THE ARTS

National Funding for Kushner Play on Hold

“Homebody/Kabul,” a new play about Afghanistan by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Tony Kushner (“Angels in America”), is having its first preview at the New York Theater Workshop today, even as uncertainty surrounds a federal grant for a future production.

Lynn Moffat, the Workshop’s managing director, told The Times on Tuesday that the National Endowment for the Arts’ decision to put off acting on a $100,000 grant proposal for the play will have no effect on their run. That’s because the request came from California’s Berkeley Repertory Theater, which also plans to stage the piece, which deals with a family searching for a housewife who mysteriously disappears in Afghanistan.

According to the New York Times, acting NEA Chairman Robert S. Martin has tabled the grant request, along with one to support an exhibit by visual and performance artist William Pope. The Berkeley request--for support of an April production of the play--had been approved by a review panel and the National Council on the Arts, whose recommendations are generally accepted. The NEA has asked for additional information before announcing recipients later this month.

Some chalk up the move to internal politics--caution in making what could be construed as a prickly decision as incoming NEA Chairman Michael Hammond is about to arrive. Though Kushner’s latest play is said to be far less controversial, his past work dealt with the AIDS epidemic and criticized the Ronald Reagan administration.

“This isn’t an anti-American play,” Moffat said of the piece, which was written before Sept. 11. “The way the Taliban is portrayed gives you some idea of the suffering endured under that regime, especially by women. Tony may be hard-hitting in his essays, but his drama is very evenhanded. I think the current [NEA] staff just wants to make sure all their ducks are in a row and wait until the new people are in place.”

Kushner, too, defends his work, claiming it’s not a “polemic.” Even if it were, he adds, it would be censorship to deny the grant based on “political anxiety.”

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Children’s Art to Be Unveiled at LAX

Heightened airport security makes international travel tougher these days. But a children’s art exhibition called “Friendship Across All Borders,” to be unveiled Thursday at Los Angeles International Airport, crosses boundaries--artistically, at least.

The L.A. installment of a tri-city cultural exchange--featuring paintings, drawings and mosaics by children of Los Angeles, Mexico City and Guangzhou, China--will be displayed in the passenger corridor at the Tom Bradley International Terminal until June.

The project was organized by the Los Angeles Mexico City Sister City Committee. L.A.’s Inner-City Arts assembled 75 elementary school students to provide paintings and also donated canvases to be painted by 75 homeless children in Mexico City. The artworks from China were done by youths from the Children’s Palace in Guangzhou.

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TELEVISION

Struggling ‘Emeril’ May Be on Chopping Block

All signs point to NBC canceling the low-rated sitcom “Emeril,” as the network announced Tuesday that the sitcom “The Hank Azaria Show” will replace it Tuesdays at 8 p.m. beginning in January.

“Emeril” is a first-year series that stars real-life chef Emeril Lagasse as a version of himself. The new sitcom features Azaria as a TV writer who draws inspiration from his life.

NBC has also pulled its Monday edition of the quiz show “Weakest Link,” effective in January, when it will bring back “Fear Factor” at 8 p.m. “Weakest Link,” which had been running twice a week, will continue to play Sundays at 8 p.m.

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POP/ROCK

James to Record Album at House of Blues

When Etta James sings at the House of Blues in West Hollywood on Sunday, she’ll be recording her first live album in 20 years.

As usual, the rhythm section of her touring band will be composed of her sons, Sametto (bass) and Donto (drums). But this time around they’ll be joined by a five-piece horn section and Luis Conte on percussion. Producer John Snyder says the emphasis will be on up-tempo, blues-oriented material such as Al Green’s “Love and Happiness” and Otis Redding’s “I Can’t Turn You Loose.”

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MOVIES

Ford Leaves Western Rivals in the Dust

John Ford rode roughshod over the competition, taking three of the top four spots in the list of the 100 best western movies and TV series that appears in the January issue of Cowboys & Indians magazine.

Ford’s “The Searchers” (1956) was voted No. 1, while his “Stagecoach” (1939) and “My Darling Clementine” (1946) came in second and fourth. Third was “Shane” (1953).

Rounding out the top 10: “The Magnificent Seven” (1960), TV’s “Lonesome Dove” (1980), “High Noon” (1952), “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” (1969), “Dances With Wolves” (1990) and “The Outlaw Josey Wales” (1976).

The list was compiled after a year of research, polling 4,000 readers, critics and actors about their favorites.

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QUICK TAKES

“Shrek,” according to DreamWorks SKG, has sold more than 5.5 million DVD copies since its release four weeks ago, to overtake “Gladiator” as the best-selling DVD of all time.... Nathan Lane will star in “To the Moon,” a film biography of comedian Jackie Gleason, according to Variety.... Princell Hair was named news director at KCBS-TV Tuesday, succeeding Roger Bell.... The Laguna Playhouse will be the first resident professional theater to produce Michael Frayn’s Tony Award-wining “Copenhagen,” currently playing, with a different cast, at the Wilshire Theater. The play will run Jan. 5 through Feb. 3, before a 24-city national tour, replacing “Waverly Gallery” on the Playhouse lineup.... “Big Trouble,” Barry Sonnenfeld’s ensemble comedy that Touchstone Pictures postponed because of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, will be released on April 5....”The All NightStrut,” a Woodland Hills Theatre production, received five awards--the most for a single show--at the Valley Theatre League’s annual ADA Awards ceremony in North Hollywood Monday.

Elaine Dutka