebrities on the list, according to honorary Hollywood Mayor Johnny Grant, who just returned from a Christmas visit with the troops: Harrison Ford, Will Smith, Jack Nicholson, Halle Berry, Garth Brooks, Toni Braxton, Patti LaBelle, Barry Manilow, Bill Gates, basketball star Michael Jordan and writer Tom Clancy.

QUICK TAKES

“Everyone Loves Raymond” star Ray Romano and country music singer Reba McEntire will co-host the 24th annual People’s Choice Awards, airing Jan. 11 on CBS. In addition, singer Garth Brooks is slated to perform, and actress Whoopi Goldberg will receive the annual Special Tribute Award. . . . Woody Allen is writing a play with a role for his new wife, Soon-Yi Previn, the New York Post reported Wednesday. Quoting friends of the couple, the paper said that Previn, 27, has been taking acting lessons since October.