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

THEATER

Despite Tony Award, ‘Sweet Smell’ Closing

“Thoroughly Modern Millie” rang up $350,000 in ticket sales the day after it won best musical at the Tony Awards Sunday night, double its usual daily take. “Into the Woods,” “Mamma Mia!,” “Urinetown” and best play winner “The Goat” also reported significant boosts as a result of the TV exposure.

But producers of the $10-million “Sweet Smell of Success,” whose John Lithgow was named best actor in a musical, have decided to call it quits on June 15 after 108 performances and the loss of their entire investment. Lithgow, who played J.J. Hunsecker, a vengeful gossip columnist who makes and breaks careers, was the only winner among the show’s seven Tony nominations.

The production, directed by Nicholas Hytner, had music and lyrics by Marvin Hamlisch and Craig Carnelia and a book by John Guare. It opened March 14 to generally negative notices and has struggled at the box office ever since.

“It hurts a lot when people dismiss it and ridicule it ... and I would be lying if I said that didn’t occasionally fill me with rage and resentment,” Lithgow said after his Tony triumph. “For all the people who have hated the show, an equal number have loved it just as passionately. Every critic who has reviewed it in a London newspaper has raved about it. Go figure.”

Guthrie Moving Ahead Despite Ventura Veto

The board of directors of Minneapolis’ Guthrie Theater have decided to continue design and pre-construction work on a new $125-million theater along the Mississippi River, despite Gov. Jesse Ventura’s veto of $24 million in state funding, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports.

Though the future of the project requires lining up $35 million from Minnesota coffers, there is a ray of hope. Since his veto, Ventura has indicated that he thought the proposal had merit and indicated that he’d entertain a capital-projects bill in 2003.

At best, there will be at least a six-month postponement on the groundbreaking, which was expected to take place in September.

MOVIES

Besson Questioned in Stuntman Death

A judicial investigator questioned French film director Luc Besson on Tuesday in connection with the death of a cameraman during a movie stunt in 1999. The director of films such as “La Femme Nikita” and “The Big Blue” was placed under official investigation, judiciary officials said.

The investigation--which under French law is a step short of pressing charges and does not necessarily lead to trial--was prompted by accusations that not enough money was spent on safety during the shooting of “Taxi 2,” which Besson produced. The movie--and the original, “Taxi”--were huge box-office hits in France.

Cameraman Alain Dutartre was killed and two camera crew members were injured on the set when a stunt car launched over two tanks flew past barriers intended to stop it. Stunt specialist Remy Julienne accused Besson’s production company of refusing to spring for a remote-controlled camera.

Besson denies the allegations, saying he followed all safety rules and didn’t cut corners on spending. He’s already started work on “Taxi 3,” the next installment in the series.

THE ARTS

Avery Fisher Hall Now, but Will It Stick?

The Avery Fisher family plans to meet with officials at New York City’s Lincoln Center this week to warn them against changing the name of the prestigious Avery Fisher Hall. The building is one of seven on the campus due to be overhauled during a 10-year renovation.

Fisher, an electronics mogul, gave $10.5 million in 1973 to rebuild the acoustically flawed building, home to the New York Philharmonic, on the condition that it be named after him in perpetuity. The outcome of the dispute, analysts say, could set a precedent for how philanthropists and cultural organizations negotiate naming rights.

“In perpetuity means forever, and if we have to go to court to protect the name, we will,” said Fisher family attorney William Zabel.

Lincoln Center’s president, Reynold Levy, said he hopes to settle the matter amicably. But most of the funding for the $1-billion-plus project, including an estimated $300 million for Avery Fisher Hall, must come from private donors who like their names on things.

The disagreement signals a shift in unwritten philanthropic guidelines from the honorary system to a more binding one, notes Harvard University professor Peter Frumkin told the Nando Times. “Donors want recognition, and the gift has gone from being a gift to being a contract,” he said.

QUICK TAKES

In order to undergo physical therapy for recent back surgery, director John Frankenheimer has withdrawn from Morgan Creek Production’s prequel to “The Exorcist,” the Hollywood Reporter says....”Faces of Ground Zero,” veteran Life magazine photographer Joe McNally’s life-size Polaroid portraits of rescue workers and survivors on Sept. 11, will open June 20 at L.A.’s Skirball Cultural Center.... HBO says the new season of “Sex and the City” will begin July 21....John Leguizamo will make his behind-the-camera debut--co-directing HBO’s “Infamous” with Enrique Shadyac. The movie tells the story of a young Latino boxer, to be played by Leguizamo, according to Variety.... Gary Smith has been named executive producer of the 54th annual night time Emmy Awards telecast, to air Sept. 22 on NBC....Columbia Pictures has bought feature film rights to Rob Liefeld’s Internet comic strip “Shrink!” for Jennifer Lopez to produce and star in, as a superhero psychiatrist.... The National Endowment for the Arts has chosen Robert Frankel, executive director of the Santa Barbara Museum of Art since 1996, to be its director of museum and visual arts.