ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT REPORTS FROM THE TIMES, NEWS SERVICES AND THE NATION’S PRESS.

THEATER

Olivier Awards: Stephen Sondheim and Arthur Miller dominated the honors Friday at the 25th annual Olivier Awards, the English equivalent of America’s Tonys. “Merrily We Roll Along,” a 20-year-old Sondheim musical only now receiving its professional London debut, won three top Oliviers, including best musical--beating out Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “The Beautiful Game” and the latest Cameron Mackintosh venture, “The Witches of Eastwick.” A revival of Arthur Miller’s 1947 play, “All My Sons,” took four prizes. A third multiple winner was the Broadway-bound comedy, “Stones in His Pockets.” With two actors playing 15 characters, the show won best comedy for Northern Irish playwright Marie Jones and a surprise best actor prize for Conleth Hill. Best actress in a play went to Julie Walters, the anguished matriarch from last summer’s Royal National Theater revival of “All My Sons.” The BBC Award for best new play went to Joe Penhall’s “Blue/Orange.” Best musical production--an award distinct from best new musical--went to a stage version of the film classic, “Singin’ in the Rain.” Other winners included Ann Reinking and the late Bob Fosse for choreography in the musical “Fosse,” and Miles Western for best supporting performance in a musical for his performance, in drag, in the London version of the off-Broadway show “Pageant.”

THE ARTS

Former Ailey Dancer to Teach: Former Alvin Ailey dancer Ron Brown will begin teaching March 1 at the Lula Washington Dance Studio in Los Angeles. Brown, who recently returned from a teaching stint in Brazil, will be instructing the techniques of modern dance pioneer Lester Horton, a dancer, choreographer and teacher who worked in Los Angeles from the 1930s to the ‘50s, performing in theater, films and nightclubs. The late Ailey, Horton’s most famous pupil, used Horton technique in his company warmups. Horton’s dance style is noted for high leg extensions and limber backs. Other Horton pupils include Arthur Mitchell, founder of Dance Theater of Harlem, and Los Angeles dancer-choreographer Bella Lewitzky.

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Writing on the Wall: The literary history of Venice will be honored March 3 with the dedication of the Venice Poets Wall, an array of walls and buildings engraved with the works of Venice poets, past and present. The project, a collaboration of City Councilwoman Ruth Galanter and Beyond Baroque Literary/Arts Center, will feature engraved verses by poets Jim Morrison, Charles Bukowski, Stuart Perkoff, Wanda Coleman, Exene Cervenka, John Thomas and other writers who have contributed to the “worldwide cultural awareness of Venice and Los Angeles.” The dedication ceremony, free and open to the public, is slated for 2:30 p.m. at the new Venice Boardwalk Park at the end of Windward Avenue, and will include readings by Coleman, Cervenka, Thomas, poet-actor Viggo Mortensen, Keith Antar Mason, Majid Naficy, Frank T. Rios, Linda Albertano, Philomene Long and others.

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Publicists for Tolerance: The Simon Wiesenthal Center’s Museum of Tolerance will receive the Publicists Guild Award of Merit at the guild’s 38th annual awards luncheon March 23 at the Beverly Hilton. The museum is being recognized “for the powerful and indelible mark it has made on Hollywood’s creative community.” Rabbi Marvin Hier, dean and founder of the center, will accept the award. “The organization’s very presence serves as a powerful recognition of humanity’s dark side,” said Henri Bollinger, the guild’s awards committee chairman. “Its continuing work relentlessly probes and challenges those malignant cells of hatred which produce atrocities of unspeakable horror throughout the world.” The guild will also honor Michael Douglas with a lifetime achievement award, and the co-heads of DreamWorks Pictures, Walter Parkes and Laurie MacDonald, will receive the motion picture showmanship award.

MOVIES

Popcorn Not Included: The cost of a movie is going up in New York City. Effective March 2, the Loews Cineplex Entertainment chain plans to raise ticket prices to $10 at a dozen of its Manhattan theaters--though prices will remain unchanged just a few miles away in Brooklyn, where movies cost $8. “Ten dollars has kind of been the magic number for a while that no one had hit yet,” said Paul Dergarabedian, president of Los Angeles-based Exhibitor Relations Co., a company that tracks box office receipts. “What remains to be seen is if people will go along.” New York City Council Speaker Peter Vallone, who called for a boycott of Friday night movies two years ago when the price rose to $9.50, said breaking the $10 barrier is “unconscionable.”