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

POP/ROCK

Dr. Dre Files Suit: Making good on earlier threats, Dr. Dre has filed a lawsuit against the city of Detroit, various members of the Detroit Police Department and one of the mayor’s staff members, citing violations of 1st Amendment rights after his July 6 performance there. Dre’s suit seeks more than $25 million from the city after police blocked the rapper from projecting an eight-minute video at his Up in Smoke show at Detroit’s Joe Louis Arena. The video reportedly depicts semi-nude women, sexual situations and violent crime scenarios. Dr. Dre and his lawyer, Howard King, elected to file a civil rights suit Friday that seeks, among other things, an order compelling city leaders and police officers to undergo training in compliance with the United States Constitution.

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Call for Drummers, No Talent Required: Calling all drummers unafraid of spontaneous combustion, asphyxiation or bizarre gardening accidents. The fictional heavy-metal band Spinal Tap has launched a search for a new drummer on Listen.com. The contest, which runs through Aug. 10, is co-sponsored by the Internet guide to online music and Rolling Stone in honor of MGM’s Sept. 12 release on DVD and VHS of the band’s now-infamous “rockumentary,” “This Is Spinal Tap.” Entrants can apply at https://www.listen.com/promo/spinaltap.jsp by submitting a 50-word essay on why they should be the new drummer and send in a photo or video of themselves in Spinal Tap regalia. The winner will receive a trip to Hollywood for the exclusive re-release party at the House of Blues, a meeting with the band, a drum kit and copies of the re-mastered movie. The winner won’t actually drum with the band because, according to Listen.com marketing director Cindy Lundin, “Our lawyers don’t want any unexplained casualties.”

THE ARTS

Da Vinci Fresco May Have Been Found: Experts who have been searching for years for a fresco painted by Leonardo da Vinci in Florence’s Palazzo Vecchio are convinced they have found it at last. They believe that his “Battle of Anghiari” lies hidden beneath another fresco, by Giorgio Vasari (1511-74). “We are all very excited,” Rosa Di Giorgi, the city’s counselor for culture, told the London Telegraph. “The experts have found evidence suggesting that Vasari built a wall to cover up the Leonardo before painting his fresco on top.” A scientific testing process known as thermographics, in which heat is used to produce a kind of X-ray, is to begin soon to determine the fresco’s exact position and composition. If the tests prove that the Leonardo is there--and sufficiently intact--city authorities will face the dilemma of how to proceed. “If there is evidence that the Leonardo is worth saving, there will be a strong case in favor of removing the Vasari, even though it would not be an easy decision,” Di Giorgi said. “I mean, Vasari may not have been Leonardo, but he is still Vasari.”

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Commission Puts Off Memorial Review: Washington’s National Capital Planning Commission has pulled its planned review of designs for a controversial World War II memorial from its Aug. 3 agenda, citing questions about historic preservation requirements. The memorial, designed by Rhode Island architect Friedrich St. Florian, has drawn criticism both aesthetically and for its planned location on the grounds of the Lincoln Memorial. The U.S. Fine Arts Commission, scheduled to vote on the design Thursday, has moved its 9 a.m. hearing to the Yates Auditorium at the Interior Department in anticipation of a larger than usual audience. The Capital Planning Commission, which typically defers to the Commission on Fine Arts on aesthetic matters, may review the design in September. (Times art critic Christopher Knight weighs in on the controversy, F1.)

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Parsons Will Replace Graham: The David Parsons Dance Company will replace the Martha Graham Dance Company on UCLA Performing Arts’ 2000-2001 season, Oct. 6 and 7 in Royce Hall. In late May, the Martha Graham Center of Contemporary Dance announced the cancellation of all proposed engagements during 2000, as well as cessation of operations because of financial hardship. Dance series tickets will automatically be updated to reflect the change.

TELEVISION

A New Tony Host?: CBS is reportedly searching for someone other than Rosie O’Donnell to serve as host of the Tony Awards show. According to the New York Daily News, the daytime talk-show host irritated the network by using her musical director, John McDaniel, on the awards telecast, as well as such friends as Susan Lucci and Kathie Lee Gifford. She also insisted that actor Nathan Lane serve as co-host of the June 4 program, the newspaper reported Monday. The show’s producers say it’s a proposal that hasn’t been discussed. “We haven’t begun to think about next year,” spokesman Keith Sherman said Monday. “We haven’t even met with CBS.” Ratings last month for the 2000 awards ceremony were the worst ever, despite O’Donnell’s appearance after a year’s hiatus. O’Donnell, who is a big Broadway booster on her own program, had raised the Tony ratings in her first year as host in 1997.

QUICK TAKES

“Suddenly Susan” television star Brooke Shields is engaged to television writer-producer Chris Henchy, Shields’ publicist, Mia Ricchiuti, confirmed Monday. Shields, 35, was previously married to tennis star Andre Agassi. . . . TV Land will celebrate the memory of actress Meredith MacRae, who died Friday, with a four-episode “Petticoat Junction” block. The two-hour tribute will be presented Sunday from 8 to 10 p.m. . . . Yusuf Islam, formerly known as pop star Cat Stevens, will be the featured guest on tonight’s edition of “Rockline,” the nationally syndicated radio call-in show that airs at 8:30 p.m. on KCBS-FM (93.1). Islam, who was recently denied entry to Israel and deported, will be interviewed live from his London home and will be taking calls from the United States.