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

POP/ROCK

Gingerless Spice Power: A capacity crowd of about 20,000 adoring young fans greeted the Spice Girls on Monday night at Coral Sky Amphitheatre in West Palm Beach, Fla., as the British quartet kicked off its first North American concert tour. Howard Cohen, who reviewed the show for the Miami Herald, was among those who came away impressed. “OK, so the Spice Girls aren’t terribly deep,” wrote Cohen. “But [they] know how to pace a show with jeweler’s precision, and they’re upbeat and unrelentingly good-natured. . . . This modern-day Fantastic Four showed Monday they’re fab enough.” Cohen reported that no mention was made during the show of Geri Halliwell, a.k.a. Ginger Spice, who quit the group two weeks ago. The tour reaches the Great Western Forum on Aug. 15 and the Glen Helen Blockbuster Pavilion on Aug. 16.

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Return of the Spice Boys: Menudo, the Latino teen pop group that rose to incredible popularity in the early ‘80s, has reunited, with six early group members--now ages 28 to 30--set to perform Aug. 7 at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim and Aug. 9 at Universal Amphitheatre. The tour--dubbed “El Reencuentro”--features Johnny Lozada, Charlie Masso, Miguel Cancel, Ricky Melendez, Rene Farrait and Ray Reyes. The most successful Menudo member, Ricky Martin, is on his own world tour and won’t take part in the reunion tour. Tickets for the local shows go on sale Saturday at 1 p.m. The sextet will also do an in-store appearance to promote their new album, “El Reencuentro: 15 An~os Despues,” on Saturday from 4 to 7 p.m. at Ritmo Latino in Santa Ana.

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It’s Official: The annual Grammy Awards will return to Los Angeles next year after a two-year stint in New York. The ceremony will be held Feb. 24 at the Shrine Auditorium, and speculation is that it may stay beyond the 1999 event, with Los Angeles officials lobbying to have the 2000 show held in the downtown Staples Center arena. However, Michael Greene, president of the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, which oversees the Grammys, said Tuesday that the awards will return to New York at some point. That’s despite a much-publicized feud between the academy and New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani that began last February over Giuliani’s role in the Grammy nominations announcement.

THE ARTS

Republicans vs. NEA, Again: House Republicans resumed their battle against the National Endowment for the Arts on Tuesday with what has become an annual attempt to eliminate the organization’s federal funding. Several GOP officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said legislation being drafted for an appropriations subcommittee meeting today will allocate no money for the agency, which provides grants to nurture the arts. Those same sources conceded, however, that the NEA probably has enough support elsewhere in the House to survive the attack, as it has survived others since the GOP took power in 1995. An NEA spokeswoman was also confident that the Republican attempt would fail, saying Tuesday: “We have even stronger bipartisan support in both the House and Senate than even last year, not to mention the public around the country.” Conservative leaders for years have attempted to cripple the NEA because they disapproved of the content of some projects the organization has funded. The agency received $98 million in federal funds for the current year, with President Clinton having recommended $136 million for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1.

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Israel’s Wagner Debate Continues: Israeli conductors and musicians told parliament Tuesday that it’s time to end Israel’s 50-year de facto ban on the music of Richard Wagner, a virulent anti-Semite who was Adolf Hitler’s favorite composer. Holocaust survivors pleaded to retain the ban, arguing that the operas evoked powerful memories of the Nazi horrors. However Asher Fisch, the music director of the New Israeli Opera--which last week held a public meeting at which an emotional audience shouted down an attempt to perform a Wagner piece--said playing Wagner is a symbol of Jewish survival rather than of acquiescence to the composer’s beliefs. Yaacov Mishori, the lead violinist for the Israeli Philharmonic, said that though no one should be forced to hear Wagner’s works, there is room for special concerts for those who want the freedom to hear it. The hearing was intended only as a forum for public debate; legislators plan no official action on the ban.

QUICK TAKES

As expected, doctors have confirmed that Billy Joel will be unable to continue his European concert tour with Elton John, forcing the cancellation of the HBO special “Elton John and Billy Joel: Face to Face,” which had been scheduled to air Saturday. Joel’s doctor said Tuesday that the singer is suffering from “persistent laryngitis, as well as asthmatic bronchitis” and has been advised against singing. An eventual full recovery is expected, however. . . . Actor Daniel Baldwin, 37, pleaded guilty in New York Monday to disorderly conduct for an alleged drug-induced rampage in February at the Plaza Hotel. Judge Paul Feinman ordered Baldwin to stay in drug rehab for at least three months. “If at the end of one year you have stayed out of trouble, stayed drug free, the record will be sealed,” the judge said. If Baldwin is arrested or caught using drugs within the year, however, he would be sentenced to 15 days in jail, the judge said.