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

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

End of an Era: The Vienna Philharmonic, which voted in 1997 to stop excluding women from its auditions, has hired its third female player, and the first woman to play an instrument other than the harp. Austrian Ursula Plaichinger, 25, who plays the viola, officially takes her position in September 2002, when the current viola player leaves under the company’s mandatory retirement policy. Plaichinger has already begun playing with the ensemble as an added musician; however, she is not scheduled to perform this weekend, when the orchestra performs in New York.

Stolen Madonna Found

Police have recovered a 16th century painting by a German master that was stolen 28 years ago from a monastery near Florence, according to Italy’s art-theft squad. The “Madonna and Child with St. John,” by Lucas Cranach the Elder, has an estimated value of $5.7 million. It was stolen from the monastery in 1973 along with seven other artworks. All eight works were recovered in Turin by an undercover policeman who passed himself off as a potential buyer, authorities said. Three people have been placed under investigation for smuggling stolen goods. The Madonna will undergo restoration before going on display at Florence’s Uffizi Gallery.

Oscar Shorts

The eight short films nominated for this year’s Academy Awards will be screened for the next four weekends at Laemmle’s Monica Theatre in Santa Monica. The program--believed to be the first time all the nominated shorts will be screened in a commercial movie house before the Oscars--will be held Saturday and Sunday mornings at 11 through March 25. Screenings will include the five nominees for best live-action short film as well as the three nominees for animated short. Tickets are $8.50.

Changing His Tune

A protest by an Asian American watchdog group over the use of the word “Chinaman” in last Sunday’s episode of Fox’s “The Simpsons” has prompted producers to agree to delete the reference in future airings of the installment. The Media Action Network for Asian Americans complained about the Mr. Burns character calling his assistant Smithers “a Chinaman” while riding in a rickshaw. “Simpsons” executive producer Mike Scully said new dialogue would be substituted when the episode airs again: “There was no malicious intent behind the joke. It was supposed to be one of Mr. Burns’ typical antiquated expressions.” He quipped, “For future runs, we will change the line to offend another ethnic group.”

CNN Changes

CNN has given West Coast viewers a live prime-time newscast with the addition this week of “CNN Tonight,” anchored by Catherine Callaway and airing weeknights at 10. The network has also added a 1 p.m. weekday newscast anchored by Joie Chen that includes a daily Wall Street wrap-up. Meanwhile, on March 17, the station will premiere “Take Five,” a 5:30 p.m. weekly talk round table with young commentators. And beginning March 31 will be “People in the News,” a single-subject profile produced in conjunction with People magazine that will air Saturdays at 8:30 a.m. and Sundays at 5:30 p.m. Meanwhile, Wednesday’s scheduled tribute to departing CNN anchor Bernard Shaw, which was bumped by coverage of the Seattle earthquake, airs today at 2 p.m. on “Inside Politics.” “CNN World View,” the nightly newscast co-anchored by Shaw and Judy Woodruff, will be replaced in April by a new 3 p.m. program hosted by Jeff Greenfield.

Online Fest Scales Back

Citing “the recent downturn in the economy, an impending writers’ and actors’ strike, and the limited availability of sponsorship dollars,” the Yahoo Internet Life Online Film Festival has canceled the live portion of the event, which was scheduled for March 21-22 at the Directors Guild. However, competition entries will continue to be shown through March 15 at https://movies.yahoo.com. Winners will be named March 22.

QUICK TAKES

“Dr. Dre 2001” won the best R&B;/Soul or Rap album award at Wednesday’s Soul Train Music Awards, beating out the controversial Eminem. R. Kelly and Jagged Edge each picked up two Soul Train awards, while other winners included Yolanda Adams, Jill Scott, Nelly, Mystikal and Mary Mary. The awards air Saturday at 8 p.m. on KTLA-TV. . . . KCET will air “Traffik,” the BBC miniseries upon which the Oscar-nominated film “Traffic” is based, in two parts, on March 31 and April 7, both at 9 p.m. . . . Britney Spears will do an HBO concert special, “Live From the MGM Grand in Las Vegas,” airing Nov. 18. . . . Jillian Barberie, weather-caster on KTTV’s local morning show, “Good Day L.A.,” has been named host of a late-night chat series on cable’s FX called “The Test.” The show, set to debut in April, will feature Barberie and a nightly array of celebrity guests in a format similar to ABC’s “Politically Incorrect.” . . . Beau Bridges, Laurie Metcalf, Michael Learned and Bridges’ son Jordan will appear in Jane Anderson’s “Looking for Normal” at the Geffen Playhouse, April 11-May 6. The play is about a long-married man who decides to change his gender. . . . Tom Cruise tops Forbes magazine’s Celebrity 100 power list, leaping from No. 20 after making a reported $43.2 million in 2000 and racking up 11 magazine cover stories and 139,000 Web hits--all before the big news of his divorce from Nicole Kidman. Last year’s No. 1, Julia Roberts, fell to No. 16 despite her Oscar-nominated work in “Erin Brockovich.”