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

THEATER

And the ‘Next Des’ is . . . Des: For at least the next three years, Des McAnuff will be La Jolla Playhouse’s artistic director--a job he also held from 1983 to 1994 before leaving to concentrate on writing and directing movies. Last fall, McAnuff returned to take over the La Jolla position on an interim basis, after the resignation of Anne Hamburger, who had held the job for less than a year. A search for “the next Des” was begun, said Lary Simpson, head of the search committee, but then McAnuff himself “sensed that the institution’s needs and my own desires were coalescing,” he said. He will be allowed to work on outside projects as part of his contract, and he’s bringing in a new supporting artistic team, including associate director Kate Whoriskey, dramaturge Shirley Fishman and literary manager Carrie Ryan.

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Wedding Party’s Over: “Tony n’ Tina’s Wedding” at the Henry Fonda Theatre will close Sunday due to declining ticket sales. Ticket-holders for performances beyond Sunday should contact their point of purchase regarding refunds or exchanges.

POP/ROCK

Stop the Music: Country singer Trisha Yearwood has filed a federal suit to have a new duet recording featuring her voice destroyed. Yearwood says she recorded “Love What You Do to Me” in 1990, before she became a star. It was intended for use in pitching the song to other singers, not as a commercial release, according to the lawsuit. However, the song is now being sold on the Internet on a CD called “Best of Both Worlds.” New vocals by song co-writer Michael J. Young have been added to make the song a duet. Yearwood’s management company said the release violates “Trisha’s right to make her own artistic and creative decisions about her music and with whom she records.”

ART

Justice Sues Over Memorial Plans: The Justice Department has asked a federal court to stop the World War II Memorial planned for the National Mall in Washington until legal questions about its controversial approval process can be answered. Final approval for the 7-acre memorial came last year on a 7-to-5 vote of the National Capital Planning Commission, but questions have arisen as to the validity of that and two earlier commission votes. NCPC Chairman Harvey Gantt presided over the votes and cast a ballot, but his term on the commission had expired. Gantt and another commission member have since been replaced. If the court agrees to the Justice Department request, the project faces lengthy delays and possible resubmission to the approval process.

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Missing Hand: A marble hand has been stolen from an ancient Greek relief at London’s British Museum, the museum acknowledged Saturday. The theft--which happened in November but has just become public--was probably vandalism or a prank, said a museum spokesman, who added that the museum will review its security measures. He said the hand is worthless separated from the relief, part of a 2,400-year-old panel from the Temple of Apollo in Bassae, in western Greece. The relief was found in temple ruins and brought to the British Museum in 1814, with the same hand missing. A curator found the long-detached piece elsewhere in the museum’s collection in 1990, and it was reattached with a metal rod. News of the theft prompted anger in Greece, which has long sought the return of related Greek works housed at the British museum--the so-called Elgin Marbles, carved figures and reliefs that were taken from the Acropolis in Athens in the early 19th century by Lord Elgin, the British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire. Britain’s refusal to return the pieces, also known as the Parthenon marbles, is a sticking point in its relations with Greece.

OSCAR WATCH

Academy Muscle: A group that tried to auction Academy Awards tickets over the Internet has withdrawn its ticket offer after the motion picture academy sued last week over concerns that the tickets might fall into the hands of troublemakers. Florida-based online auctioneer Taketoauction.com has also promised not to sell any Oscar tickets in the future, said Bruce Davis, academy executive director, noting that the academy has since dropped its suit. However, Davis said the academy will continue to investigate how the Web site obtained the tickets, and that any academy member who took part in the endeavor will face possible expulsion. The academy has a strict policy forbidding members from selling their tickets to Hollywood’s biggest annual event, taking place this year on March 25. The tickets up for sale had reportedly fetched bids of more than $11,000 before they were withdrawn.

PEOPLE WATCH

Family Matters: Singers Amy Grant and Vince Gill became parents together for the first time when Grant gave birth early Monday to a daughter in a Nashville Hospital. Grant’s children from her previous marriage are 8, 11 and 13; Gill has a daughter, 18. . . . Actress Lauren Holly wed Canadian investment banker Francis Greco Saturday in Toronto. Actress Amanda Peet was the maid of honor. Holly was married twice before, including a 1996-97 union with actor Jim Carrey. . . . Fox star Christopher Titus and his wife of 10 years, Erin, are expecting their first child in August.