Morning Report - News from July 24, 2002

POP/ROCK

Cashing In on the Man in Black’s Birthday

Johnny Cash is the subject of David and Goliath tribute albums scheduled to be released a week apart in September in conjunction with Cash’s 70th birthday celebrations this year.

The big-name tribute coming Sept. 24, “Kindred Spirits: A Tribute to the Songs of Johnny Cash,” includes performances by Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Sheryl Crow, Dwight Yoakam, Hank Williams Jr., Keb’ Mo’ and others. A lower-profile batch of roots-music acts, including former Mavericks singer Raul Malo, Dave Alvin, James Intveld, Rosie Flores and Hank Williams III, is featured on “Dressed in Black: A Tribute to Johnny Cash,” arriving Sept. 17.

Columbia/Legacy Records also continues its series of 70th-birthday releases with four vintage Cash albums coming in August and September, including the previously unreleased “Johnny Cash at Madison Square Garden,” a live album recorded in 1969. Cash turned 70 on Feb. 26.

TELEVISION

Donaldson Snipes at ABC’s Newsmagazines

Sam Donaldson has kept a low profile ever since ABC announced that political commentator George Stephanopoulos would be replacing him and Cokie Roberts as host of its Sunday morning news show “This Week.”

But now he’s speaking out. Though he has “no issues” with Stephanopoulos, he tells TV Guide, he’s far from impressed with the state of ABC newsmagazines such as “20/20” and “PrimeTime: Thursday.” He and Diane Sawyer hosted the latter show from 1989 to 1998.

“In the early days when Diane and I started ‘PrimeTime,’ ” he says, “most every piece we did I was proud of and could defend. I can’t make the same statement today.... I’m talking about my own taste. If you like murder or rape or multiple-birth or diet-pill-of-the-week stories and want to watch them, fine. But if we say it’s ABC News, we should be a little better than that.”

His primary focus now is his syndicated radio program “Sam Donaldson Live in America,” which began in September.

‘Hardball’s’ Matthews Out With Malaria

Chris Matthews, host of MSNBC’s “Hardball with Chris Matthews,” has been hospitalized with malaria, the cable channel said Tuesday.

The journalist, who has traveled extensively throughout Africa, Southeast Asia and the Middle East, is expected to leave Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington later this week and return to his weekday series shortly thereafter. Veteran newspaper and television journalist Mike Barnicle, will guest host until he returns.

THEATER

‘Aladdin’ Headed for Theme Park Stage

Anne Hamburger, former artistic director of the La Jolla Playhouse, joined the Walt Disney Co. two years ago. Her mandate: to recruit performing arts and theatrical talent into the theme park arena and elevate the quality of the entertainment.

Her first production is “Disney’s Aladdin--Live on Stage,” a musical to be performed in the 2,000-seat Hyperion Theatre at Disney’s California Adventure in Anaheim starting Dec. 9. The piece is based on the animated Disney movie, whose score--by Alan Menken, Howard Ashman and Tim Rice--will be retained. Hamburger, however, has brought in a high-powered creative team to move the vision along.

There’s international opera director Francesca Zambello (the L.A. Opera’s “Billy Budd”), Broadway choreographer Lynne Taylor-Corbett (“Swing,” “Titanic”) and Tony Award-winning set designer Peter J. Davison (“Copenhagen”). The book will be written by Chad Beguelin (“The Rhythm Club”).

Hamburger, who made her reputation through New York City’s En Garde Arts, says she’s comfortable with her new, less-traditional theater life.

“I’m painting on a much larger palette now, commissioning and developing theatrical productions for California, Florida, Paris and Tokyo,” she said Tuesday. “And I’m bringing world-class talent to millions of people, many of whom don’t go to the theater very often.”

QUICK TAKES

Conan O’Brien has been tapped to host the 54th-annual prime-time Emmy Awards, airing on NBC Sept. 22 .... Sunday’s season premiere of “Sex and the City” averaged 7.9 million viewers, a record for the HBO series....The Coen Brothers, the duo responsible for the hit musical fable “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” are producing “Romance and Cigarettes,” a musical written by John Turturro....Despite NASA’s concerns about whether he has enough education and fluency in Russian, ‘N Sync’s Lance Bass has signed a contract to join the Russians on an October Soyuz flight to the International Space Station, Eonline reports.... Discovery Communications plans to run “Faces of Sept. 11,” a 14-hour series of documentaries on the terrorist attacks of last year, on five cable channels beginning Aug. 29, including TLC and Discovery....The 28th Deauville American Film Festival, running Aug. 30 to Sept. 8, will pay tribute to actress Ellen Burstyn, the late director John Frankenheimer and producer Robert Evans, according to the Hollywood Reporter....Starting in September, singer Donny Osmond will host “Pyramid,” a syndicated revival of the game show formerly hosted by Dick Clark.

Elaine Dutka