January 15, 2005

Arts, Briefly

Fox Responds to Muslim Complaints

After weeks of accusations that its drama "24" represents Muslims in an offensive way, Fox has announced plans to provide its affiliates with public service announcements showing Muslims in a favorable light. The spots are to be sponsored by the Council on Islamic-American Relations, the organization that has led the criticism of Fox. The show had its season premiere in a two-hour episode on Sunday, followed by another two-hour episode the next night. On the show, an Islamic family is portrayed as a terrorist sleeper cell in which the mother (Shohreh Aghdashloo, nominated for an Academy Award as best supporting actress last year for "House of Sand and Fog") kills her son's non-Muslim girlfriend to ensure the family's cover. Fox's local stations will be able to choose when or if they want to broadcast the public service announcements. — KATE AURTHUR

Early Dylan Trove

A reel-to-reel tape of a 19-year-old Bob Dylan made in an apartment in Minneapolis in 1960 has been donated to the Minnesota Historical Society in St. Paul and is available for public listening. Known to Dylanologists as the Minnesota Party Tape, the single reel of quarter-inch tape made on a $50 deck includes 12 folk songs recorded when Mr. Dylan, then still known as Robert Zimmerman, was a student at the University of Minnesota. The songs include Jimmie Rodgers's "Blue Yodel No. 8," "K.C. Moan," "I'm a Gambler," Woody Guthrie's "Jesus Christ" and "Talkin' Merchant Marine," and a few more songs in the Guthrie spoken style, like "Talkin' Hugh Brown" and "Talkin' Lobbyist." The tape was donated to the library three weeks ago by Cleve Pettersen, a resident of Minneapolis, said Bonnie Wilson, the curator of sound and visual collections. — BEN SISARIO

Jazz Executive Named

Derek E. Gordon, the executive director of Jazz at Lincoln Center, has been appointed the program's president and chief executive. Mr. Gordon, 50, came to the organization in July after 12 years as senior vice president of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington. The previous president, Hughlyn F. Fierce, came out of retirement to oversee the construction of the organization's new home, Frederick P. Rose Hall. Mr. Fierce will remain on the board, a spokeswoman said. Mr. Gordon has music degrees from Louisiana State University and is a trained baritone. — DANIEL J. WAKIN

Battling Crime Shows

ABC easily won Wednesday's Nielsen ratings competition, with "Lost" and "Alias" coming in first at 8 and 9 p.m., Eastern and Pacific times, respectively, and "Wife Swap" continuing to be a modest hit at 10. Also at 10 p.m. was the battle between the New York City crime dramas, and on that front, NBC's veteran "Law & Order" is gaining ground. Wednesday's episode featured the departure of Elisabeth Röhm as an assistant district attorney. "Is this because I'm a lesbian?" she asked as she was being fired, much to the surprise of viewers, who have been shown little about the characters' personal lives. The NBC show won in total viewers and tied CBS's "CSI: NY" in the 18-to-49 demographic: in that age group, "CSI: NY" was soundly beating "Law & Order" earlier in the season. On Thursday, CBS won the night despite the weakness at 8 p.m. of "Wickedly Perfect," the domestic diva reality show. Because of that show's poor showing, CBS announced on Thursday that it would move up the premiere date of "Survivor" from March to Feb. 17, when it will reassume the 8 p.m. time slot. "Wickedly Perfect" will then move to Saturday, most recently the site of the now-you-see-it, now-you-don't "Will," killed after just one episode. — KATE AURTHUR

'Vibrations' Slows Arrival

"Good Vibrations," the new Broadway musical featuring the songs of Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys, will postpone its opening, announced yesterday. A need for more rehearsal time was cited as the reason for delaying the opening to Feb. 2 from Jan. 27. The show has been in previews at the Eugene O'Neill Theater since Dec. 20.

Shock Jocks Back in Town

Nearly a year after being fired from the Manhattan urban station Hot 97 (WQHT-FM), the shock jocks Star and Buc Wild are returning to the New York airwaves on Monday. The controversial pair, loved and loathed for racially charged and misogynistic material, will now call Clear Channel Radio's Power 105.1 (WWPR-FM) their home. Their program, "Star & Buc Wild Show," will be broadcast on weekdays from 6 to 10 a.m. — LOLA OGUNNAIKE

Casting Calls

The French actor Jean Reno has joined Tom Hanks in the cast of the Columbia Pictures production of Dan Brown's best seller "The Da Vinci Code," according to Reuters and The Hollywood Reporter. Mr. Reno will play the detective Bezu Bache, Mr. Hanks the symbologist Robert Langdon in the film, to be directed by Ron Howard for release on May 19, 2006. ... Kim Basinger and Kiefer Sutherland are in negotiations to co-star with Michael Douglas in a 20th Century Fox production of a political thriller, "The Sentinel," according to Reuters and The Hollywood Reporter. Based on a Gerald Petievich novel, the story tells of a Secret Service agent who is involved in an affair with the first lady.

Mozart at Last

A painting kept in storage at the prestigious Gemäldegalerie in Berlin is probably the last portrait of Mozart, arts experts say. The findings result from an extensive computer analysis, authenticated by Wolfgang Seiller, an expert on the composer. The picture was painted by the German artist Johann Georg Edlinger in 1790, a year before Mozart's death, during his final stay in Munich. The oil, 31.5 by 24.5 inches, was acquired by the art gallery 70 years ago as a portrait of an unknown subject and was only recently restored. It will go on view on Jan. 27, the 249th anniversary of Mozart's birth. — VICTOR HOMOLA

Literary Light

Russ Rymer has been named editor in chief of Mother Jones magazine, effective Feb. 7. Mr. Rymer, the top editor at Portland Monthly in Oregon, has held senior editing posts at several national and regional magazines and has written for The New Yorker, Harper's and The Atlantic, among other magazines.

Footnotes

From around the world, stars like Danny Glover, Youssou n'Dour, and Angelique Kidjo are expected to converge next month on Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, to celebrate, on Feb. 6, the 60th anniversary of the birth of the reggae great Bob Marley, Reuters reported yesterday. In Jamaica, The Associated Press reported, angry reaction greeted the announcement by Marley's widow, Rita, of plans to exhume his remains and rebury them in Ethiopia after the celebration, and some reports and announcements contradicted her statement. Marley was 36 when he died of cancer in 1981. ... Sharon Osbourne will perform in a London production of "The Vagina Monologues," beginning at six-week run at Wyndham's Theater on April 4.