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

MOVIES

Stone Embarks on Castro Documentary

Oliver Stone, whose credits include films on John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon, is adding Fidel Castro to his list. This time, however, he’s shooting a documentary, reportedly with the Cuban leader’s cooperation.

According to Variety, “Looking for Fidel” will contain extensive interviews with Castro, with whom Stone had a six-hour dinner Saturday. The film--a production of Spain’s MediaPro, Morena Films and Pentagrama Films--is expected to be released in the fall.

MUSIC

Met Fires Extra

for ‘War and Peace’ Fall

The Metropolitan Opera has fired a cast member who tumbled off the stage into the orchestra pit during last week’s premiere performance of Prokofiev’s “War and Peace.”

Met spokesman Francois Giuliani said Wednesday that Simon Deonarian, a non-singing extra who was playing a French grenadier, “is no longer with the company.” Deonarian, who was paid $30 per show, was not hurt in the incident.

Last Thursday, Deonarian appeared to roll off the steeply raked stage during the final scene of the four-hour epic--a mishap that brought the production to a halt for several minutes. When the curtain came down, Met general manager Joseph Volpe brought a smiling Deonarian out to center stage to loud applause. “Our retreating French soldier lost his way in the snowstorm,” he quipped.

After viewing a video of the production, however, Volpe concluded that Deonarian had jumped after losing his way “because he was overacting,” he told the New York Times.

Not so, says Deonarian, who insists he inadvertently drifted into the pit in what he calls a “freak accident.”

RADIO

Two Staffers Suspended in Latest KPFK Tussle

Marc Cooper, host of “Marc Cooper’s Daily Review,” and Jeff Kaufman, a public affairs producer and occasional on-air host, have been relieved of their duties after refusing to participate in the winter fund-raising drive at KPFK-FM (90.7).

Cooper said his reluctance stems from his “deep and abiding concerns about the direction and future of the [Pacifica] network” under its new management.

Pacifica has been in a protracted fight with critics who accused the network of straying from its left-of-center roots in an attempt to broaden its audience. The situation was temporarily resolved when a new interim national board took the reins in December. KPFK general manager Mark Schubb was let go in January.

Steven Starr, the interim general manager at KPFK, said Cooper and Kaufman were suspended, not fired. He’s waiting to hear from the pair, who received his letter on Tuesday.

“They refused to perform assigned tasks, which is a violation of a union agreement,” Starr said Wednesday. “My principal objective is to raise funding for the station at this critical time, and I require the cooperation of all on-air talent to do so.”

No decision has been made as to replacing Cooper’s show, which airs weekdays at 4 p.m.

QUICK TAKES

“War Letters,” the staged reading of wartime correspondence at the Canon Theatre in Beverly Hills, will close Sunday. The production will have completed only seven performances since this past Sunday’s opening and 19 previews, which began Jan. 29. “It seems L.A. audiences are not interested in this topic right now,” said co-producer Susan Dietz. “I misjudged the zeitgeist.”