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

MUSIC/DANCE

Happy Encore: Ten years after his impromptu concert in front of the collapsing Berlin Wall, cellist Mstislav Rostropovich is coming back for an encore. This time, he’s bringing the German rock band Scorpions with him. Rostropovich, along with 165 other cellists, and the rockers will play a joint concert on Nov. 9, the 10th anniversary of the wall’s opening, in front of Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate. Rostropovich and the other cellists will accompany the Scorpions as they play their international rock anthem “Wind of Change.” Scorpions singer Klaus Meine said the band wanted to commemorate “what people have achieved with the desire for peace.”

Rockettes Get Live Music: During the 1998 “Radio City Christmas Spectacular,” the sounds of protest accompanied the sounds of dancing Rockettes. Professional Musicians Local 47 was not happy about the use of recorded music. This year, a 15-member orchestra will accompany the show during its Dec. 1-20 run at Universal Amphitheatre. “Last year’s contretemps was a surprise. Our valise had been packed and there was no room for anything else,” said Howard Kolins, the show’s executive producer, explaining why it was hard to make changes. “When I met with the union, they said, ‘We have the talent, please use us’--and we decided to reconsider.” Though recordings will still be used for all the other Rockettes touring companies, Local 47 President Hal Espinosa claims victory. “This is the first time that musicians have replaced a tape. It’s usually the other way around.”

RADIO

Countersuit Against Dr. Laura: The owner of a Newport Beach surf shop has countersued syndicated radio talk show host Laura Schlessinger for slander. Schlessinger, heard on KFI-AM (640) weekdays from noon to 3 p.m., sued Tom Moore, owner of the California-based Beach Access chain, after he said she lied when she told her audience he put pornography on his store’s racks in front of children. Moore has filed a $4-million countersuit, alleging she painted him in a false light and intentionally harmed his business. Two months ago, Schlessinger told her audience that Moore was guilty of putting pornography on its racks in front of children via Big Brother Skateboarding magazine. The publication, aimed primarily at teenage boys, in some issues runs sexually graphic and sometimes violent stories. Moore pulled the magazine and asked for a retraction. Schlessinger refused and filed suit.

1,000th ‘Rockline’: KCBS-FM (93.1) afternoon drive host Bob Coburn moves to the nighttime slot Monday for one night only to celebrate his 1,000th “Rockline” show. It will air live from 8 to 10 p.m. in Los Angeles from the Museum of Television & Radio in New York, and will feature David Bowie and other rock icons. Arrow 93’s Coburn has hosted “Rockline” for more than 15 years and is heard on more than 150 stations in the U.S. and Canada. Krickett Davis is filling in for Coburn on Monday and Tuesday during his regular 2-6 p.m. shift.

K-CSN&Y;: Public radio station KCSN-FM (88.5) will pay tribute to the Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young reunion by playing the foursome’s new album, “Looking Forward,” in its entirety at 7 p.m. Sunday. The album playing will be part of a two-day salute to CSN&Y; that will include commercial-free programming from 3 to 8 p.m. both today and Sunday. Regular KCSN hosts will explore the group’s musical legacy as well as the artists and bands who influenced them.

QUICK TAKES

Horrormeister John Carpenter (“Halloween” movies I-III)--a director, screenwriter, producer and composer--receives the first annual James Whale Award at the “Danse Macabre” masked ball benefiting AIDS ReSearch Alliance of America tonight at the Santa Monica Museum of Flying. . . . Violinist Isaac Stern and Los Angeles Times music critic Mark Swed discuss Stern’s life in music Monday night at the Writers Guild Theater in Beverly Hills. . . . Pop diva Mariah Carey backed out of a concert Monday to kick off CBS’ new morning program “The Early Show” and will appear on the “Today” show instead. Representatives for the singer attributed the last-minute switch to uncertainty about CBS’ ability to get a city permit for the concert. . . . Maureen O’Boyle, on maternity leave since giving birth to her daughter in early September, returns to the “Extra” anchor desk on Monday. . . . For the first time in his career, Andy Williams, 71, has canceled his annual November Christmas shows, after doctors gave him strict orders to refrain from talking or singing because of laryngitis. About 85,000 tickets had been sold for the Branson, Mo., shows; father-daughter duo Pat and Debby Boone will fill in. . . . “Ragtime,” the epic, turn-of-the-century Broadway musical based on the E.L. Doctorow novel, will close Jan. 16 after a two-year run. The show, which will have played 861 performances, has not recouped its initial production costs, estimated at more than $10 million. . . . The WB network has ordered a full season of the new teen drama “Popular,” which airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. . . . The Beastie Boys are again pushing the envelope with online music by making 150 of their songs available through the end of the year to Internet users, who can mix and match the tracks to create their own anthology. There’s no pricing information yet on the custom CDs, which will be available at a dozen online merchant sites and will be shipped via mail in the CD format.