Quick takes: ‘Rock’ musical’s twist

During Broadway’s autumn doldrums, celebrity stunt casting is often seen as a surefire way of drumming up sagging sales. This week, Billie Joe Armstrong of the band Green Day joined the cast of “American Idiot” for a brief run. Now the organizers of “Rock of Ages” have announced their own celebrity cast addition.

The hit Broadway jukebox musical, which draws on ‘80s hair-metal rock favorites, will be getting an injection of the real thing starting Oct. 11, when Twisted Sister frontman Dee Snider joins the cast for an 11-week run.

“Rock of Ages” is scheduled to play Hollywood’s Pantages Theatre in February as part of a national tour starring Constantine Maroulis, who headed the original Broadway cast.

—David Ng

Borda’s happy at the L.A. Phil

Not surprisingly, Monday’s announcement that Zarin Mehta plans to step down as president of the New York Philharmonic after the 2011-12 season already has raised blog speculation about his possible successor.

One name that’s likely to be tossed around in coming weeks is that of Deborah Borda, president of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, who ran the New York Phil for nearly a decade before Mehta took over. Borda, 61, is a native New Yorker.

In a brief interview this week apropos of Mehta’s departure, Borda was asked whether she plans to end her own management career in Los Angeles. “I might just have the greatest orchestral job in the world,” she said, declining to comment further on the record.

—Reed Johnson

VHI says ‘I do’ to reality show

Imagine if “Jersey Shore” and “Bridezillas” smushed and made a baby. Scary, right?

Or it could be the makings of a hit reality show — at least, that’s what VH1 is hoping. The network announced Thursday that it will introduce a new series, “My Big Friggin’ Wedding,” on Nov. 1.

From the producers of “Jersey Shore,” the show will follow five over-the-top East Coast couples (two from Long Island and three from New Jersey) in their drama-filled journey to “I do.”

—Yvonne Villarreal

A day job for CNN’s Cooper

Anderson Cooper is looking to keep ‘em honest, even in the daytime.

The CNN host has inked a deal with Telepictures Productions and Warner Bros. Domestic Television for an hour-long daytime program to launch in fall 2011. It will be pitched to stations in the coming weeks.

The show, targeting female viewers, will have a topical format — with subjects ranging from pop culture fare to social issues and news stories.

“It’s an exciting opportunity to show another side of myself and create something worthwhile and special in daytime,” Anderson said

For fans of his nighttime gig, there’s no need to start channel surfing.

As part of the deal, Cooper renewed his contract with CNN to continue manning the “Anderson Cooper 360” desk.

—Yvonne Villarreal

And it’s Leno by just a hair

Jay Leno notched a narrow victory over David Letterman in the first week of the new television season last week, ratings from the Nielsen Co. showed Thursday.

And if the race was closer than NBC might have liked, it marked a big improvement over last season’s premiere week. At that point, Conan O’Brien was still host of the network’s venerable “Tonight Show” franchise and drew only about half as many viewers as the 5 million that tuned in to Letterman’s “Late Show” on CBS.

Last week, “The Tonight Show” averaged 3.795 million viewers while “Late Show” averaged 3.78 million. Leno returned to “Tonight” last March and reclaimed the ratings lead, but Letterman has been closing the gap in recent months.

—Lee Margulies

Finally

Reunion? Reality TV star Heidi Montag said that she has called off her divorce from Spencer Pratt and that they are trying to make their marriage work.