Advertisement

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

Share via

TELEVISION

Monica Money: Monica Lewinsky may not be getting a dime from ABC, but ABC is getting about $35 million because of her. That two-hour “20/20” interview by Barbara Walters that the network will air Wednesday from 9 to 11 p.m. actually contains about 90 minutes of interview and introductory comments, which leaves about 30 minutes of advertising time. Some of that will go to local stations to sell, and some will be used to promote ABC shows. For the remainder, the network is asking--and getting--about $800,000 per 30 seconds for commercials. ABC has officially deemed the two-hour program a “special”--meaning that advertisers who bought time on “20/20” last spring, in what’s called the up-front market, are now in the “out-of-there” market. ABC is selling its ad time on the show for about four times the usual price. Predictions are that the Lewinsky interview will be watched by about 35% of the available TV audience.

MUSIC

From Brooklyn to REDCAT: Brooklyn Academy of Music president and executive producer Harvey Lichtenstein, who retires July 1, will become a consultant at the Roy and Edna Disney CalArts Theater, or REDCAT, the flexible-configuration venue to be constructed at the Walt Disney Concert Hall complex in downtown Los Angeles. Beginning in May, Lichtenstein, renowned for making the academy a high-profile home for the avant-garde, will advise CalArts on “the overall shape of the programming of the space,” said Steven Lavine, CalArts’ president. Though much of the REDCAT’s multidisciplinary programming will feature work by CalArts faculty, Lavine said that the theater, scheduled to open in 2002, may also bring in other artists. “We [have] set out to make this the most exciting West Coast outlet for young artists.”

*

‘Dead Man’ Coming: The San Francisco Opera has received a $1-million donation for the world premiere production of “Dead Man Walking,” commissioned by the opera, from longtime patron Phyllis Wattis. Composed by the opera’s Chase composer-in-residence Jake Heggie with a libretto by playwright Terence McNally, the opera--based on the 1993 book by Sister Helen Prejean, which was made into the 1995 movie of the same title--will premiere in the 2000-01 season. General Director Lofti Mansouri praised Wattis as “a great champion of San Francisco Opera.” Wattis noted that the “project brings up such fascinating and complicated issues. We all have strong feelings about capital punishment. I have committed my life to supporting new work, and I am so excited to be able to help.” Mezzo soprano Frederica von Stade has been cast as inmate Patrick Sonnier’s mother.

Advertisement

MOVIES

Smoke in the Wind: A peek into the making of 1939’s “Gone With the Wind” shows a hoop-skirted Vivien Leigh smoking cigarettes and co-star Leslie Howard wearing sunglasses. The unlikely images, shot during a break from filming the barbecue scene at 12 Oaks early in the movie, turned up on home movies recently discovered at a mansion in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, now a museum. They show Clark Gable sitting in his trailer dressed as Rhett Butler and Leigh, as the saucy heroine Scarlett O’Hara, puffing on a cigarette as a makeup artist “puts some stuff on her face,” said David Janssen, the museum’s assistant director. “You see Leslie Howard reading a paper. He’s in street clothes, smoking a pipe with his sunglasses on like a good Hollywood star.” The footage, filmed by steel magnate Howard Hall, was found late last year in Brucemore mansion, which his wife, Margaret Douglas Hall, bequeathed to the National Trust for Historic Preservation after her death in 1981. The footage will be made into a short film and shown at a visitors center later this year.

RADIO

From Advice to Zippy: Clinical psychologist Raymond Guarendi joins the syndicated Catholic Family Radio broadcasting team on Monday; it is heard 9 to 11 a.m. weekdays in Los Angeles on KPLS-AM (830). A former radio host in Akron, Ohio, Guarendi has a doctorate from Kent State University and is a specialist in the field of families, parenting and children. Brian Dennish, a spokesman for the network, said Guarendi will be taking calls from listeners. A show like Dr. Laura Schlessinger’s? “We believe he is more entertaining, and his show will contain a heavy dose of humor,” said Dennish. . . . Swing and big-band station KLAC-AM (570) has added “Jukebox Saturday Night” (9 p.m. to midnight) to its lineup, playing World War II era music. . . . Also beginning Monday, Radio Disney hosts Just Plain Mark and Zippy will broadcast live from Disneyland’s Tomorrowland. They air on KDIS-AM (710) from 1 to 6 p.m.

QUICK TAKES

Best-selling author Elmore Leonard will read from his latest novel, “Be Cool,” the sequel to “Get Shorty,” tonight at 8:30 at the Mint in Los Angeles. There will also be musical performances by the Stone Coyotes and Harry Dean Stanton’s band. . . . The directors of all five best foreign language film Oscar nominees--Walter Salles (“Central Station”), Majid Majidi (“Children of Heaven”), Luis Garci (“The Grandfather”), Carlos Saura (“Tango”) and Roberto Benigni (“Life Is Beautiful”)--will take part in a March 20 symposium at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Beverly Hills. The 10 a.m. event is free to the public, but tickets must be obtained through the academy. . . . Paul Duke, who hosted PBS’ “Washington Week in Review” for 20 years until 1994, will return on an interim basis for three months, replacing Ken Bode, who was unseated after a dispute with management.

Advertisement
Advertisement