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

STAGE

Musical ‘Jane Eyre’: La Jolla Playhouse will present the U.S. premiere of a new musical version of Charlotte Bronte’s “Jane Eyre,” written and co-directed by John Caird (“Nicholas Nickleby,” “Les Miserables”). Pop composer and lyricist Paul Gordon wrote the score. An earlier version of the show premiered in Toronto in 1996, but the La Jolla production--slated for next summer--will use a smaller cast, some new songs and less musical underscoring.

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New Livent Leader: Todd Haimes, artistic director of New York’s critically acclaimed nonprofit Roundabout Theatre, will replace Garth Drabinsky as the creative leader of Livent Inc. Drabinsky, whose title was chief creative director of the Toronto-based theatrical producing entity, was suspended Aug. 10 for “accounting irregularities.” Haimes’ title will be artistic director. Livent, the producer of productions including “Show Boat” and “Ragtime,” was taken over last June by controlling stockholder Michael Ovitz and new CEO Roy Furman, but has been roiled by recent disclosures that its losses--$50 million in the last 15-month fiscal period--may be even more severe than previously reported. Haimes will also continue at Roundabout until next fall.

TV & MOVIES

No Happiness for Stern in Lubbock: Calling Howard Stern’s 2-week-old syndicated Saturday night show “morally offensive,” a TV station in Lubbock, Texas, has pulled the plug on the program, saying it will replace it beginning next week with reruns of “The Untouchables.” KJTV said it had received about 20 complaint letters about the program, which has so far included a lap dance performed by a naked woman with her genitals blurred out and a teenager attempting to set a record for passing gas. “Simply put, [Stern] crossed the line,” said KJTV General Manager Larry Landaker. “We’re not trying to be moral gatekeepers of the community, but this show is morally offensive and impossible to defend.” A show spokeswoman said that neither Stern, nor syndicator Eyemark, had any comment.

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‘Wild West’ Blaze: Cook Ranch, a small New Mexico Wild West town created for filming movies, went up in smoke Tuesday after an unexpected wind gust blew flames from a stunt explosion out of control on the set of “Wild Wild West,” the Kevin Kline-Will Smith movie that its producers hope will be next summer’s big blockbuster. No one was injured. A publicist for the Warner Bros. film said damage to the town--located about 20 miles south of Santa Fe--was “certainly extensive,” and that Warner Bros. would abide by its contract with the ranch’s owner to repair any damage once filming was over.