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

STAGE

‘Dinner’ Reservation Canceled: Rita Wilson has left the cast of Neil Simon’s new play, “The Dinner Party,” at the Mark Taper Forum. A statement issued by Taper artistic director Gordon Davidson cited “a mutual agreement based on creative differences.” Wilson performed in the first preview Sunday, but her understudy Anette Michelle Sanders went on for the next three previews and will replace her permanently in the production, which is scheduled to open Thursday. Other cast members are Henry Winkler, John Ritter, Edward Herrmann, Veanne Cox and Frances Conroy.

POP/ROCK

Millennium Bust: Billed as “the party of the century,” Celebration 2000, a New Year’s Eve gala planned for New York’s Javits Center, has been severely scaled back amid lackluster ticket sales. Organizers said they plan to keep headliners Andrea Bocelli, Aretha Franklin and Sting, but Enrique Iglesias and Chuck Berry reportedly will no longer be on the bill, and the status of Tom Jones is unknown. Organizers are said to be scouting for a smaller venue, and plan to cut ticket prices--which were originally set at $1,000 to $2,500--to $75 and up. Existing ticket holders reportedly will be refunded the difference.

More Millennium Plans: Meanwhile, Aretha Franklin is also reported to be in negotiations to perform at a different New Year’s Eve gala, the Washington bash at the Lincoln Memorial being thrown by the White House. Added performers announced by First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton this week include opera diva Jessye Norman, actor Robert Duvall, country singer Trisha Yearwood and the New York cast of “Stomp.” Quincy Jones is producing the nationally televised event, which will be hosted by Will Smith and include a short millennium film by Steven Spielberg.

DANCE

Will It Be Live, or Memorex?: New York City Ballet plans to go ahead with its “Nutcracker” performances scheduled to begin today, even though its orchestra is on strike. “We hope the orchestra will show up, but we plan to do it either way,” a company spokesman said late Wednesday. “We have a very good tape that we can use. It’s a last resort, but people come from all over the world to see these performances.” Members of the American Federation of Musicians’ Local 802 went on strike against the ballet company Tuesday for the first time in 23 years. At issue are management demands for more stringent orchestra attendance. Talks were suspended for the Thanksgiving holiday, and orchestra representatives could not be reached for comment.

ART

Moving Pictures: New York-based artist Bruce Weber is well known for his fashion photography, but next weekend the L.A. County Museum of Art will focus on his lesser-known film talents, with a two-night retrospective of his “Moving Pictures.” Next Friday’s program will include the artist’s commercials and music videos, as well as his two-hour film portrait of jazz trumpeter Chet Baker, “Let’s Get Lost.” The Dec. 4 program includes a work-in-progress world premiere of Weber’s latest film, a coming-of-age portrait called “The Chop Suey Club,” as well as a conversation with the artist.

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Tintoretto Discovery: A religious painting that hung for nearly seven decades in the dark hallway of a Pennsylvania Jesuit center and was believed to be a reproduction has been authenticated as an original work by the 16th century Venetian artist Tintoretto. The Renaissance painting, “The Raising of Lazarus,” has been estimated by art experts to be worth $2 million, said Robert Metzger, director of the Reading Public Museum, where the work is on loan. Metzger said that he saw the work during a visit to the Jesuit center in Lower Heidelberg, near Reading, and persuaded the priests to let it be examined by experts.

QUICK TAKES

“Lawrence of Arabia” co-stars Omar Sharif and Peter O’Toole reunited in Egypt this week when O’Toole presented Sharif with a lifetime achievement award at the Cairo International Film Festival. . . . Comedian Jerry Lewis has scheduled performances at Las Vegas’ Orleans Hotel for Jan. 13-16, which will mark his sixth decade performing on a Las Vegas stage. Lewis, 73, first appeared with his late partner Dean Martin at the Flamingo Hotel in 1949. He last performed in the city in the early 1990s.