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

THE ARTS

Distinguished Artists: Choreographer Mark Morris, jazz musician Herbie Hancock, actor-dancer Joel Grey, actress Eva Marie Saint and opera soprano Dawn Upshaw will be feted by the Music Center on June 4 when they receive the center’s highest honor for artists: the Distinguished Artist Award. The awards--given annually to those recognized for having “demonstrated achievement and wide-reaching influence in classical and popular music, dance, theater, film and television”--will be presented at the Beverly Hilton, with Tipper Gore, Rod Steiger and Carol Burnett among the scheduled presenters.

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Wagner Debate: The L.A.-based Simon Wiesenthal Center has petitioned the Israeli Supreme Court, seeking to prevent the city of Jerusalem and government ministries from funding a July 7 concert of Richard Wagner’s “The Valkyrie” at the annual Israel Festival, Jerusalem. Event organizers say the programming was suggested by Chicago Symphony Orchestra music director Daniel Barenboim, an Israeli who will conduct the piece with the Berlin Staatskapelle Orchester. “Richard Wagner was an active anti-Semite . . . whose music reflected his ideological bias and served as an inspiration for key Nazi leaders,” Wiesenthal spokesman Efraim Zuroff said in a statement, calling the concert an “insult” to the memory of Holocaust victims. Defending the planned performance, Yossi Tal-Gan, the festival’s general director, told The Times: “This is one of three concerts Barenboim is conducting--and in a democratic society, people should be able to choose. . . . We believe that a distinction should be made between the artist and his work--and that censorship is the greater threat.”

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Playwrights Lineup: South Coast Repertory will go site-specific as part of its June 22-July 1 Pacific Playwrights Festival, using the nearby sculpture garden designed by Isamu Noguchi to present “California Scenarios,” five short plays examining Latino experiences. South Coast’s indoor stages will feature workshops or staged readings of eight additional, full-length plays, by Kevin Heelan, Sheila Callaghan, Hilary Bell, Alejandro Morales, Jorge Ignacio Cortinas, Horton Foote, Annie Weisman and Lucinda Coxon. Contributing to “California Scenarios” will be Luis Alfaro, Joann Farias, Anne Garcia-Romero, Jose Cruz Gonzalez and Octavio Solis.

POP/ROCK

U2’s Latest Cause: The Irish government has enlisted U2 to help reassure American tourists the country is safe to visit. The Irish rock band, currently appearing at the Arrowhead Pond in Anaheim as part of a concert tour (see review, F1), has posted a message on its Web site, with lead singer Bono saying: “We’re happy to dispel any rumors that foot-and-mouth disease has made Ireland unsafe for tourists. . . . [It’s] a perfectly safe place for a vacation. All of us in the band live and work there.”

TELEVISION

Cable Fare: E! Entertainment Television will launch a new late-night talk show, “A.J. After Hours,” hosted by A.J. Benza (“Mysteries & Scandals”) on May 31, to be seen Thursdays at 10 p.m. The hourlong show, mixing interviews, sketch comedy and other elements, will be taped in a New York City loft in what E! calls a “party-like atmosphere.” . . . The A&E; Network has two new unscripted series and a new limited-run drama planned for next season. “Real People TV,” from “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” executive producer Michael Davies, gives individuals a video camera to document their experience of living out a lifelong dream. “Minute-by-Minute” will look back at events, such as the 1989 San Francisco earthquake, and retell them through first-person accounts. “May It Please the Court,” a Sidney Lumet-produced, six-episode drama, will detail U.S. Supreme Court decisions. A&E; also signed a deal with Cosmos Studios, the producer of the late Carl Sagan’s science series “Cosmos,” for TV specials. Sister network History Channel’s planned new series, meanwhile, include “History vs. Hollywood,” about true stories behind movies. . . . Showtime has two new series lined up for this summer. “Leap Years,” from the creators of Showtime’s “Queer as Folk,” follows five “sophisticated multiethnic New Yorkers” as their lives unfold, flashing back through three time periods spanning 15 years. Martha Coolidge (“Rambling Rose”) will direct the series’ initial two episodes. “Going to California,” meanwhile, will focus on two twentysomething guys and their adventures during a cross-country car trip in search of a missing friend who abandoned their small New England hometown after a traumatic romantic breakup.

QUICK TAKES

Marlon Brando, 77, will not appear in the “Scary Movie” sequel as previously announced. “Due to continued illness, Marlon Brando is unable to complete the filming of his cameo role,” Dimension Films said Tuesday, though the studio declined to give any specifics on his illness, as did his representatives at Creative Artists Agency. However, Hollywood trade papers reported earlier this month that he had pneumonia. . . . CNN, which has been seeking star power to boost its ratings, has apparently hired former “NYPD Blue” actress Andrea Thompson for a news job. Thompson--who left the ABC police drama for a job as a reporter and fill-in anchor at an Albuquerque, N.M., TV station--will be an anchorwoman, according to a CNN executive who spoke on condition of anonymity. Thompson didn’t return a call seeking comment on Tuesday. CNN also announced Tuesday that it has hired former ABC News reporter Sheila MacVicar as a London-based international correspondent. . . . As expected, NBC has ordered 13 additional episodes of its new prime-time quiz show “Weakest Link.” Meanwhile, the company is continuing with plans for a five-day-a-week daytime or early-evening version of the show, though Richard Hatch--winner of the first “Survivor”--is no longer likely to serve as its host.