MORNING REPORT - News from Aug. 31, 2000

MUSIC & THEATER

Philharmonic Gala to Fete Isaac Stern: The Los Angeles Philharmonic will kick off its 2000-2001 season on Oct. 5 with an 80th birthday tribute to celebrated violinist Isaac Stern. The event, the orchestra’s annual gala benefiting the Musicians Pension Fund, will be conducted by Philharmonic Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen (on a break from his yearlong sabbatical from the orchestra) and will feature performances by Stern as well as several of his proteges. Tickets ($15 to $100) go on sale Sept. 17.

Chicago Support: Chicago’s Lookingglass Theatre Company, a 19-person ensemble whose members include “Friends” star David Schwimmer, is getting $1.5 million from the state of Illinois and Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs to build a performance complex--including a 225-seat main stage--in Chicago’s historic 1869 water tower pumping station, the Water Works. The company, which plans to open its new stage in 2002, also has a Los Angeles presence, having originated “Metamorphoses,” which played recently at the Mark Taper Forum, and “Arabian Nights,” at the Actors’ Gang.

MOVIES

Not So Smooth Sailing for Renfro: Actor Brad Renfro, 18, (“The Client,” “Apt Pupil”) has been charged with grand theft after allegedly trying to steal a yacht in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Police said Renfro and a friend, Harold Bond, 24, started the 45-foot yacht’s engine about 4 a.m. Monday and tried to maneuver it away from the dock but didn’t untie the boat’s lines, causing the $175,000 boat to be yanked back into the dock and damaging its stern. Two people on a nearby boat called authorities and held Renfro and Bond until police arrived. Renfro has faced legal trouble before, having struck a plea bargain with Tennessee prosecutors in 1998 on cocaine and marijuana charges.

IFP Takes Fest Reins: Independent Feature Project/West, which co-produced this year’s L.A. Independent Film Festival with the L.A. Film Collaborative, is taking over full production of the annual event, which will become an ongoing program of IFP/West. Festival director Richard Raddon and programming director Thomas Ethan Harris will remain in place.

QUICK TAKES

Dennis Rodman launches https://www.rodmantv.com today, a Web site that will use eight cameras to follow the flamboyant basketball star in his Newport Beach residence 24 hours a day. . . . Rick Rockwell (“Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire?”) and John Wayne Bobbitt extend their 15 minutes of infamy by taping cameo appearances Friday for an upcoming episode of ABC’s “Norm.” . . . A photographer required stitches for a head wound after a paparazzi chase of actress Sharon Stone Tuesday when her arrival at the Venice Film Festival set off a chain-reaction boat collision in the city’s canals. Stone’s boat was not affected. . . . ABC has ordered 13 more episodes of its reality series “Making the Band,” about the creation of a boy pop group. Meanwhile, the manufactured band, O-Town, appears on the ABC soap “All My Children” on Sept. 18.