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

TELEVISION

‘Twilight’ to PBS: Playwright Anna Deavere Smith has won a $1-million grant from the Michigan-based Charles Stewart Mott Foundation to film her acclaimed one-woman stage show “Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992” as a PBS movie. The production, which premiered in 1993 at the Mark Taper Forum, chronicles the civil unrest that followed the 1992 acquittal of Los Angeles police officers in the beating of Rodney G. King. The movie’s format, as well as the director, have yet to be determined, but Smith hopes to begin filming in the early summer for a 1999 premiere. A video release is also planned.

POP/ROCK

Can’t We All Just Have a Record Label? Speaking of Rodney King, the man whose injuries were forever captured on videotape will appear on today’s Howard Stern show to debut his new business venture, a rap record label called Straight Alta-Pazz (a reference to King’s Altadena-Pasadena neighborhood). King, the company’s CEO, does not perform on the single, called “Do It How U Wanna,” by the rap group Stranded. But his spokeswoman said he did have hands-on participation in the recording of Stranded’s eponymous album, and compared King to Compton-based Death Row Records founder-CEO-producer Marion “Suge” Knight--before she noted that the comparison might not be so favorable now that Knight has been sent to prison and barred from running the company because of his involvement in a 1996 beating. Although the Stranded single was quietly sent to stores a week ago, King hopes to generate interest for the album, which is expected to be released in a few weeks. Stern’s show, meanwhile, which was to be taped in Los Angeles early this morning, airs on KLSX-FM (97.1) from 3 to 7 a.m., with a repeat from 8 to 11 a.m.

On the Concert Trail: Singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell, who has performed only a handful of shows in the last 15 years, will join Bob Dylan on a West Coast tour that includes concerts May 21 and 22 at UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion and May 23 at the Pond of Anaheim. Van Morrison had been announced as co-headliner for the tour, but a spokeswoman for the Irish singer said Tuesday that he had never officially agreed to play the dates. Mitchell’s last L.A. performance was on Jan. 26, 1995, when she played at the Gene Autry Western Heritage Museum. The Rock and Roll Hall of Famer has not toured since 1983. Tickets for the Dylan-Mitchell shows go on sale Monday at 10 a.m. . . . Mitchell is also among those scheduled for “Stormy Weather ‘98,” an April 16 benefit concert for Walden Woods at the Wiltern Theatre; Natalie Cole, Toni Braxton and Shawn Colvin are new additions to that bill.

McInerney’s Suit: Actor Sean Penn has sued an attorney who allegedly muscled in and took control of Penn’s ill-fated Santa Monica nightclub McInerney’s. In the L.A. Superior Court suit, Penn seeks $130,000 plus damages for his investment in McInerney’s, a trendy spot that became a celebrity hangout during its six-month run last year. After the club started losing money, Penn’s suit claims, a Miami Beach business offered to buy McInerney’s but club attorney John Hilbert blocked the sale and then obtained McInerney’s liquor license and lease. Hilbert on Monday called the suit “very interesting” but said he had no further comments since he had not yet been served.

STAGE

Trouble on Broadway?: Broadway theaters could fall silent next week after contract negotiations between the Musicians’ Union and the League of American Theaters and Producers broke off, New York union representatives said late Monday. Its Local 802 represents some 750 musicians, conductors and others who play for productions, including “Rent,” “Phantom of the Opera,” “Titanic” and “Chicago.” The old contract expired Monday; among the negotiations’ sticking points is a proposal to divert pension money to pay for other union benefits. Both sides said they have agreed to more talks--although they’re not scheduled until next week--after a musicians’ strike vote proposed for Saturday. If a strike occurs, some 18 musicals could fall silent; “The Lion King” and “Ragtime”--musicals that are not covered by the contract talks--and nonmusical plays would not be affected. The last Broadway musicians’ strike occurred in 1975.

MOVIES & VIDEO

Blockbuster Winners: Julia Roberts picked up double honors at Tuesday night’s Blockbuster Entertainment Awards, being named best actress in a comedy for “My Best Friend’s Wedding” and best actress in a suspense film for “Conspiracy Theory.” Among other winners of the awards, voted by customers at the nationwide Blockbuster video stores and at Planet Hollywood restaurants, were Roberts’ “Wedding” co-star Rupert Everett, “Men in Black” star Will Smith and “Scream 2” star Neve Campbell. Howard Stern was named favorite actor-newcomer for “Private Parts,” and Arnold Schwarzenegger won the first-ever world artist award recognizing him as the globe’s “biggest-renting action star.”

QUICK TAKES

Elton John and Billy Joel will team up for “Face to Face: Live in Vienna,” an Austrian concert airing June 20 on cable’s HBO. . . . Alanis Morissette’s “Uninvited,” her first new recording since “Jagged Little Pill,” will be among the songs on the “City of Angels” soundtrack due out March 31 on Warner Sunset/Reprise Records. . . . Singer Paula Abdul, 35, has filed for divorce from her husband of 17 months, sportswear manufacturer Brad Beckerman, 31, citing irreconcilable differences. Abdul divorced actor Emilio Estevez in 1994. . . . ABC has renewed its Wednesday night comedies “Spin City” and “Dharma & Greg” for next season. CBS has done the same with its Monday shows “Cosby” and “Everybody Loves Raymond.” . . . “Mysteries & Scandals,” a new cable series on “the lore of some of Hollywood’s most tragic figures,” airs Mondays at 9 p.m. on E! Entertainment Television.