Quick Takes: MDA lines up performers

Neither the Muscular Dystrophy Assn. nor Jerry Lewis have said why they parted ways this month, but the move doesn’t appear to be hindering the group’s plans for its annual Labor Day telethon. The MDA announced Thursday that Celine Dion, Jennifer Lopez, Lady Antebellum, Richie Sambora and Jordin Sparks are among the celebrities who will appear on the Sept. 4 telecast.

“While we deeply appreciate everything that Jerry Lewis has done and his enduring legacy for MDA, our show will go on,” a spokesman for the Arizona-based organization said.

The show, which used to run 21½ hours, will now air live from 6 p.m. to midnight on the East Coast and on tape delay during the same hours in other time zones.

—Associated Press

Garland show coming to N.Y.

A drama about the last months of Judy Garland’s life is coming to Broadway this spring.

Peter Quilter’s “End of the Rainbow” is set to begin performances March 19 at a theater to be announced.

Tracie Bennett, a two-time Olivier Award winner who originated the role of Garland in London, will reprise her role on Broadway.

Set in London in 1968, the play follows the drama of Garland’s final performances in London and her controversial life offstage. It also includes several of Garland’s signature songs, including “Over the Rainbow.”

—Associated Press

Staff changes at LACMA

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art has shaken up its non-curatorial management team, firing several veteran department heads in what director Michael Govan says is not a financial belt-tightening, but a bid to better adapt to technology-driven change while shifting some priorities.

The management restructuring was triggered by the May retirement of Melody Kanschat, the museum’s president and chief operating officer. Among those let go last week were Thomas Frick, editor of LACMA’s

exhibition catalogs and other publications; Barbara Pflaumer, associate vice president for communications and marketing; and Amy McFarland, head of graphics and design.

LACMA spokeswoman Miranda Carroll said that altogether seven people had been dismissed.

Govan said that, with some new hires in the works, it’s possible the staff may shrink by a position or two, but that LACMA’s budget for 2011-12 calls for a 7% increase overall.

—Mike Boehm

Reality series ‘L.A. Ink’ axed

Kat Von D, the tattoo artist who recently ended her engagement to fellow tattoo enthusiast Jesse James, has more heartbreak to deal with. Her TLC reality series, “L.A. Ink,” has been canceled. The series is in its fourth season. The finale will air Sept. 15.

—Greg Braxton