Arts and entertainment reports from The Times, national and international news services and the nation’s press.
POP/ROCK
Princess of Rock?: Lisa Marie Presley has signed a record deal with Java Records, a Capitol Records offshoot headed by Glen Ballard, the Grammy-winning writer-producer who turned Alanis Morissette into a serious rock star through their collaboration on her “Jagged Little Pill†album. In addition to “Jagged Little Pill,†Ballard also co-wrote “Man in the Mirror,†a hit for Presley’s former husband, Michael Jackson. There was no word Thursday about when the record debut from Elvis Presley’s 30-year-old daughter is expected to hit store shelves.
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Full Weenie Roast Lineup: A dozen bands will play on the main stage at KROQ-FM’s (106.7) sixth annual Weenie Roast & Fiesta, a marathon show scheduled for June 20 at Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre. The lineup: Blink 182, Cherry Poppin’ Daddies, Everclear, Creed, Green Day, Fastball, Marcy Playground, Madness, Prodigy, Save Ferris, the Wallflowers and Third Eye Blind. The popular annual concert will also feature a second stage, with scheduled bands including Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Ozomatli, Crystal Method, Harvey Danger, the Deftones and Sprung Monkey. Ticket information has not yet been announced.
ART
Serra Exits Holocaust Project: Prominent American sculptor Richard Serra has withdrawn from Berlin’s proposed Holocaust Memorial because of what his gallery, Gagosian in New York, called “personal and professional reasons.†The gallery stated that the decision had “nothing to do with the merits of the project or his relationship to the German institutions involved.†Architect Peter Eisenmann, with whom Serra submitted design plans, said the proposal is “pretty much done,†and will continue without Serra. Plans for the monument, intended to commemorate the 6 million Jews murdered by the Nazis, have provoked emotional debate in Germany, where Jewish groups have attacked various proposals for failing to convey the Holocaust’s horror and gravity. Eisenmann and Serra’s design, a graveyard-like labyrinth of 4,000 concrete pillars up to 25 feet tall, is favored by German Chancellor Helmut Kohl but opposed by Berlin’s mayor. The proposal is to be reconsidered by the German federal government and other groups in coming weeks.
TV & MOVIES
On the Blotter: Fifteen-year-old actor Brad Renfro (“The Clientâ€) was reportedly detained in Tennessee Wednesday on suspicion of possessing cocaine and marijuana. The Knoxville News-Sentinel reported that he was released from a juvenile detention center without formal charges being filed. The East Tennessee Regional Juvenile Service Center told the paper that police, after stopping a car in which Renfro was a passenger, found a white powdery substance and what appeared to be marijuana in the actor’s possession. Renfro denied that he had been arrested. The car’s driver, Mark S. Singleton, 19, was charged with marijuana possession and driving under the influence. . . . “Gilligan’s Island†star Bob Denver, 63, told a television station in Bluefield, W.Va., Thursday that he has been charged with misdemeanor marijuana possession. Denver did not elaborate, and local authorities have not yet released any details on the incident.
RADIO
It’s Official: Although Dave Cooke--operations manager-program director at KABC-AM (790) for nearly two years--had not been seen at the station for a month, his departure was not official until this week. A terse staff memo from general manager Bill Sommers said that Cooke resigned “due to philosophical differences with current management.†In the latest quarterly Arbitron survey in April, KABC had its lowest ratings in three years--a 2.6% audience share. Drew Hayes, general manager at ESPN Radio Network in Bristol, Conn., is expected to succeed Cooke.
QUICK TAKES
London museum goers are seeing model Jerry Hall in a new light, thanks to a postcard-sized Lucian Freud painting showing the wife of Rolling Stone Mick Jagger nude, lying on one side, pregnant with son Gabriel, who is now 6 months old. The portrait--which Freud said was painted at Hall’s request--is on view at London’s Tate Gallery until July 26. . . . Christie’s New York auction house raked in $16.2 million at its contemporary art sale Wednesday, bringing records for artists including Gerhard Richter ($2.5 million) and Sigmar Polke ($883,000).
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