TELEVISION - July 23, 1993

Timely Project: Barbra Streisand and Glenn Close are teaming up as executive producers for an NBC movie based on the true story of Col. Margarethe Cammermeyer, who served for 26 years as one of the highest-ranking women in the armed services before being expelled four years ago after revealing she was a lesbian. Close will also star in the movie, which is scheduled to air in the fall of 1994. “I am very proud to be producing Greta Cammermeyer’s story,” Streisand said in a statement. “This is a story that throws light on one of the most important issues of our time.” The project marks Streisand’s first foray into producing television movies.

*Hope Springs Eternal: Bob Hope is coming back to NBC after all. The 90-year-old entertainer has been signed to do at least three specials this upcoming season. Hope’s daughter Linda, who will produce the specials, had complained earlier this year that the network seemed to be unenthusiastic about continuing the relationship with Hope, who has been with NBC for 55 years.

*’Stories’ Settlement: An Oakland woman has settled her suit over the CBS show “Street Stories,” which she claimed invaded her privacy when cameras followed a crime-victim squad into her home for a report of alleged wife-beating. Yolanda Baugh sued the network after the April, 1992, program captured her in a distraught state, telling a counselor and a police officer that her husband had beaten and kicked her. The suit said she let the camera crew in after being told they were filming for the district attorney’s office. CBS disputed that account. The settlement prohibits both sides from disclosing its terms.

POP/ROCK

Red Hot Guitarist: The Red Hot Chili Peppers have named Jesse Tobias to fill the funk-punk group’s vacant guitar slot. Tobias reportedly was not one of the thousands who responded to a recent ad the Peppers placed for open auditions, but was chosen after singer Anthony Kiedis saw him perform as a member of the L.A. rock band Mother Tongue. The Peppers are scheduled to begin work soon on a new album to follow up 1991’s hit “Blood Sugar Sex Magik,” while Mother Tongue, which signed with Epic Records in April, will look for a replacement for Tobias.

*Giving Country Relief: Urging country music stars to stage special benefit concerts or designate an already-scheduled show for flood relief, country singer Clint Black on Thursday announced the launch of Operation Heartland, an effort to aid the flood-ravaged Midwest. Black plans to donate proceeds from his Aug. 27 Des Moines concert to the effort, which will also include a celebrity auction and a toll-free number for donations, (800) 678-7255.

THE ARTS

Women’s Opera: “Mrs. Dalloway,” an opera based on Virginia Woolf’s novel of the same name and believed to be the first opera created by two American women, was scheduled to have its world premiere Thursday at the Cleveland Institute of Music. Los Angeles’ Bonnie Grice, the morning-show host at classical music station KUSC-FM (91.5), is the opera’s librettist; Libby Larsen of Minneapolis is the composer. Performed by the Lyric Opera of Cleveland, the opera was conceived by Grice in 1981 and is her first libretto.

*London Stage Scene: An 800 number has been set up to help North American theatergoers avoid the scalper scene flurrying around Andrew Lloyd Webber’s London production of “Sunset Boulevard.” Those planning a trip to London to see Patti LuPone in the lead role (Glenn Close will star in the Los Angeles version) can call (800) 775-2525. . . . Meanwhile, Lloyd Webber’s “Sunset” is getting a run for its hold on the city’s musical market from a new London production of “Grease.” The show, starring American pop star Debbie Gibson as Sandy and Australian soap opera star Craig McLachlan as Danny, is packaged to lure the teen-age crowd and has done in excess of $6 million in advance sales. “Sunset Boulevard,” which had taken in just under $6 million before it opened July 12, has now racked up $8 million in advances. The new “Grease” production is the first theatrical version to include four songs added for the popular 1970s John Travolta-Olivia Newton-John movie, including “Grease Is the Word” and “You’re the One That I Want.”

*Next--Noiseless Wine Bottles: The Hollywood Bowl will become Los Angeles’ first outdoor theater to institute a no-smoking policy. The policy, which bans lighting up in the amphitheater’s seating areas, aisles and promenades, goes into effect Tuesday. . . . Meanwhile, the Bowl celebrates the 30th birthday of the Pink Panther when Oscar-winning composer Henry Mancini leads the Los Angeles Philharmonic in a tribute to the cool cat tonight and Saturday. The Bowl will be adorned with pink paw prints on the sidewalk, pink lights illuminating the stage and a film tribute showing highlights from “Panther” films. The concerts are a prelude to the Aug. 27 release of MGM’s “Son of the Pink Panther.”