Vanessa Hudgens: From ‘High School Musical’ to ‘Rent’

Hudgens lands ‘Rent’ role

Vanessa Hudgens, the heroine of Disney’s “High School Musical,” will star in another mega-fan favorite, Jonathan Larson’s “Rent,” which will run Aug. 6 to 8 at the Hollywood Bowl.

Hudgens will play Mimi, the HIV-positive exotic dancer in the award-winning ‘90s rock riff on Puccini’s “La Bohème.”

No other casting has been announced for the fully staged show, which will mark the musical directing debut of Neil Patrick Harris, himself a star of “Rent’s” 1997 L.A. production and national tour.

By staging “Rent” -- and casting Hudgens -- the Bowl also is expanding the audience base for its annual Broadway show.

-- Karen Wada Reality TV adds ‘Work of Art’

It looks like Sarah Jessica Parker will be having a busy summer. “Sex and the City 2” opens May 27, then the actress unveils her new reality show, “Work of Art: The Next Great Artist,” on Bravo on June 9 at 11 p.m.

The show features 14 artists competing for a $100,000 cash prize and a solo show at the Brooklyn Museum.

Organizers of the show said Thursday that contestants will be tasked with creating unique pieces of art in different media, such as painting, sculpture and photography.

Possible challenges include “using a trash heap as their canvas” and “creating original cover art for a classic novel,” they said.

The judging panel will feature Bill Powers, New York gallery owner; Jerry Saltz, art critic for New York magazine; and Jeanne Greenberg Rohatyn, the owner of Salon94 gallery in New York.

-- David Ng ‘Love, Loss’ heads to L.A.

“Love, Loss and What I Wore,” written by Nora Ephron and her sister, Delia, has been keeping New York theater audiences in stitches since opening off-Broadway at the Westside Theatre in October.

The sartorially themed comedy is heading to the West Coast for an engagement at the Geffen Playhouse in L.A. The play will run at the theater’s smaller Audrey Skirball Kenis Theater from May 13 to July 4.

Heading the cast will be two actresses who appeared in the New York production -- Rita Wilson and Carol Kane.

The Geffen said there will be a switch in cast at the four-week point of the run.

The production at the Geffen will be staged in the manner of “The Vagina Monologues,” with actresses sitting side by side with script in hand.

-- David Ng Giddyap at the Autry center

Cowboys Gene Autry, William S. Hart, Tom Mix and Roy Rogers are returning for an appearance at the Autry National Center.

On April 17, the U.S. Postal Service plans to release the “Cowboys of the Silver Screen” stamps featuring the four performers who helped make the American western a popular form of entertainment.

An official unveiling will take place at the Autry, where the postal service will be hand-canceling the stamp with the official First-Day-of-Sale postmark.

A lobby exhibition will include artifacts relating to all four western screen legends, focusing on different aspects of their film careers, which covered the silent era through the singing era.

The ceremony is free and open to the public.

-- Liesl Bradner Mel Gibson to donate sets

The governor of the Mexican Gulf Coast state of Veracruz says Mel Gibson will donate sets from the movie he’s currently filming to a future museum.

In January, 1,500 inmates were transferred out of the Ignacio Allende prison to make room for Gibson’s film, which began production this week and is tentatively titled “How I Spent My Summer Vacation.”

Gov. Fidel Herrera says several sets were built inside the prison in the port city of Veracruz and that the jail will be converted into a museum once Gibson is done filming.

-- associated press Off Broadway, on to OCPAC

Broadway’s loss is Orange County’s gain.

Megan Mullally, who withdrew last month from the Broadway production of Terrence McNally’s “Lips Together, Teeth Apart,” is scheduled to make an appearance this fall at the Orange County Performing Arts Center as part of its cabaret series.

Mullally is scheduled to perform Oct. 7 to 10 at the Samueli Theater in the opening engagement of the 2010-2011 season.

Tony-winners Idina Menzel, Sutton Foster and opera baritone Nathan Gunn are also scheduled to perform. -- David Ng Trekkies: Boldly go to Las Vegas

“Star Trek” lovers looking for Enterprise chairs, Starfleet uniforms or a model Klingon Bird of Prey can seek out new life for the dismantled pieces of a closed Las Vegas attraction.

Chief Executive Alec Peters of auctioneer Propworx Inc. says fans can buy any of roughly 1,000 items from “Star Trek: The Experience” at a warehouse sale Saturday in Las Vegas.

-- associated press