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

STAGE

Deavere’s ‘House’ Arrested: Reacting to what she called “this Greek drama which is being played out in Washington right now,” Anna Deavere Smith and the Mark Taper Forum have postponed her new play “House Arrest,” which was to have begun previews April 5 for an April 16-May 31 run. The work is now expected to play sometime in the 1998-99 season. The Clinton presidency and its treatment by the media are major subjects of the play. “I need to observe and understand this complicated new chapter in our history and see how it will inform my work,” Smith said. A first version of “House Arrest” was performed last fall at Washington’s Arena Stage, where it was panned by the Washington Post but received mixed but encouraging reviews from other newspapers. “The size and scope of this play are so vast and complex that all of us feel it is better served by taking more time to work on it,” said Taper artistic director Gordon Davidson, who on Thursday wasn’t ready to announce what will take over “House Arrest’s” April slot.

ART

Michelangelo Record: A black chalk study by Michelangelo, “Christ and the Woman of Samaria,” sold Wednesday to an anonymous telephone bidder at Sotheby’s New York auction house for nearly $7.5 million, a record for a drawing by the legendary Italian artist. The 17-by-13-inch study of two figures--which had been expected to go for about $6.5 million--is one of the few Michelangelo drawings still in private hands.

MOVIES

Plot: The Star Gets Killed: A proposed film that would be co-produced by recording stars Garth Brooks and Babyface is titled “The Lamb” and is a “music-driven suspense thriller about the murder of a recording icon,” said Babyface’s wife, Tracey Edmonds, who along with her husband heads the production company Edmonds Entertainment. Edmonds Entertainment would co-produce the proposed “Lamb” along with Brooks’ production company, Red Strokes Entertainment. Brooks may appear in the film; an accompanying soundtrack album is in the works.

TV & RADIO

Midseason Shuffles: ABC will premiere “Something So Right,” a comedy seen on NBC last season, on March 3 in the Tuesday, 8:30 p.m. time slot. The following week, “These Are the Days,” an ensemble comedy from the producers of “Roseanne,” will begin airing Tuesdays at 9:30. Another new comedy, “Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place,” will get a tryout in the Wednesday 9:30 p.m. slot starting March 11; the displaced series “Soul Man” and “Ellen” will return later in the season, ABC said.

How Spicy?: The Spice Girls’ Jan. 17 pay-per-view program, “Spice Girls in Concert--Wild!,” was the highest-grossing musical special since 1990--topping offerings by the likes of the Rolling Stones, Bee Gees, Woodstock and Guns N’ Roses--according to pay-per-view distributor Showtime Entertainment Television. Although only 130,000 households nationwide purchased the $19.95 Spice Girls special (the record, Showtime said, is 274,000 households for a 1990 New Kids on the Block program), a Showtime executive said that the Spice Girls’ performance “convinces us that there might be a future yet in non-sports programming on pay-per-view.” Not that the Spice Girls hold a candle to those sports events: Numbers for Mike Tyson fights are spectacular, and even last April’s Oscar De La Hoya-Pernell Whitaker match drew 800,000 homes.

Programs Needed: The Aahs World Radio Network, heard locally on KPLS-AM (830), will sign off its children’s programming tonight at 10. A spokeswoman said Thursday that the network is still searching for alternative programming. Because of an ongoing lawsuit with ABC/Disney, Children’s Broadcasting Corp.--which owns the Aahs network--is discontinuing its children’s radio operations. Its 14 national stations, including KPLS, were to have been sold to Global Broadcasting Co. Inc., but that deal has not been completed.

QUICK TAKES

Hoping to create a training ground for black comedy writers, hot comedian Chris Rock is funding an undergraduate humor magazine based on the influential Harvard Lampoon. It will be operated out of Washington’s Howard University; Rock’s exact role in the magazine’s operation is still being determined. . . . Today at 5 p.m. is the deadline to return all nomination ballots for the 70th Academy Awards. . . . NBC’s “ER” and ABC’s “Ellen” were among the winners Thursday of the 16th annual Media Access Awards, honoring those who “improve the image of people with disabilities.” . . . Sean “Puff Daddy” Combs dominated the 1998 Soul Train Music Awards nominations, garnering five nods Wednesday, including album of the year and best new artist. And Combs has already been chosen as the awards’ Sammy Davis Jr. Entertainer of the Year. The honors are Feb. 27 at the Shrine Auditorium. . . . Luciano Pavarotti, who cut short a performance over the weekend because of a dizzy spell, needs more rest and has pulled out of three New York performances of “The Elixir of Love,” the Metropolitan Opera said. In addition to Thursday’s performance, which he missed, Pavarotti, 62, will skip shows on Feb. 3 and 7. . . . KABC-AM (790) is airing “Crisis in the White House,” an hourlong ABC Radio Network report on the current Clinton furor, each night at 11:06 p.m. . . . CBS’ “60 Minutes” will rebroadcast this Sunday the widely quoted 1992 interview in which then-presidential candidate Bill Clinton discussed marital infidelity, admitting he had caused “pain” in his marriage. The rebroadcast will include outtakes that did not originally air.