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

MUSIC & DANCE

Peonies to Bloom One Year Later: New York’s Lincoln Center Festival 99 will present the world premiere of a revised version of director Chen Shi-Zheng’s “The Peony Pavilion,” a 400-year-old, 20-hour-long Chinese opera that was originally scheduled to open last summer’s festival but was scrapped after interference from the Beijing government. New York performances are now scheduled for July 7 to 25, with additional dates planned in France. The original production, which premiered to acclaim in Shanghai in June, never made it to its subsequent destinations of New York, Paris, Sydney and Hong Kong because the Shanghai Kunju Opera Company was denied permission to leave China. The costumes and sets, which were also held up in Chinese customs, eventually did arrive in New York, and will be used for the newly scheduled production, which will feature some performers from China--including the Shanghai production’s female lead, Qian Yi, who is already in rehearsals with Chen in New York--along with other Chinese citizens now living in the United States.

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Bolshoi in L.A. and O.C.: Moscow’s famed Bolshoi Ballet will play weeklong engagements at the Los Angeles Music Center and Orange County Performing Arts Center during the summer of 2000 as part of a five-city American tour--its first coast-to-coast U.S. visit in a decade. Plans include a new production of “Don Quixote” staged by current artistic director Alexei Fadeyechev and the classic, 60-year-old Leonid Lavrovsky version of “Romeo and Juliet.” Star ballerina Nina Ananiashvili will dance Juliet at some performances in each venue. Other tour cities include Washington, Chicago and Seattle, with the company scheduled to open at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion on June 19 and at Segerstrom Hall on June 26. The U.S. tour follows a four-week London engagement that Bolshoi director Vladimir Vasilyev told the New York Times is designed to show that the company “has climbed to new heights.”

TV & MOVIES

Lots More ‘Law’: Producer Dick Wolf has a deal with NBC that will extend his Emmy-winning drama “Law & Order” for at least three more years while allowing Wolf to create a new series under the “Law & Order” banner. The spinoff, which will focus on the New York Police Department’s sex crimes unit and will feature an all-new cast, is expected to be ready for midseason next year.

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Sheen Progressing: Nearly a year after being hospitalized for a drug overdose, Charlie Sheen told a Malibu judge Tuesday that he is making progress in his court-ordered rehabilitation program. “I have freedom from drugs and alcohol,” the actor told reporters after the brief hearing. His prosecutor concurred, saying that Sheen “showed proof that he is progressing well with drug rehab.”

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Condom Wars?: While the designers fight over whom to dress for the Oscars, at least two condom companies are vying for the attention of actor Ben Affleck. During a recent “Tonight Show” appearance, Affleck mentioned that Trojan had recently sent him a big box of its products, but jokingly lamented that the free protective devices were not the “Magnum” editions marketed for larger men. Now, another condom company, Durex, is preparing to send Affleck a big box of its “Ultra-Comfort” product, which a spokeswoman described as a “baggy, bigger” condom.

POP/ROCK

Gold, Platinum and Diamond: The Recording Industry Assn. of America, which tracks the number of records shipped to stores, has raised the bar for measuring record sales. In New York on Tuesday, the RIAA unveiled its Diamond Award for the top-selling sound recordings of all time. The new diamond status recognizes U.S. sales of 10 million units for a single title, while the existing platinum designation recognizes 1 million units sold and a gold record marks 500,000 copies sold. The new Diamond Award was presented Tuesday to 46 recording artists representing 62 albums. Among them: The Beatles’ “Abbey Road,” Carole King’s “Tapestry,” Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” Whitney Houston’s “The Bodyguard,” Garth Brooks’ “No Fences,” U2’s “Joshua Tree” and Alanis Morissette’s “Jagged Little Pill.”

QUICK TAKES

Hole’s “Celebrity Skin” was named best album and Third Eye Blind’s “Jumper” took the best-single prize at the 1999 California Music Awards in San Francisco on Monday night. . . . Buddy Holly’s widow and three of his siblings have filed a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against the singer’s record label, MCA, alleging the company hoarded royalty payments, forged contracts and produced albums without family consent. MCA did not issue an immediate response to the suit. . . . The debut of Aaron Spelling’s new series, “Rescue 77,” scored the WB network’s best ratings ever in the Monday, 9-10 p.m. time slot, with nearly 5.8 million viewers. . . . Meanwhile, the WB’s freshman drama, “Felicity,” has been picked up for a full 22 episodes next season. . . . Vanessa Williams will join the cast of CBS’ “L.A. Doctors” for three episodes beginning April 19, playing a patients’ rights advocate who is asked to join the medical practice. . . . Long Beach Opera will open its 1999 June Festival on June 12 with Moliere’s final work, “The Imaginary Invalid,” with additional performances on June 16 and 20. Also scheduled for the festival--to be held at Cal State Long Beach’s Carpenter Performing Arts Center--is Bartok’s “Duke Bluebeard’s Castle” on June 13 and 19.