New take on ‘Steel Magnolias’

Queen Latifah, Alfre Woodard, Phylicia Rashad and Jill Scott will star in a black version of “Steel Magnolias,” the play by Robert Harling that was turned into a movie in 1989 with Sally Field, Dolly Parton, Shirley MacLaine and Julia Roberts.

The project begins filming in Atlanta next month and will air later this year on Lifetime, the cable channel said Monday. It’s been given a contemporary adaptation by Sally Robinson and will be directed by Kenny Leon, who directed the Broadway revival of “A Raisin in the Sun” in 2004 and the TV version that was done for ABC in 2008.

Also featured in the story about a group of women who congregate at a Louisiana beauty parlor are Adepero Oduye and Condola Rashad.

—Lee Margulies

Beyoncé getting back to work

The question of when Beyoncé would return to the stage after giving birth to daughter Blue Ivy has been answered: The pop diva announced plans to anchor three concerts in Atlantic City in May.

The 16-time Grammy winner will perform the concerts as part of the unveiling of the $2.4-billion Revel Resorts. All three shows will be held over Memorial Day weekend in the resort’s Ovation Hall, which has 5,050 seats, according to Revel.

—Gerrick D. Kennedy

Dion on mend, to return soon

Singer Céline Dion says she is recovering from a virus that caused an inflammation of her vocal cords and is planning to return to the stage in Las Vegas soon.

Dion said Monday that she received good news last week during a follow-up examination with her doctor in Los Angeles: She should be fully recovered by mid-April. That’s when she hopes to start recording songs for her new English and French albums.

Dion announced last month that she was canceling her shows at Las Vegas’ Caesars Palace until June 9 because of her illness.

—Associated Press

Ushering in rock hall of fame class

John Mellencamp, Chuck D, Steve Van Zandt, Bette Midler and Chris Rock are among the presenters who have been tapped to handle inductions for the 2012 class of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on April 14 in Cleveland.

Mellencamp will welcome in Donovan, while Public Enemy’s Chuck D will give the speech for the Beastie Boys, E Street Band guitarist Van Zandt will bring in the Small Faces/Faces, Midler will salute singer-songwriter Laura Nyro and Rock will do the honors for the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Additionally, ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons and Dusty Hill will introduce bluesman Freddie King, and Carole King will give the remarks for her former Brill Building boss, publisher and TV impresario Don Kirshner.

Smokey Robinson will introduce the newly anointed bands who are joining their previously inducted leaders: the Blue Caps (Gene Vincent), the Crickets (Buddy Holly), the Famous Flames (James Brown), the Midnighters (Hank Ballard) and the Miracles (Robinson).

This year’s ceremony will be held at the hall in Cleveland rather than its usual spot at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City. A highlights special will premiere May 5 on HBO.

—Randy Lewis

‘Walking Dead’ sets series mark

About 9 million viewers tuned in to AMC for Sunday’s season finale of “The Walking Dead,” making it the highest-rated episode in the series’ history, the network said Monday.

And a nice chunk of that — 6 million viewers — fell into the category of 18- to 49-year-olds that so many advertisers seek.

—Yvonne Villarreal

Hollywood Bowl to salute Khan

Chaka Khan will join country singer Reba McEntire as this year’s inductees into the Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame, the Los Angeles Philharmonic said Monday. McEntire’s induction had been announced previously.

The ceremony, as well as performances by the two singers, will be opening night at the Hollywood Bowl, June 22 at 8 p.m. Julie Andrews will host the event.

—Jamie Wetherbe

Finally

Renewed: “Jersey Shore” will return for a sixth season, with expectant mom Snooki as part of the action, MTV said. Production will begin this summer in Seaside Heights, N.J.

Honored: Actor Sean Penn has been chosen to receive the 2012 Peace Summit Award at the 12th World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates in Chicago next month in recognition of his relief work in Haiti after the country’s devastating January 2010 earthquake.