Morning Report - News from April 3, 1999

STAGE

A Younger Audience: The number of theatergoers under age 18 more than quadrupled from 1991 to 1998, according to a new study by the League of American Theatres and Producers, Broadway’s trade association. The study, which tracked attendance for touring Broadway shows, which sold more than 15 million tickets nationwide last season, found that the average age of theatergoers is 46, 69% of the audience is female, the South has the greatest percentage of attendees under 18, and the Northeast has the greatest percentage under 34. In addition, the study found that younger audience members are more ethnically diverse than their older counterparts, who are overwhelmingly white. League President Jed Bernstein attributed the increase to nationwide industry programs to attract younger theatergoers.

Summer at Old Globe: Old Globe Theatre’s alfresco summer season in San Diego’s Lowell Davies Festival Theatre includes the blues musical “Thunder Knocking on the Door” (July 10-Aug. 14), with music and lyrics by Keb’ Mo’, Keith Glover and Anderson Edwards, and book and direction by Glover, and “Merry Wives of Windsor” (Sept. 4-Oct. 9), directed by Roger Rees. In the Old Globe itself, Daniel Sullivan will stage “Cymbeline” (July 31-Sept. 4) and Jack O’Brien will direct Brendan Behan’s “The Hostage” (Sept. 25-Oct. 30). The Cassius Carter Centre Stage will host Gen LeRoy’s “Missing Footage” (July 24-Sept. 4), staged by Tony Walton.

POP/ROCK

Memory ‘Blanked’: In his first public comments since his near-fatal car accident last month, country singer George Jones, 67, told a Nashville radio station that he doesn’t remember the crash and initially didn’t even know why he was in the hospital. “I think all this medicine they’re running through my body has blanked everything out so bad I can’t remember nothing,” Jones said Thursday. Jones did not discuss the investigation into whether alcohol was a factor in his crash. A grand jury is scheduled to hear the case next month.

Watch What You Wear: A Louisville, Ky., judge has denied the appeal of a woman convicted of harassment for wearing a T-shirt with profane Marilyn Manson lyrics at a local fair. In 1998, Venus “Star” Morgan--who claims wearing the shirt was an exercise of free speech--was fined $250 plus court costs. The shirt had a photo of Manson and a six-word phrase from his song “White Trash” that includes the word “God” and an obscenity.

TELEVISION

Tabloids Settle Out of Court: Rival tabloids the National Enquirer and the Globe have “amicably” settled their dispute over a story about broadcaster Frank Gifford’s tryst with a flight attendant, the two publications said. The Globe made national headlines with its story last year in which flight attendant Suzen Johnson described her video-recorded hotel-room seduction of Gifford--husband of talk-show host Kathie Lee Gifford. Johnson subsequently told the National Enquirer that the Globe had paid her to set Gifford up. The Globe sued the Enquirer, claiming it had exclusive rights to the story, and had not set Gifford up. The legal clash--believed to be the first time one tabloid had sued another to stop a story--was considered an unprecedented test of press freedom. No settlement details were disclosed, though an Enquirer executive said no money changed hands.

Diversity in Cable: HBO racked up eight nominations and Showtime collected six for the National Assn. of Minorities in Communications’ annual Vision Awards, honoring “distinctive cable programming that reflects cultural diversity.” Nominated for best comedy program are the Showtime series “Linc’s” and “Rude Awakening,” Comedy Central’s animated series “South Park,” the HBO Comedy Hour special “Steve Harvey: One Man,” and the Galavision special “Funny Is Funny! Comedy Fiesta.” Best drama program nominees are the HBO movies “Always Outnumbered” and “Don King: Only in America,” the Lifetime series “Any Day Now” and the Showtime movies “Blind Faith” and “My Own Country.” Awards will be presented Friday at the Beverly Hilton.

QUICK TAKES

MTV will premiere Pope John Paul II’s first music video, “Abba Pater,” on Easter Sunday. The channel will play the video at the top of every hour throughout the day, beginning at 3 a.m. . . . ABC has scheduled the “Home Improvement” series finale--in a 90-minute format that will include retrospective clips--for May 25. . . . New hosts Diane Sawyer and Charles Gibson helped ABC’s “Good Morning America” increase its average audience for the first quarter of 1999 to 3.93 million, up from 3.29 million last quarter, according to Nielsen Media Research. “GMA” still lags far behind NBC’s “Today,” with 6.15 million viewers, but ahead of CBS’ “This Morning,” with 3.08 million. . . . LeAnn Rimes, Mary J. Blige and TLC have joined Whitney Houston, Tina Turner, Cher and Brandy on the list of performers for VH1’s “Divas Live ‘99,” airing April 13. . . . NBC has renewed its hit midseason drama, “Providence,” for the fall season. . . . The Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts has received a $100,000 grant from Edison International to support its Artists-in-the-Schools program, a two-year initiative through which the center will help 40 elementary schools develop and implement an arts education curriculum.