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

STAGE

Filing Suit: A Noise Within, the classical repertory theater company that moved last year from its Glendale home to the Luckman Theater at Cal State L.A. and then left after just one season, filed suit Friday against the university and the theater’s executive director, Clifford Harper. Charging “relentless harassment” and asking for between $50,000 and $80,000 from Harper for out-of-pocket damages and $30,000 for cost of the first year’s residency, the suit claims Harper “viewed the Luckman as his private fiefdom” without regard to the company’s written agreement with the school, and that he “routinely denied [the company] access to contractually agreed upon Luckman facilities, including rehearsal spaces, scene and costume shops and box office facilities.” James Lynch, counsel for the Cal State L.A. campus, said Monday he had not yet seen the suit and therefore could not comment, but said that based on previous allegations to the press, “we don’t agree with their characterization of events.”

POP/ROCK

Workin’ on a Full House: Like Conway Twitty, Loretta Lynn and Dolly Parton before him, Garth Brooks is considering turning his former Tennessee home into a museum, much like Elvis Presley’s Graceland in Memphis. The Blue Rose Estate, in a north Nashville suburb, is valued at more than $1.1 million. Brooks and his wife, Sandy, lived there for about 10 years. Brooks wants to open the home to the public, possibly by year’s end. Some neighbors are leery of the notion, however. “We value our quiet and privacy on this dead-end street,” said Jae Park, who lives three doors away. Brooks bought the home and 20 acres in 1991 for $435,000. The next year he made $400,000 in improvements, including indoor courts for racquetball and basketball. Brooks’ attorney, Robert Langford, said he will unveil plans to neighbors at a private meeting Wednesday.

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Pueblo Nuevo: Four years and scores of foreign concert dates after the Grammy-winning album that made them an international music sensation, the once-forgotten Cuban musicians of “Buena Vista Social Club” have at last come home. In what was, remarkably, their first public concert inside Cuba, the maestros of traditional Caribbean rhythm received an ecstatic welcome Friday night from a connoisseur local audience in Havana’s Karl Marx Theater.

TELEVISION

Room With a View: The average person cannot win an Emmy, but he or she now has a chance to see one in person. A Universal Studios display of 27 Emmy statuettes to be handed out during the Prime Time Emmy Awards on Sept. 10 will mark the first time the TV academy has made the trophies available for public viewing. Around-the-clock security has been arranged for the statuettes, which will be on view in a custom-designed display case at the Universal Studios Hollywood Globe Theatre from Aug. 22 through Sept. 5. “Unfortunately, tickets to the Emmy telecast are not available to the public,” said Jim Chabin, president of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. “This display allows the academy to share this year’s celebration with our viewers and provides the public with the rare opportunity to see these majestic statuettes in person.”

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A Forceful Show: Independent filmmaker Kevin Smith (“Dogma,” “Clerks”), a.k.a. Silent Bob, will host “Exposure: A Tribute to Star Wars,” an episode of the Sci Fi cable series airing Aug. 23 at 7 p.m. The one-hour program, which will originate from Smith’s famed comic book store in Red Bank, N.J., plans to focus on the impact director George Lucas and his blockbuster film had on other filmmakers. It also will include the TV premiere of the Lucas student film “Freheit” and the “Star Wars” spoof “Tripping the Rift,” by director Chris Moeller.

QUICK TAKES

Warner Reprise Video will release a DVD single featuring two versions of the title-track video from Madonna’s new album, “Music,” on Sept. 5. The DVD, priced at $9.95, will offer fans an early look at Madonna’s new album, due out Sept. 19. . . . Sally Field will play a recurring role on NBC’s “ER” as the estranged mother of series regular Maura Tierney. Field will appear in six episodes--three during the November sweeps and another three toward the end of the season. . . . Following a series of free concerts with Limp Bizkit on the Napster-sponsored Back to Basics tour, L.A.’s Cypress Hill will tape its first-ever live album Wednesday at the Fillmore in San Francisco. MTV News Online reports that the concert will also be filmed for an accompanying home video and DVD, slated for release Dec. 12. . . . The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences has pushed back the deadline for Emmy ballots to Aug. 21 due to delays in getting screener tapes out to voters.