Morning Report - News from Oct. 29, 1999

TELEVISION

TNT Takes On ‘Atlas Shrugged’: TNT has announced plans to make Ayn Rand’s signature, 1,000-plus-page tome, “Atlas Shrugged,” into a four-hour miniseries. Oscar winner Albert S. Ruddy (“The Godfather Trilogy”) will executive produce the project, which does not yet have a script or cast. Rand’s 1957 novel, which TNT called “one of the last unproduced epics of the 20th century,” delves into the story of a brilliant man who vows to stop the motor of the world. The TNT announcement follows Showtime’s airing in May of “The Passion of Ayn Rand,” a biography of the author that won a best actress Emmy for star Helen Mirren.

POP/ROCK

Bridge School Webcast: Neil Young’s 14th annual Bridge School Benefit Concert, taking place this weekend at Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, will be broadcast over the Web for the first time, at https://www.intel.com, https://music.yahoo.com and https://www.bridgeschool.org. Scheduled performers include Young, Pearl Jam, the Who, Sheryl Crow, Green Day, Billy Corgan and James Iha, Lucinda Williams and Brian Wilson. The Webcast begins at 5 p.m. on Saturday and at 2 p.m on Sunday. As part of the deal, Intel will donate $2.5 million over three years to the Bridge School, which educates children with severe speech and physical impairments.

THE ARTS

Janis Accepts French Honor: Pianist Byron Janis--onetime child prodigy, now 71--was awarded the French Legion of Honor in a ceremony in New York Wednesday. As “the best way of thanking you,” he played a few minutes of Chopin. Janis, the first student accepted by the legendary Vladimir Horowitz, played hundreds of concerts in the ‘50s and ‘60s, until his hands were afflicted by arthritis. He became arts ambassador for the Arthritis Foundation in 1986, and a decade later released an acclaimed CD, his first recording in 34 years. Preparing for a Carnegie Hall concert Monday, he was cited by France’s U.S. ambassador for battling back from “the greatest fear of the pianist.”

And Closer to Home: Carol S. Eliel, curator of modern and contemporary art at the L.A. County Museum of Art, has been awarded the medal of Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government for her efforts to present the works of French artists. Eliel, who has curated exhibitions including “Annette Messager” (1995) and “Degas to Picasso: Modern Masters From the Smooke Collection” (1987), is currently preparing “L’Esprit Nouveau: Purism in Paris, 1918-1925,” slated to open at LACMA in April 2001.

QUICK TAKES

The Who, Offspring, KISS, Tony Bennett and country singers Faith Hill, LeAnn Rimes, Chely Wright and the Dixie Chicks all perform at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas today in iBash 99, a daylong concert that will be available for free viewing on https://www.pixelon.com. . . . Politically charged rock band Rage Against the Machine will do a live Internet chat on Monday at 6 p.m. at https://www.twec.com. The band’s new album, “The Battle of Los Angeles,” comes out the following day. . . . Meanwhile, D.L. Hughley (ABC’s “The Hughleys”) chats today at 4 p.m. at https://www.abc.go.com and the cast of NBC’s “Freaks and Geeks” chats on https://www.nbc.talkcity.com tonight at 5. . . . Dan Rather has been subpoenaed to testify in the trial of one of the alleged white supremacists accused of dragging James Byrd Jr. to death. Texas prosecutors said they want to ask him about a “60 Minutes II” interview he conducted with the defendant, Shawn Berry. CBS News executives, however, have vowed to fight the subpoena on the grounds that it would endanger a reporter’s relationship with sources. . . . A thief has stolen home movies of Michael Jackson playing with his young children and is demanding a $100,000 ransom, the singer’s spokesman said, noting that the culprit has been trying to sell the videos to tabloid papers. The videos allegedly were stolen from Jackson’s Paris hotel room. . . . Johnny Cash, 67, hospitalized in Nashville for pneumonia, was upgraded from stable to good condition on Wednesday. . . . The Goo Goo Dolls’ “Iris” was named pop song of the year Thursday at the first WB Radio Music Awards in Las Vegas. Artist of the year winners were Lauryn Hill (hip-hop/R&B;), the Dixie Chicks and Shania Twain (country) and Smash Mouth (alternative).