Quick Takes: No Emmy for miniseries

The miniseries, once the hallmark of network television with such landmark productions as “Roots,” “Rich Man, Poor Man,” “Holocaust” and “The Thorn Birds,” has fallen on such hard times that its Emmy Award category is being merged with the one for TV movies.

The announcement was made Thursday by the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, which said there are simply too few miniseries being made to warrant a category of its own.

“The number of entries in the miniseries category over the past six years has steadily declined and provided less than the requisite number needed for a full complement of five nominees,” the academy said. There were four nominees in 2008, two in 2009 and only two again last year: HBO’s “The Pacific” and PBS’ “Return to Cranford.”

The academy noted that it already had consolidated miniseries and movies in other categories, such as acting, writing and directing.

—Lee Margulies

‘Earnest’ opera in Irish festival

An opera based on Oscar Wilde’s classic comedy “The Importance of Being Earnest” will be one of the L.A. components of “Imagine Ireland: A Year of Irish Arts in America,” a festival sponsored in various U.S. venues this year by the Irish government as a means of boosting interest in the country and promoting tourism.

Irish composer Gerald Barry’s operatic adaptation of the Wilde play will be performed by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, which co-commissioned the work with London’s Barbican Centre and the Birmingham (England) Contemporary Music Group.

It will be presented as a concert (no costumes, sets or staging) April 7 and 8 at Walt Disney Concert Hall. Bass Stephen Richardson will sing the role of the imperious Lady Bracknell, joining a stage tradition of males in that part; also featured are tenor Gordon Gietz as John Worthing and soprano Hila Plitmann as the ingenue, Cecily Cardew.

—Mike Boehm

Ballet score for McCartney

Paul McCartney is putting the finishing touches on his first original orchestral score for dance.

The former Beatle announced on his website Thursday that he was collaborating with New York City Ballet’s Peter Martins on a new work to be premiered by the company on Sept. 22.

“I am always interested in new directions that I haven’t worked in before,” McCartney said.

McCartney, 68, is one of the most successful songwriters in pop history but has ventured into classical music before with the 1991 “Liverpool Oratorio.”

—Reuters

Motown sounds at White House

Singers John Legend and Nick Jonas performed Motown Records songs before cheering teenagers at the White House on Thursday as Barack and Michelle Obama celebrated the sounds that were a powerful part of the soundtrack of their youth.

FOR THE RECORD:
White House music: A QuickTakes item in the Feb. 25 Calendar section said that John Legend performed Stevie Wonder’s “Love’s in Need of Love” at the White House Thursday. The song’s title is “Love’s in Need of Love Today.” —

“Times have changed, but the amazing thing is that that music is still relevant,” Legend said after he sat down at a piano in the State Dining Room and delivered a rendition of Stevie Wonder’s “Love’s in Need of Love.” He said that his first exposure to Motown came from hearing his father and uncle sing around the piano and that those songs were a huge influence on his own music.

“You can still put that music on now and get the party going,” he said.

Legend and Jonas performed at an afternoon workshop for teens from around the U.S. It served as a warm-up of sorts for an East Room evening concert.

—Associated Press

Couric compiles ‘Advice’ book

Katie Couric and some famous friends are sharing tips on how to succeed.

The CBS News anchor has compiled “The Best Advice I Ever Got: Lessons From Extraordinary Lives.” The book features contributions from actress Meryl Streep, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, baseball star Alex Rodriguez and more than 100 others. Random House said Thursday that it is scheduled to come out April 12.

The project originated with a commencement speech Couric gave last spring. Profits will be donated to Scholarship America, a nonprofit scholarship and educational support organization. Couric, who has written two children’s books, will also include insights about her life and career, from her years on NBC’s “Today” television show to her current work with CBS.

—Associated Press

Finally

On the boards: James Earl Jones knows what he’ll be doing after he’s done driving Miss Daisy. The Tony Award winner will play a former U.S. president in a revival of “Gore Vidal’s The Best Man” on Broadway in the spring of 2012.