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

THEATER

Tony Loss Sounds Death Knell

Three Broadway shows--”Jane Eyre,” “A Class Act” and the revival of “Bells Are Ringing”--will close on Sunday, casualties of last weekend’s Tony Awards. The already ailing shows were shut out of their Tony dreams by “The Producers,” which took home a record 12 of Broadway’s top award. “Jane Eyre” had been given a temporary reprieve just weeks earlier by pop singer Alanis Morissette, who gave the production $150,000 because of her friendship with the show’s producer, Paul Gordon. But even that gift wasn’t enough to save the $7-million musical based on the Emily Bronte novel. Both “A Class Act” and “Bells Are Ringing” had been struggling since their respective openings this spring. “The Full Monty,” which failed to collect on any of its 10 nominations, still enjoyed a box-office surge, perhaps thanks to its cast going the full monty during its performance on the Tony telecast. According to a “Full Monty” spokesman, the show more than doubled its daily box-office take on Monday, though he declined to reveal the actual numbers. The revival of “42nd Street” also received a boost from the telecast, reportedly ringing up close to $300,000 in sales on Monday. “The Producers,” meanwhile, closed the deal on $1.4 million in ticket sales in 24 hours.

POP / ROCK

Rap Expands Its Grammy Presence

Trustees of the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences have voted to add a 101st category for Grammy Award consideration: best rap/sung collaboration. Collaborative rap and sung performances were previously placed in the category of best rap performance by a duo or group, but academy officials said Tuesday that the genre has grown so much--there were at least 50 such records released during last year’s eligibility period, they said--that a new Grammy category was warranted. The trustees also voted to add mastering engineers to the list of people eligible to receive a Grammy for album of the year. And in other Grammy news, the date for the second annual Latin Grammy Awards has been moved up one day, to Sept. 11.

TELEVISION

Rejoining the Ranks of ‘ER’

Sherry Stringfield, one of the charter cast members of NBC’s “ER,” will return to the medical drama this fall as a series regular after a five-year absence, the network announced Tuesday. Stringfield will resume her role of Dr. Susan Lewis, who left Chicago’s County General Hospital as an emergency resident in November 1996 to accept a medical position in Phoenix. Her real-life explanation at the time was her desire to live in New York rather than Los Angeles, where “ER” is filmed, and her longing to lead a more “normal” life. Stringfield, now 33, had starred on “NYPD Blue” during its first season in 1993-94. Post-”ER,” she has done some stage and film acting, such as the CBS movie “Going Home,” and taught.

An Image Boost from ‘West Wing’

Television, which for years has depicted government and elected officials as self-serving, corrupt buffoons, has changed its tune, according to a study released Tuesday showing that the prime-time portrayal of officialdom is more positive “from the local firehouse to the White House.” The research, commissioned by the nonpartisan, nonprofit Council for Excellence in Government in Washington, credited NBC’s “The West Wing” with almost single-handedly changing government’s negative television face during the past two seasons. After analyzing 162 episodes from government-related shows on NBC, ABC, CBS and Fox, elected officials ranked 12th on the list of 14 occupations with the worst television images (the group was 14th in a similar study conducted in 1999). Teachers came in dead last--courtesy of some questionable behavior by characters on the Fox high school drama “Boston Public.”

ARCHITECTURE

Cal State Library Design Unveiled

British architect Sir Norman Foster with Leo A Daly Architects unveiled their design Tuesday for the $31-million John Spoor Broome Library at California State University’s Channel Islands campus in Camarillo. The library’s sleek, glass-and-steel facade will nestle against a series of 1940s-era Spanish-revival buildings that once housed a state mental hospital. Foster, a Pritzker Prize winner, is best known for his recent renovation of Berlin’s Reichstag, whose new shimmering glass dome has become a city landmark. He recently completed a renovation of the Great Court at the British Museum.

QUICK TAKES

The June 21-24 appearance of Twyla Tharp Dance at the Ahmanson Theatre in downtown Los Angeles will include a world premiere, “Westerly Round,” which the company will perform to music by Mark O’Connor. . . . “Enter the Guardsman,” a musical based on the Ferenc Molnar farce “The Guardsman,” has replaced “Lone Star Love” in the Sept. 2-Oct. 13 slot in Globe Theatres’ outdoor space in San Diego. “Enter the Guardsman” was produced last fall at Laguna Playhouse.