Arts and entertainment reports from The Times, national and international news services and the nation's press. - Los Angeles Times
Advertisement

Arts and entertainment reports from The Times, national and international news services and the nation’s press.

Share via

WEDDING BELLS

Young Sweethearts: He may be used to being “Home Alone,†but star Macaulay Culkin has nonetheless announced plans to wed his girlfriend, actress Rachel Miner, currently starring on Broadway in “The Diary of Anne Frank.†Both are 17. In a joint statement issued Monday, the couple said they were “thrilled to have found each other as soul mates at such a tender age.†No wedding date has been set.

*

Xena: Warrior Bride: Lucy Lawless, 30, the leather-clad star of TV’s “Xena: Warrior Princess,†married the show’s executive producer, Rob Tapert, 43, Saturday at a Santa Monica church. It was Tapert’s first marriage and Lawless’ second. She has a 9-year-old daughter from her first marriage. They were honeymooning Monday at an undisclosed location.

POP/ROCK

Local Tour Dates: Janet Jackson’s “Velvet Rope Tour,†her first U.S. concert tour since 1993-94, will hit the Southland this summer, playing the Great Western Forum on Aug. 20, the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim on Aug. 23, and the San Diego Sports Arena on Aug. 28. The tour kicks off July 9 in Washington and culminates Oct. 11 with an HBO telecast from New York’s Madison Square Garden. R&B; singer Usher will be the opening act, and a portion of the tour’s proceeds will go to Gen. Colin L. Powell’s charity, America’s Promise--The Alliance for Youth. Tickets are expected to go on sale in mid-April.

Advertisement

*

Honoring Rock’s Greats: Little Richard, Joe Walsh, Ike Turner and other pop stars are scheduled to be on hand Thursday when Cleveland’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum opens a noisier and brighter shrine to rock’s greatest stars. The new Hall of Fame wing will replace a setting many said had the feeling of a church or temple. Since it opened in 1995, the old Hall of Fame wing had been in a darkened, quiet room at the top of the museum. The new wing, which originally was planned as a theater, covers 5,482 square feet, about a quarter the size of the old wing. But it will be more interactive, with a three-screen, multimedia presentation of film footage, music, interviews, animation and still photography. “I think you’re going to walk out of here with a much deeper feeling of who these inductees are and also the music they did,†a spokesman said. Other performers on the guest list for Thursday’s ribbon-cutting are George Clinton, Michelle Phillips, Wilson Pickett and Peter Wolf, as well as Bo Diddley, who is scheduled to perform. The new wing opens to the public on Friday.

TELEVISION

‘X’ Marks L.A. Spot: Chris Carter, creator and executive producer of Fox’s “The X-Files,†said it was an emotionally wrenching decision to move the drama from Vancouver to Los Angeles, but that he owed it to his stars. In a Sunday interview with the Vancouver Sun, Carter revealed that he had promised David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson that the series would not stay in Vancouver indefinitely. Both Duchovny and Anderson live in Los Angeles. Carter said that he had originally planned to shoot “The X-Files†pilot in Los Angeles, but went to Vancouver when he couldn’t find a good forest, and so shooting there turned from a short stint “into five years.†Carter praised the Vancouver crew, calling them and the look of Vancouver an integral part of the show.

MOVIES

Deedle Dee, Deedle Dum: Disney’s new comedy film, “Meet the Deedles,†is hitting a sour note with jazz singer Diane Schuur. The two-time Grammy winner says Disney and two record companies are damaging her trademark protected nickname, “Deedles,†which she has had since she was a child and uses in her recordings and on the name of her business, Deedles Music. In her U.S. District Court lawsuit, Schuur claims the film--about two rookie park rangers--will make the name “Deedles†synonymous with “madcap teenage lunacy.†The suit says the name Deedles “will likely become the punch line to jokes about stupidity†and will threaten the singer’s reputation. Spokeswomen for Disney, as well as Polygram Records Inc.--which has released a “Meet the Deedles†soundtrack--declined to comment.

Advertisement

QUICK TAKES

The July 13 and 14 Pearl Jam dates at the Great Western Forum are sold out, with no plans to add any more L.A. shows. However, a San Diego date is expected to be added eventually. . . . Cable’s CNN will provide live coverage today beginning at 4:50 p.m. of the Arkansas State University “Service of Hope and Healing,†a memorial to the four students and teacher who were killed in last week’s middle school shooting in Jonesboro, Ark. . . . Comedian Buddy Hackett will receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame today, during 11:30 a.m. ceremonies in front of the El Capitan Theatre at 6834 Hollywood Blvd. The star for Hackett, 73, will be the Walk of Fame’s 2,106th. . . . Fox has said it will return “Significant Others†to the air sometime this summer. The drama was just yanked from the schedule after three low-rated episodes; reruns of “Ally McBeal†will fill the Wednesday 9 p.m. slot until “Party of Five†returns later next month. . . . Flamboyant “glam rock†star Gary Glitter, famous for the sports events anthem “Rock and Roll Part 2,†was charged in London Monday on 50 counts of making indecent photographs of juveniles. Glitter, 53, was arrested last November after staff at a computer shop allegedly found indecent pictures on a computer he brought in for repair.

Advertisement