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

COMEDY

‘I Need to Go Out and Perform’

Filled with the same confusion and grief as everyone else in the aftermath of Tuesday’s terrorist attack, comedian Margaret Cho was in no mood to be funny and thought about canceling the appearance that was scheduled at Universal Amphitheatre at 8:15 tonight.

But then she decided that laughter could be part of the healing process, for the audience and for her. “I need to go out and perform, to see people and connect with people,” she said in an interview Friday.

Cho said she won’t be trying to make jokes about this week’s events, but she does plan to talk about them during her show. “That’s the thing about live performance,” she said. “You have to deal with what’s happening in the world as it goes on.”

Some proceeds from the event, Cho said, will be donated to the International Assn. of Fire Fighters to aid the families of firefighters killed in New York.

ARTS

Bowl Premiere Honors Victims

This weekend’s program at the Hollywood Bowl will include the world premiere of a short work written in memory of the thousands who died in New York and Washington.

Titled “September 11, 2001,” the piece was written for the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra by Academy Award-winning composer Jerry Goldsmith (“The Omen”).

The work was scheduled to be performed at Friday night’s concert and again tonight and Sunday. Also on the bill: Aaron Copland’s “Fanfare for the Common Man.”

No Full Houses at L.A. Opera

Although Los Angeles Opera can usually count on a sold-out house when tenor Placido Domingo takes the stage, opera spokesman Gary Murphy said that a drastic drop-off in ticket sales after Tuesday’s New York disaster led to sales of 2,500 out of 3,197 seats at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion for Thursday night’s performance of “Queen of Spades,” with Domingo, also the company’s artistic director, singing a lead role. Of those 2,500, 300 were no-shows.

Murphy said that, on Tuesday, expected ticket sales for all opera performances dropped 94%, and by Friday morning were still lagging by 50%.

POP/ROCK

Rap Twins Get 3-Year Sentence

Rappers Kane & Abel were sentenced this week to three years in prison in connection with a federal cocaine case in New Orleans, where the twin brothers had risen to fame in Southern rap circles.

The 24-year-old rappers, born David and Daniel Garcia, had previously been facing conspiracy charges related to a Louisiana cocaine ring, but the sentencing on Wednesday followed a plea agreement that saw those charges dropped. The brothers instead pleaded guilty to lying to federal agents about the activities of a jailed drug kingpin Richard Pena, an eight-time convicted murderer.

JAZZ

Irakere Cancels, Stays in Cuba

Latin jazz band Irakere, scheduled to perform at the Conga Room on Friday night, canceled its appearance, but not for reasons related to Tuesday’s terrorist attack. The group stayed in Cuba when other performers traveled here last week for the Latin Grammy Awards.

The Conga Room’s Martin Fleischman said Friday he was concerned about what he views as “an abnormal frequency of cancellations for performers coming out of Cuba,” noting the earlier cancellation of a date at the club by Carlos Manuel.

QUICK TAKES

The Ovation Awards, L.A.’s annual peer-judged theater competition, will be presented at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood on Nov. 12. It will be the first awards ceremony to be held in the building that is best known as the future home of the Academy Awards.... The WB has delayed by two weeks the premiere of its new Saturday morning children’s lineup, which was to have been unveiled today. Those shows will now run Sept. 29 instead.... The Los Angeles Master Chorale will present a free performance at the Central Library in downtown L.A. at 12:15 p.m. Monday.... Peter Jennings hosts a two-hour program for children today about this week’s shocking events, “Answering Kids’ Questions,” airing at 7 a.m. on KABC-TV Channel 7.