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

MUSIC & DANCE

Another Mehta in New York: Zarin Mehta has been named executive director of the New York Philharmonic, where older brother Zubin was music director from 1978 to 1991. Zarin Mehta, the president and chief executive officer of the summertime Ravinia Festival in Chicago, reached a five-year contract with the philharmonic that begins in September. He succeeds Deborah Borda, who held the office until last year, when she went to the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Mehta told the Philadelphia Inquirer that he expects Riccardo Muti to be the philharmonic’s next maestro, beginning in the 2002-03 season.

Dancers Up in Arms: The American Guild of Musical Artists has filed an unfair-labor-practice charge against the Martha Graham Center of Contemporary Dance due to the center’s May 26 decision to suspend operations of the Graham company and school. The union filed the charge with the National Labor Relations Board, accusing the center of violating the law by not bargaining with unions representing its employees before shutting down. The union asks for sanctions to make the company honor its union contracts and that the Graham company be required to compensate the dancers with back pay.

PEOPLE

Jackson Is Married but Divorcing: Janet Jackson has confirmed that she is married to a writer and video director who is now seeking a divorce, citing irreconcilable differences. Jackson, who has sold more than 40 million recordings, announced in February 1999 that she had separated from Rene Elizondo Jr. after a relationship of 13 years. On Wednesday, she confirmed the two are married and said the breakup “pains me greatly.” Elizondo, 37, said family members, friends and some fans had been aware of the marriage. He said they were married March 31, 1991, at the home they shared in San Diego County. They separated in January 1999, according to the divorce petition. The petition said the validity of a premarital agreement was being challenged because of the “manner in which it was signed, and the facts at the time it was signed.”

Gielgud Farewell: Sir Alec Guinness, Sir Donald Sinden and Sir John Mills were among the actors and friends who gathered Thursday at a small parish church in Aylesbury, England to bid a final farewell to stage and screen giant Sir John Gielgud. Gielgud, the silken-voiced, patrician actor who was regarded as one of greatest Shakespearean performers, died May 21 at age 96. He was cremated Thursday in Oxford. Leading the tributes was actor Paul Scofield, who read Shakespeare’s Sonnet No. 71.

STAGE

Season at the Shubert: “Mamma Mia!,” a hit musical based on the songs of ABBA, with a score from the group’s Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus and a book by Catherine Johnson, will open a new subscription series at the Shubert Theatre in early 2001. The musical has been a sellout in London for more than a year and opened in Toronto on May 23, setting box-office records. The story, set on a Greek island, is about a single mom on the eve of her daughter’s wedding. Further details about the subscriptions series will be available in coming months.

Broadway Attendance: Broadway shows in New York grossed a record high of $603 million last year, but total attendance, 11.4 million, failed to top last year’s record of 11.7 million. Twenty-nine touring Broadway productions grossed $571 million and were seen by 11,650,000--down from last year’s figures, when 34 tours sold 14.6 million tickets.

TELEVISION

Local Emmy Update: A week after the nominees for the 52nd annual Los Angeles Area Emmys were announced, the lead has changed hands, with KCAL-TV picking up three more nominations in the news videographer category and jumping into first place. Judging in that category had not been completed in time to make the initial announcements, according to the academy. The new tally pushes KCAL, with 22 nominations, ahead of KTTV-TV’s 20 nominations, and also moved KCBS-TV from fourth place into a tie for third place with KCOP-TV. The awards, honoring the best local broadcast and cable programming of 1999, will be presented during a black-tie ceremony June 17 at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium.

Wanted: Karaoke Stars: Having just ended its first season, the syndicated musical talent show “Your Big Break” is now looking for contestants for the second. Producers will hold open casting calls for amateur singers to perform hit songs karaoke-style in three Southland locations: 8-11 tonight at the Falcon Inn in Hawthorne, 9 p.m.-midnight Saturday at Mr. B’s Restaurant in Los Alamitos, and 2-6 p.m. Sunday at the Sportsman’s Lodge in La Mirada.

QUICK TAKES

WATCHA 2000, a concert tour of Latin rock and hip-hop acts, will kick off Aug. 11 at the Universal Amphitheatre with a lineup that includes Cafe Tacuba, Molotov, Enanitos Verdes, Aterciopelados, A.N.I.M.A.L. and Ozomatli. . . . In addition to its Verizon Wireless Amphitheater concert, Santana will play Oct. 14 and 15 at the Hollywood Bowl. Tickets go on sale Sunday. . . . Spike Lee and Sam Kitt are producing a TV movie for Showtime, “3 A.M.,” written and directed by Lee Davis. It stars Danny Glover and Pam Grier, Michelle Rodriguez and Sergej Trifunovic. . . . Husband-and-wife country singers Tim McGraw and Faith Hill will launch their Soul 2 Soul Tour 2000 in Atlanta on July 12. . . . Rock star Rod Stewart had surgery at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center on May 12 to remove a nodule from his thyroid gland, publicist Paul Freundlich said. He called the operation a success and said it would not affect Stewart’s singing.