Quick Takes: ‘Book of Mormon’ headed to L.A.

“The Book of Mormon” — the hit Broadway musical from the creators of “South Park” — will make its Los Angeles debut in September at the Pantages Theatre. The 12-week engagement, which is part of a national tour, is scheduled to run Sept. 5 to Nov. 25.

The national tour of “The Book of Mormon” will kick off in Denver on Aug. 14. The L.A. engagement will be the second stop and will be the first production of the Pantages’ 2012-13 season. The Tony-winning show is currently playing to packed houses at New York’s Eugene O’Neill Theatre, where it premiered earlier this year.

“South Park” creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker co-wrote the musical with Robert Lopez (“Avenue Q”). Parker directed the show with Casey Nicholaw, who also serves as choreographer.

In a release sent Wednesday, Stone and Parker said: “We moved to Los Angeles 20 years ago to try and make it as filmmakers.... The last thing we expected is that one day we would be bringing our Broadway musical here. It’s crazy and great.”

No cast has been announced for the touring production.

—David Ng

Iger to head film museum drive

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is moving ahead with its plans for a film museum in Los Angeles, announcing Wednesday that Disney Chairman Bob Iger will head up the fundraising effort. Actors Tom Hanks and Annette Bening will serve as co-chairs.

Academy President Tom Sherak said in an interview that the organization needs to raise far less than the

$450 million initially estimated to construct a museum from the ground up but refused to say what the specific dollar target would be. Those plans were abandoned in favor of a more economical solution — housing the museum in the former May Co. building on the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue. The project will be a collaboration with the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, which owns the building.

Sherak said the first $50 million will come directly via an endowment from

the academy. He hopes the majority of the funding will be raised by the 6,000 members of the academy. He said that the goal is to raise enough money in the next year to begin renovations on the 300,000-square-foot space.

—Nicole Sperling

WGA names TV nominees

Two new series, HBO’s “Game of Thrones” and Showtime’s “Homeland,” broke into the top categories of the 2012 WGA Awards for Television, and both were for drama.

The dramas will face off with “Boardwalk Empire,” “Breaking Bad” and “The Good Wife” — proving the domination of cable networks in the general categories of this year’s nominees. The Writers Guild of America announced the nominees Wednesday for achievement in television, news, radio, promotional writing and graphic animation.

On the comedy side, “Louie,” “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and “Parks and Recreation” replaced last year’s nominees “Glee,” “The Office” and “Nurse Jackie.”

Many of the usual faces filled many of the category slots — AMC’s “Breaking Bad” also has two episodes in the episodic drama category, and “Modern Family,” a big winner last year, is a multiple nominee.

In the new series category, Fox’s “New Girl” was the sole broadcast network nominee — it’s up against Showtime’s Matt le Blanc laffer “Episodes” and “Homeland,” AMC’s “The Killing” and HBO’s “Game of Thrones.”

—Yvonne Villarreal

ACT alumni to be honored

San Francisco’s American Conservatory Theatre is launching a new annual award in January called the Conservatory Awards, honoring outstanding alumni and donors. ACT said it will recognize actresses Annette Bening and Elizabeth Banks at the Jan. 24 ceremony. In addition, the school will honor the co-founders of Los Angeles’ A Noise Within — Geoff Elliott and Julia Rodriguez-Elliott, who are also ACT alumni.

Bening will receive the Edward Hastings Career Achievement Award. Banks is receiving the Rising Star Award.

A Noise Within was co-founded in 1992 by the Elliotts, who serve as artistic directors. They will receive ACT’s Contributions to the Field Award.

—David Ng

‘Mythbusters’ test shot is a bust

Failure was definitely an option for the “Mythbusters” team Tuesday: A ballistics experiment for the Discovery Channel show went awry and launched a cannonball into a nearby neighborhood, damaging a house and a car.

“Mythbusters,” the show that tests whether legends and common assumptions hold up under scientific scrutiny, was using a cannon at a police firing range in Dublin, 35 miles east of San Francisco. A stray shot somehow bounced off a safety berm and careened into a residential area, where it hit the parked car and tore through the home. No injuries were reported, according to Discovery.

Discovery said that “all proper safety protocol was observed.” The network is also apparently settling up with property owners.

—Scott Collins