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

THE ARTS

Angelenos Among World’s Top Collectors

Who are the big spenders when it comes to purchasing art? ARTnews magazine has served up its 12th annual Top 10 list of the world’s most active arts collectors, drawn up after interviews with experts in 22 countries.

In any given year, there are at least five people spending more than $100 million a year on art, an observer of the super-rich says. And the art market has gotten an additional infusion from investors seeking to sidestep Wall Street.

Those making the list this year, in alphabetical order, are: Seattle-based computer software magnate Paul Allen; New Yorkers Debbie and Leon Black; L.A. collectors Edythe and Eli Broad; Connecticut’s Steven Cohen; San Francisco’s Doris and Donald Fisher; Ronnie and Samuel Heyman of New York, Palm Beach and Connecticut; Marie-Josee and Henry R. Kravis, who made their money in finance and investments; cosmetics magnates Evelyn and Leonard Lauder and Jo Carole and Ronald S. Lauder; and Parisian Francois Pinault.

Other entertainment folks in the Top 200: David Bowie; David Geffen; talent agency owner Philip Gersh and his wife Beatrice; Elton John; Steve Martin; producer Scott Rudin; TV executive Dean Valentine; and CAA agent Beth Swofford.

TELEVISION

‘Sesame Street’ Tackles AIDS in South Africa

An executive from Sesame Workshop, producer of the long-running children’s show “Sesame Street,” told delegates at the 14th international AIDS conference in Barcelona that the company will introduce an HIV-positive Muppet character to the cast of its South African program this fall.

A similar move in the United States and in countries such as Mexico and Russia is also under discussion.

According to vice president Joel Schneider, the character will be healthy in an effort to de-stigmatize the disease. She’ll have contracted the disease through childbirth or a blood transfusion.

Four million South Africans (one in every 10) are afflicted with the HIV virus--the most in any nation. And the number of cases has doubled since 1996. AIDS activists have been critical of the government’s sluggish response to the pandemic--particularly comments made by President Thabo Mbeki suggesting that anti-AIDS drugs are “poison” and that the disease might not even be caused by HIV.

Schneider didn’t jump on the bandwagon, however. He noted that the new character is being developed in partnership with the South African Department of Education and the state-controlled South African Broadcasting Corp., which airs “Takalani Sesame” three times a day.

TELEVISION

And How Much Are These Handcuffs Worth?

An antiques dealer, Russell Pritchard III, was sentenced Thursday to a year in prison and ordered to repay $830,000 for staging phony appraisals on PBS’ “Antiques Roadshow”--a program on which people bring in old or unusual items for on-the-spot assessments.

Pritchard pleaded guilty to the charge, as well as to defrauding Civil War collectors--giving them low appraisals, reselling the items at much higher prices and pocketing the profit.

According to prosecutors in Philadelphia, Pritchard made between $800,000 and $1.5 million on the fraudulent transactions. He could have been sentenced to up to 135 years in prison and more than $5.2 million in fines.

Judy Matthews, senior publicist for “Antiques Roadshow,” which is produced by Boston’s WGBH, says their appraisers are chosen upon recommendations from major auction houses and that the station stopped using Pritchard when irregularities surfaced in early 2000.

MUSIC

Perlman Giving a Boost to St. Louis Orchestra

In an artistic and public relations coup, the struggling St. Louis Symphony Orchestra has appointed violinist Itzhak Perlman to serve as music advisor for the next two seasons. The band has an option to extend the arrangement through the 2004-05 season, it announced on Thursday.

Perlman, principal guest conductor at the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, will conduct two weekends each season, participate in final auditions for musicians and help to program concerts. His connections, it is hoped, will also bring in major talent.

The appointment comes at a crucial moment for the orchestra. In April, former music director Hans Vonk unexpectedly resigned for health reasons. Though Perlman will perform some of his duties, he will not be replacing him, said Randy Adams, the organization’s president and executive director.

The St. Louis Symphony is also struggling with financial problems that threatened it with bankruptcy last summer. No special funding was needed to secure Perlman, orchestra management maintains.

QUICK TAKES

Penelope Spheeris (“The Decline of Western Civilization”) will direct “The Crooked E: The Inside Story of Enron,” based on Brian Cruver’s upcoming book. Written by Steven Mazur and produced by Robert Greenwald, it will air next season on CBS.... Danny Glover will develop and star in his first television series--a project slated for CBS’s 2003-04 lineup.... Facing an evaporating advance and sluggish sales, the Broadway production of “The Full Monty” put its top $85 ticket on sale for $49 and has indicated that it will close its doors shortly.