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

THEATER

Princess Di Getting a Musical Treatment

The first musical based on the life of Britain’s late Princess Diana will hold its premiere in Germany this November when “Lady Di--Das Musical” rolls into the southwestern city of Saarbruecken.

Under the full title “Lady Di--Diana: A Smile That Enchants the World,” the musical features the princess as a love-struck outsider manipulated by the English establishment. The piece, written by German composer Peter Thomas, reportedly cost $930,000 to produce.

“There is such a huge interest in Diana and her life in Germany,” Thomas said. “... I’m confident that this musical will be translated into English, as well.”

Diana is played by English actress Karen Gillingham, who has appeared in German versions of “Phantom of the Opera” and “Les Miserables.” Because lawyers advised the show’s producers against having actors play living members of the royal family, Queen Elizabeth is only seen from the back, bowing to Diana’s coffin, and Prince Charles is only represented as a voice. His longtime lover, Camilla Parker Bowles, however, is featured in the show.

The first act deals with Diana’s marriage to Prince Charles and its eventual collapse, while Act II focuses on her work with the poor and her search for true love. Diana and Dodi Fayed, whose father owns London’s posh Harrod’s department store, were killed in Paris in a high-speed crash on Aug. 31, 1997.

TELEVISION

KNBC Anchor Cruz Still Recovering

“Today in LA” news anchor David Cruz is recovering at home after collapsing on-air in late July as a result of ingesting the wrong medication. According to wire reports, he has retained the services of attorney Walter J. Lack of “Erin Brockovich” fame and is considering his legal options.

The Emmy-nominated and Golden Mike award-winning broadcaster was hospitalized shortly after taking what he believed was his refill of the cholesterol-lowering drug Lipitor. He actually ingested a different, potentially lethal drug.

Cruz, nationally recognized for his reporting on immigration, health, education and voting rights, intends to return to work as soon as the extent of damage is determined.

THE ARTS

A Very Belated Beethoven Premiere

An unheard-of overture by Ludwig van Beethoven, reconstructed by a Dutch musicologist, will have its world premiere in Washington next month, the National Symphony Orchestra announced Wednesday. The piece, which dates to 1810, lasts eight to ten minutes.

The German composer had been working on the overture to an opera on Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” but abandoned the project when the Austrian librettist complained that the music was “too gloomy.” After Beethoven’s death in 1827, sketches of the overture were broken up by souvenir hunters and ended up in three European cities--Bonn, Berlin, and London--until Dutch composer and computer programmer Willem Holsbergen pulled them together.

“The opportunity to give the world premiere of a Beethoven composition--even a small portion of it--is astonishing,” said National Symphony Orchestra music director Leonard Slatkin, who will direct the piece at the Kennedy Center Concert Hall on Sept. 20. “Aside from the intrinsic interest in anything Beethoven wrote, the story of how this performing version came to exist would probably be viewed as too far-fetched if it were to appear in fiction.”

QUICK TAKES

Country star Wynonna Judd is engaged to D.R. Roach, her road manager of 10 years. No wedding date has been set. It is the second marriage for both....Stevie Nicks has rescheduled a pair of Universal Amphitheatre shows that were postponed this week after the singer cited a bout of severe bronchitis. Tickets originally purchased for the Aug. 21-22 shows will be honored Oct. 9-10, respectively. Sheryl Crow will also perform....French film star Jean-Paul Belmondo, 68, has left a Paris hospital after making what his doctors call a “remarkable” recovery from a stroke he suffered two weeks ago while vacationing on the Mediterranean island of Corsica.... George Michael has kept his promise and donated the Steinway piano on which John Lennon recorded “Imagine” to the Beatles museum in Liverpool, England....Beck, Moby, Alanis Morissette, Marc Anthony and Nelly Furtado have signed on for next month’s “Come Together Tribute: A Night for John Lennon.” The event will take place at New York’s Radio City Music Hall and air on TNT on Sept. 20.... “Cookin’,” billed as the longest running show in Korean theater, will play the Wadsworth Theater Oct. 9-21. Known as “Nanta” in Korea, the show examines four chefs facing a deadline for a wedding banquet, and features percussion, slapstick and stunt work in addition to traditional Korean music....TV Guide reports that an episode of “Blind Date,” featuring “Survivor” winner Richard Hatch, has been postponed pending resolution of his recent arrest on domestic assault charges....More than 150 arts events will be offered free to the public on Oct. 6 as part of the Los Angeles Arts Open House, celebrating National Arts and Humanities Month and the 25th anniversary of the California Arts Council. Information: (213) 872-3099 or https://www.lacountyarts.org).