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

MOVIES

McCain Memoir Headed for Big Screen

The producers of the war drama “The Thin Red Line” will oversee a film project based on “Faith of My Fathers,” Arizona Sen. John McCain’s best-selling memoir that delves into what he learned from his father and grandfather (both four-star admirals in the U.S. Navy) and how he applied those lessons when he was shot down over North Vietnam in 1967.

McCain, a naval aviator, refused his captors’ offers of early release and was tortured, held in solitary confinement and imprisonment for more than five years.

“I wrote ‘Faith of My Fathers’ to acknowledge my first and most important advantage in life: to have been born the son and grandson of Navy officers,” said the former Republican presidential candidate. He said producers Bobby Geisler and John Roberdeau, having had fathers in the military, “will bring to the subject both affection for the honor of military legacies and an appreciation for the challenges they impose.”

*

TELEVISION

TV Movie: A New Chapter for O’Donnell

When Rosie O’Donnell leaves the talk show arena May 23, she’ll be tackling a new one: writing and directing her first TV movie, Fox News Channel reports. The comedian told the network’s Roger Friedman that she’s been working on a project for Showtime.

Her script is an adaptation of the novel “America,” by E.R. Frank, a tale aimed at young adults. The story revolves around a teenage boy who drifts from foster care to a park bench to a juvenile detention facility, winding up in a mental hospital. Production is due to begin in the fall.

*

Producer to Exit CBS’ Morning News Show

More changes at CBS’ “The Early Show.”

Senior executive producer Steve Friedman has opted to step down at the end of May in the wake of anchor Bryant Gumbel’s decision to bail out. “I don’t want to start over again,” said Friedman, who launched the show in 1999 and previously worked with Gumbel at NBC’s “Today” show.

He’ll be replaced by Michael Bass, who left “Today” last year when he was bypassed for the top producing job. Recently, he’d been courted for a job at CNN’s “American Morning With Paula Zahn.”

Gumbel is expected to leave in May and the network is still working on a replacement. Feelers are out to Meredith Vieira, featured on ABC’s “The View,” among others.

*

POP/ROCK

Grant to Help Preserve Folk Music Recordings

A cramped apartment in New York City served as one of the first recording studios for struggling folk artists such as Bob Dylan, Pete Seeger and Janis Ian, whose music was recorded by its residents: Agnes “Sis” Cunningham and her husband, Gordon Friesen. The couple also transcribed the lyrics and melodies for Broadside, a mimeographed magazine they began printing in 1962 and sold for 35 cents.

The material includes Dylan’s folk anthem “Blowin’ in the Wind,” Seeger’s nuclear war parody “Mack the Bomb” and Ian’s “Society’s Child.”

Regarding such material as a snapshot of a movement, the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences has come up with a $22,649 grant to help preserve the 236 three-inch tape reels, given to the Southern Folklife Collection at the University of North Carolina in 1997. The money will pay for the conversion of the reels to more durable compact discs and preservation-quality master tapes.

*

THE ARTS

Riverside Orchestra Beset With Troubles

Egon Cholakian, a trustee of the Inland Empire/Riverside County Philharmonic, has resigned amid questions about his qualifications. He had been hired in February in the hope he’d oversee a turnaround in the group’s current financial crisis. Two board members responsible for his appointment have also quit, the Riverside Press-Enterprise reports.

The 44-year-old orchestra had to suspend its season in March, not long after discovering that it was running a deficit of $300,000--or about one-third of its $900,000 annual budget. With the new turmoil, it seems that the orchestra will be unable to resurrect plans for a 2002-03 season.

After questions were raised about Cholakian’s education and purported experience with the California attorney general’s office, he refused to provide specifics. Contacted by the Press-Enterprise, he declined to comment.

New Director Named at Huntington Library

John Murdoch, director of the gallery at the University of London’s Courtauld Institute of Art, has been appointed director of the art collection at the Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens, effective Sept. 1.

He’ll succeed Edward J. Nygren, who retires May 1 after overseeing the collections since 1991. Prior to joining the Courtauld in 1993, Murdoch spent 20 years at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum, the last four as assistant director of collections.

*

QUICK TAKES

The long run of the Eagles continues. The seminal Southern California band returns to the road for a seven-week U.S. tour that kicks off in Reno on May 31 and includes a June 1 show at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. No local dates have been announced