Morning Report - News from June 22, 2000

THE ARTS

Opera Pacific Gift: In one of the largest single grants ever to an Orange County arts organization, technology executive Henry Samueli and his wife, Susan, are giving $5 million to Opera Pacific. The Samuelis’ gift, in addition to $1 million given last year, is in Broadcom Corp. stock. It will be split in two parts. The first $1 million will be used to wipe out an accumulated debt of $600,000, with the remainder going to the opera company’s operating fund. The other part of the grant will seed the company’s first endowment campaign, with a goal of at least $20 million.

Hermitage-Guggenheim Pact: The Guggenheim and the Hermitage have signed a long-term agreement to develop an international network of museums and share their vast collections. The Guggenheim, which operates art museums in New York and Europe, possesses a collection specializing in contemporary art, while the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, Russia--one of the world’s largest museums--features a more traditional collection. The state-funded Hermitage is strapped for money and has been seeking foreign sponsors. They plan to develop a new display space in St. Petersburg that will include modern and contemporary works from the Guggenheim’s collection. The Guggenheim will, in turn, expand its scope by displaying the Hermitage’s diverse holdings, including the proposed new Guggenheim museum at the foot of Wall Street, designed by L.A. architect Frank O. Gehry.

POP MUSIC/JAZZ

Knitting Factory Delays Continue: The construction delays that prevented Knitting Factory Hollywood from opening on its originally scheduled date in early June have still not been resolved, according to the club’s CEO, Michael Dorf. “The contractor doesn’t want to promise to complete the job until the end of July,” Dorf says, “although obviously I’m hoping it will be earlier. But, as embarrassing as these delays have been, I’m not going to open until the club is everything we promised it would be.” The current projected date for that to take place is the first week in August.

FILM

‘Blair Witch’ Under Covers: As if the film wasn’t scary enough, Parachute Publishing, Artisan Entertainment and Random House Children’s Books have announced an original fiction series inspired by “The Blair Witch Project,” which attracted young moviegoers last summer. Bantam Books for Young Readers, a young adult paperback imprint of Random House, will market and distribute the book series, titled “The Blair Witch Files.” It’s set to launch in August, before the release of “Blair Witch 2” in the fall.

QUICK TAKES

Actress Sharon Stone and husband Phil Bronstein have adopted a baby. The boy, named Roan Joseph Bronstein, was born May 22 in Texas. . . . Al Pacino, Ellen Burstyn and Harvey Keitel have been chosen to lead the legendary Actors Studio in New York. The three, who are donating their services, will replace Arthur Penn. . . . Jerry Orbach will host Pax TV’s weekly investigative series “Encounters With the Unexplained,” premiering Aug. 25. . . . “Erin Brockovich” will be released on video and DVD on Aug. 15.