MORNING REPORT - News from July 15, 2000

POP MUSIC

Songwriter Survey: A group of famous songwriters surveyed by a British music magazine has named the Beatles’ “In My Life” the best song ever. Mojo magazine gathered Top 10 lists from Paul McCartney, Brian Wilson, Hal David, Jerry Leiber and 16 other noted songwriters to assemble the tally of top songs. “In My Life,” credited to John Lennon and McCartney but widely regarded as a Lennon work, topped Mick Jagger and Keith Richards’ Rolling Stones classic “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction.” The rest of the top five vote-getters, in order: “Over the Rainbow,” written by Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg, performed first by Judy Garland; “Here, There and Everywhere,” a Lennon-McCartney Beatles track identified with McCartney; and “Tracks of My Tears,” written by William “Smokey” Robinson, Marv Tarplin and Warren Moore and recorded by Smokey Robinson & the Miracles.

Teaching the Blues: The World Blues Party at the Hollywood Bowl on July 23 will have some special guests in the audience. About 200 youngsters, most from South-Central Los Angeles and Watts, will attend the show and spend the afternoon in workshops with Blues Party performers, such as Bonnie Raitt and Alvin Youngblood Hart. The organizer, Artistic Resources in Action Foundation, brings blues music to schools and can be reached at AriaFdn@aol.com

TELEVISION

“Millionaire” Mix-Up: Oliver Wade of Los Angeles became the lucky winner of $32,000 on Thursday’s “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” after making his way into the show’s “hot seat” with the wrong answer to the qualifying question. The quiz show incorrectly credited Wade with the correct answer when he identified the 1979 movie “Apocalypse Now” as having been released after 1983’s “The Outsiders.” The producers realized their error during the taping but said Wade will be allowed to keep the money. Christopher Liptrap of Moreno Valley, who answered the question correctly in the fastest time, will be brought back at a later date to play the game, a spokeswoman said.

FILM

Rodat Responds: In a letter published earlier this week in the Hollywood Reporter, screenwriter Robert Rodat responded to filmmaker Spike Lee’s criticism--also published in the trade publication--that ‘The Patriot’ is a “complete whitewashing of history” in regard to slavery. While Rodat admitted that slavery was prevalent during the American Revolution, he also noted that it was not the subject of the film. “While it is true that Washington and Jefferson were slaveholders,” Rodat wrote, “many of the founding fathers were not. Benjamin Martin, the character played by Mel Gibson, is a back-country South Carolina farmer. In creating this composite character, I chose to make him a man who had freed his slaves. Would it have been better to glorify a slaveholder and racist? In telling Benjamin Martin’s story, with the help of historians from the Smithsonian, we sought to have the African Americans in the film depicted responsibly.” (For related debates, see Letters, F4.)

THE ARTS

Classical Battle: The Los Angeles Opera and the Los Angeles Philharmonic are going mano a mano in the Latin Grammys . . . sort of. The nominees in the classical album category, announced July 7, include the opera company’s artistic director, Placido Domingo, for “La Dolores--Tomas Breton,” and the Philharmonic’s recording of “Sensamaya: The Music of Silvestre Revueltas,” conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen. The awards are slated for Sept. 13 at Staples Center. Other nominees in the category include “Musica De Dos Mundos: Music From Two Worlds” by Aldo Antognazzi, Paquito D’Rivera and Brenda Feliciano; “Salmo De Las Americas” by Jose Maria Vitier; and “Twentieth Century Mexican Symphonic Music, Vol. 1” by Eduardo Diazmunoz.

STAGE

Theater Moves: “Side Man” and “How the Other Half Loves” have switched places in the Pasadena Playhouse winter-spring season. “How the Other Half Loves” will open on Jan. 14 and “Side Man” on May 13. The playhouse reported that favorable casting possibilities for “Side Man” are stronger in May and that the play’s writer, Warren Leight, wanted more time to concentrate on the production without being distracted by the Mark Taper Forum production of his newer play, “Glimmer, Glimmer and Shine,” opening Jan. 25. . . . The Ahmanson Theatre’s season also has shifted dates slightly: “Romeo and Juliet” and “Flower Drum Song” will now open several weeks earlier--on Jan. 31 and April 25, respectively, to accommodate the schedule of “Flower” director Robert Longbottom.

LEGAL FILE

Messin’ With the Kid: The estranged manager of Kid Rock has filed a breach-of-contract lawsuit against the rap-rocker. Stephen Hutton began managing Rock in 1994 but was fired several weeks ago amid a dispute over his compensation, according to the suit filed in New York, and he’s now seeking damages in excess of $4 million, along with a percentage of Rock’s future earnings.