Quick Takes: MusiCares to salute Barbra Streisand

The Recording Academy has chosen Barbra Streisand as its MusiCares person of the year in conjunction with the 2011 Grammy Awards and will salute her musical and philanthropic achievements Feb. 11 with an all-star fundraising dinner and concert featuring Tony Bennett, Stevie Wonder, Herbie Hancock, Barry Manilow, Diana Krall, Kristin Chenoweth and others.

Along with such pop, jazz and Broadway veterans, the event also will bring in a new generation of singers, with appearances by cast members from Fox TV’s hit series “Glee,” including Lea Michele, Matthew Morrison and Darren Criss. Eight-time Grammy-winner Streisand also will perform at the close of the program.

Previous MusiCares honorees include Bennett, Wonder, Elton John, Aretha Franklin, Brian Wilson, Bono, Bonnie Raitt, Luciano Pavarotti and Neil Young. Proceeds from the annual event benefit various MusiCares programs for musicians in need.

—Randy Lewis

Jackson doctor keeping license

The physician criminally charged in the death of pop superstar Michael Jackson is keeping his Nevada medical license.

Deputy Nevada State Board of Medical Examiners chief Edward Cousineau told the Associated Press on Wednesday that Dr. Conrad Murray admitted to making inaccurate and incomplete statements to the board about being current on child support. Murray received a reprimand and agreed to pay at least $3,700 in investigation costs.

Murray spokeswoman Miranda Sevcik says Murray believed he complied with reporting rules because he was negotiating payments with the mother of his son in California.

Murray has pleaded not guilty in Los Angeles to involuntary manslaughter in Jackson’s death.

—Associated Press

Door still open for Jim Morrison

The Doors’ Jim Morrison will get a posthumous pardon Thursday for an indecent exposure conviction in Florida that resulted when the late singer allegedly exposed himself during a rowdy Miami concert March 1, 1969.

Gov. Charlie Crist on Wednesday got a commitment for the second of two votes needed from other members of the state’s Board of Executive Clemency to approve the pardon.

The surviving band members say a drunken Morrison teased the Miami crowd but never exposed himself. Morrison was appealing the conviction when he was found dead in a Paris bathtub in 1971. The meeting Thursday comes a day after the singer would have turned 67.

—Associated Press

Tambor steps into ‘La Cage’

Jeffrey Tambor will replace Kelsey Grammer in Broadway’s latest revival of “La Cage aux Folles.” Tambor will star as Georges opposite Harvey Fierstein, who is himself replacing Douglas Hodge in the role of Albin.

Tambor made his Broadway debut in 1976 in the comedy “Sly Fox.” He is best known for his TV roles as Hank Kingsley in “The Larry Sanders Show” and his portrayal of twin brothers in “Arrested Development.” He was last seen on Broadway in David Mamet’s “Glengarry Glen Ross.”

“La Cage aux Folles” made history this year as the first show to ever win the Tony Awards three times for best production. Tambor and Fierstein will begin performances on Feb. 15 at the Longacre Theatre.

—Associated Press

SoCal actors win prestigious slots

Two SoCal stage actors — Nike Doukas and Mark Harelik — have won spots at the Lunt-Fontanne Fellowship Program, inaugurated in 2009, where they’ll spend a week in the Wisconsin woods honing their craft with this year’s master class teacher, Olympia Dukakis. Both Doukas and Harelik have a long list of credits on the Southern California theater scene. As winners, each receives $2,500 plus all expenses paid for the week in July that they’ll participate in the program. The fellows are nominated by nonprofit theaters; Harelik and Doukas both were nominated by South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa.

—Mike Boehm

Finally

Aretha Franklin, 68, who recently underwent surgery for an undisclosed health issue, was reported to be suffering from pancreatic cancer, the Detroit News said on its website. Publicists for the singer, who has canceled her appearances through May, could not be reached.

—Reuters