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

TELEVISION

Hewitt Cast as Audrey Hepburn: “Party of Five” star Jennifer Love Hewitt (“I Know What You Did Last Summer”) will portray the late Audrey Hepburn in a two-hour ABC movie being developed for next season. Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Marsha Norman (“Getting Out,” “ ‘Night, Mother”) is writing the script for the still-untitled biography.

MOVIES

Chinese Government Interference: Film director Zhang Yuan, who was barred from leaving China when his film “East Palace, West Palace” was presented at the Cannes Film Festival last year, was almost kept from another international event in which “East Palace, West Palace”--about homosexual life in Beijing--was being presented as a play. The play had been banned in China, and Chinese officials held up Zhang’s passport so that he missed last week’s opening of the production at the Spoleto Festival in Italy. But the government then reversed its decision, allowing him to travel for subsequent Spoleto performances. Zhang told the Italian press Monday that he was given no reason for the change of heart. The movie screens July 15 at Outfest ‘98, L.A.’s gay and lesbian film festival.

POP/ROCK

KKBT ‘Summer Jam’ Lineup: Fifteen rap and R&B; acts--including Monica, Missy “Misdemeanor” Elliott, Nate Dogg and Brian McKnight--are scheduled for KKBT-FM’s (92.3) fifth annual “92.3 The Beat Summer Jam,” Aug. 9 at Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre. Additional performers include Timbaland & Magoo, Big Punisher, Michel’le, Next, Jon B., W.C. and Mya. Billed as the nation’s largest gathering of top urban music acts, the concert will benefit local schools and gang prevention organizations. Information on ticket sales will be announced on the radio station.

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Casino Thriller?: Michael Jackson returned to the site of his musical roots Tuesday to announce his plans to enter the casino business in Detroit. Jackson, who along with his brothers started their careers on the Motown label when it was based in Detroit, joined local entrepreneur Don Barden in detailing his vision for a casino and entertainment complex that Jackson promises would provide entertainment “for the childlike heart that lives inside every man and woman.” To be called Majestic Kingdom, the casino project would also include the Michael Jackson Thriller Theme Park, a resort hotel designed by the singer, botanical gardens, nightclubs and restaurants. Earlier this year, city officials approved a plan to bring casino gambling to Detroit, but have so far denied Barden’s proposal for a casino license, despite complaints that Barden’s is the only one from a black group. Barden said Tuesday that only revenue from a casino could bring in the funds needed for Jackson’s entertainment complex, and that the deal with Jackson is off if he doesn’t get a casino license.

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Fasting on Principle: Acclaimed singer-songwriter Steve Earle joined a coalition of anti-death-penalty organizations in a four-day fast last week aimed at drawing attention to legalized executions carried out in this country each year. Earle, a longtime opponent of capital punishment, joined in “Starvin’ for Justice,” an annual vigil in Washington, D.C., sponsored by the Abolitionist Action Committee. Earle says he did break the fast once, however, when he consumed a spinach salad to give him enough energy to perform a show for other fasters and protesters.

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Music From Titanic’s Voyage: Based on his Grammy-winning Rhino Records CD of the same name, Ian Whitcomb and the Bungalow Boys (with Regina) will perform “Titanic, Music as Heard on the Fateful Voyage,” on Aug. 2 at 2 p.m. at the Alex Theatre in Glendale. Featuring tunes from the White Star Line music book--including “Glow-Worm,” “Oh, You Beautiful Doll” and “Alexander’s Ragtime Band”--the concert will feature music believed to have been heard in the Titanic’s first and second class sections, as well as tunes the mostly immigrant passengers are said to have used to entertain themselves in the ship’s third-class section. Tickets are $10 to $23.

CLASSICAL MUSIC

Lots of Ma: Cellist Yo-Yo Ma will give a recital Nov. 18 at the Irvine Barclay Theatre as a benefit for the Irvine theater and the Philharmonic Society of Orange County (tickets are $85). At the same time, Ma will participate in artist-in-residence activities with UC Irvine music students. Ma will also return to the Barclay theater in April to appear with the Mark Morris Dance Group to perform “Falling Down Stairs” and “Rhymes With Silver.”

QUICK TAKES

Reporter Bob Donley has joined KCAL-TV Channel 9 as a prime-time news anchor, joining anchors Jerry Dunphy, Pat Harvey, Kerry Kilbride, Terri Merryman and Jane Velez-Mitchell on the station’s 8-11 p.m. news block. Donley joins KCAL from KTTV-TV Channel 11, where he had been the primary weekend anchor for the past five years. . . . Performances by Bernadette Peters and Chubby Checker have been added to the Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts’ 1989-99 season. Peters will perform with an orchestra on the center’s season opening night, Aug. 15. Checker and the Wildcats will give two performances in a cabaret setting on New Years’ Eve. . . . Actress Debi Mazar (“Temporarily Yours,” “Civil Wars”) will join the cast of NBC’s office comedy “Working” in the fall. . . . Cable’s Turner Classic Movies will honor the late Roy Rogers, who died Monday at age 86, by airing two of his movies, “Rough Riders’ Round-Up” (1939) and “Song of the Saddle” (1936), on Saturday beginning at 8 a.m.