ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT REPORTS FROM THE TIMES, NEWS SERVICES AND THE NATION’S PRESS.

POP/ROCK

R.E.M. Tour: R.E.M. returns to the road for the first time in four years with an international tour that begins its outdoor North American leg with three Southern California shows: Aug. 9-10 at the Greek Theatre and Aug. 11 at Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre. The full tour kicks off June 17 in Lisbon. In a statement Monday, lead singer Michael Stipe said he is enthused about hitting the road after a “really nutty year and a half” that saw the band release its first album without drummer Bill Berry (he suffered a brain aneurysm in 1995 and later retired), an appearance on “Sesame Street” and tepid sales for the group’s 1998 “Up” album.

ART

LACMA $3 Million Richer: The L.A. County Museum of Art has received a gift of $3 million to endow its new experimental gallery from San Marino-based philanthropists George and Mary Lou Boone. Now known as the Boone Children’s Gallery and located at LACMA West--the museum’s annex in the former May Co. building at Wilshire Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue--the gallery is designed as an accessible, educational display space for children and families. Exhibitions, primarily drawn from the museum’s permanent collection, reflect Southern California’s cultural diversity and provide hands-on encounters with visual arts.

TV & MOVIES

Comedy Winners: Italian actor Roberto Benigni (“Life Is Beautiful”) beat out Jim Carrey, Tom Hanks, Adam Sandler, Ben Stiller and Robin Williams on Sunday when he picked up the American Comedy Award for funniest actor in a movie. Other winners included Cameron Diaz (funniest film actress, “There’s Something About Mary”), double-winner Tracey Ullman (best TV actress, “Tracey Takes On . . .,” and best guest-performance, “Ally McBeal”), Garry Shandling (TV actor, “The Larry Sanders Show”), David Hyde Pierce (supporting TV actor, “Frasier”), David Duchovny (male TV guest appearance, “The Larry Sanders Show”) and Doris Roberts (supporting TV actress, “Everybody Loves Raymond”). The awards air March 15 on Fox.

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Burn Dishonorees Burn: The Joe Eszterhas satire “An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn!” leads the nominees for the 19th annual Razzie awards for the year’s worst film, with nine nods including worst picture. Others in contention for that dubious distinction include “Armageddon” (with a total of seven Razzie nominations), “The Avengers” (eight nods), “Godzilla” (five citations) and “Spice World” (six distinctions). The Razzies--which also dishonor those in categories including worst actor and actress, worst director, worst remake/sequel and worst screen couple--will be announced March 20.

QUICK TAKES

Linda Tripp is the latest hot commodity to spring out of the Clinton-Lewinsky matter, with both NBC and CNN announcing Monday that they had landed “first” interviews with her. Tripp’s true first TV interview airs Friday on NBC’s “Today” show; CNN’s “Larry King Live,” meanwhile, has what it’s billing as her first “prime-time interview” on Monday. . . . Actress Meredith MacRae (“Petticoat Junction”), 53, is recuperating at her home following a Jan. 28 surgery at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center to remove a tumor from the right side of her brain. MacRae’s publicist said “the prognosis is excellent.” . . . Rod Stewart will chat online tonight at 7 (at https://www.asylum.com).