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

TV & MOVIES

This Girl Can Keep a Secret: Actress Ashley Judd has been engaged to her race-car driver boyfriend, Dario Franchitti, since December, the couple’s parents (including Ashley’s famous mom, Naomi) said Thursday, adding that they wanted to “announce publicly what has been reason for private family joy for months.” A wedding date has not yet been set. The couple met last May at another couple’s wedding reception. Judd’s latest movie, “Where the Heart Is,” opens today.

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Matthau Recovering: Walter Matthau, 79, is recovering in a Los Angeles hospital after suffering a hairline fracture of a vertebra in a fall a few weeks ago. He’s expected to be released from the hospital in about a week, according to his son Charlie Matthau, who said his father will then undergo outpatient physical therapy and should be back to normal in about four to six weeks.

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Fox Summer Plans: Concert specials by Grammy winner Carlos Santana (May 31) and teen queen Britney Spears (June 7) highlight Fox’s summer programming schedule announced Thursday. In addition, the animated comedy “Gary and Mike” premieres May 30, and the game show “Million Dollar Chance of a Lifetime” debuts June 5. And several series that have been on hiatus return with new episodes: “Time of Your Life,” starring Jennifer Love Hewitt, resumes June 14; Eddie Murphy’s animated comedy “The PJs” and the animated “Family Guy” both return on May 30; and “Guinness World Records: Primetime” returns on May 27.

THE ARTS

Oops!: A privately owned Lucian Freud painting was accidentally destroyed by workers at London’s Sotheby’s, the auction house said Thursday. The workers apparently thought the wooden protective case in which the painting arrived was empty and put it in a crusher. The work, which a Sotheby’s spokesman described as “a study rather than a complete painting,” had been consigned for sale by a private collector, who will be reimbursed in full, the auction house said. The work has been valued at about $158,000.

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Ahmanson Sets ‘Dead’ Dates: The acclaimed musical play “James Joyce’s The Dead” will appear at the Ahmanson Theatre July 19 to Sept. 3, filling the slot left empty by the collapse of the planned production of “Finian’s Rainbow.” With a book and direction by Richard Nelson, music by Shaun Davey and lyrics adapted by Nelson and Davey, “The Dead” has been nominated for four Drama Desk awards and four Outer Critics Circle Awards in its New York incarnation. The Ahmanson will present an L.A.-only production; a tour is not currently planned.

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Philharmonic Replacement: Conductor and violinist Augustin Dumay, who was scheduled to lead the Los Angeles Philharmonic in programs tonight at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Saturday at Cerritos College and Sunday at the Escondido Center for the Arts, has canceled due to a shoulder injury. He’ll be replaced in the programs by conductor and pianist Jeffrey Kahane, music director of the L.A. Chamber Orchestra.

QUICK TAKES

Hoping to score a ratings coup against TV’s top drama, ABC will air a behind-the-scenes special about “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” on May 18, opposite the sixth-season finale of “ER.” . . . CBS is building an 1,800-square-foot stand-alone house at the CBS Studio Center lot in Studio City in which to tape its “Big Brother” reality series, in which 10 people will be sequestered for three months with their every movement recorded for TV. The series will air five nights a week during the summer. . . . The long-running British musical “Miss Saigon” will close on Broadway on Dec. 31, after a nearly 10-year run of 4,063 performances. Its final curtain will come six months after the June closing of “Cats,” another long-running British musical. . . . Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, the twins who rose to fame in TV’s “Full House,” are getting their own clothing line at Wal-Mart. The MK&A; line of apparel and accessories--geared for girls 6 to 14--will debut in the spring. . . . Samuel Hoi, dean of the Corcoran College of Art and Design in Washington, D.C., has been appointed president of Otis College of Art and Design, effective July 1. He will succeed Neil Hoffman, who is retiring. . . . LAPD Chief Bernard Parks will take questions from callers when he joins host Larry Elder in the KABC-AM (790) studios today from 5 to 6 p.m. . . . KTTV will air a half-hour special on the eighth anniversary of the L.A. riots tonight at 10:30. . . . The Los Angeles Italian Film Festival--currently taking place at various Hollywood theaters--will honor Giorgio Morodor for outstanding achievement in music, Dante Spinotti for outstanding achievement in cinematography and Carlo Rambaldi for outstanding achievement in special effects, during the festival’s closing-night dinner Saturday at the Wyndham Bel Age Hotel.