Web posted on:
Thursday, February 18, 1999 4:51:05 PM EST

• Broadway says 'no' to 'Oklahoma'
• Clapton to auction guitars at Christie's
• Twain, from stage fright to Grammy acclaim
• Boston Ballet dances to a Lyle Lovett tune
• Mel Gibson makes donation to former acting school

LONDON (CNN) -- New York audiences won't be seeing the award-winning London production of Rodgers & Hammerstein's classic musical "Oklahoma" any time soon. The New York Council of the Actors' Equity Union has refused a second appeal from the show's creative team requesting a fall Broadway showing starring the original British cast.

"We're all disappointed but resigned to it," said Cameron Mackintosh, producer of the revival.

Mackintosh had hoped the cast would play at the Gershwin Theater this fall. The $3 million-plus production would have phased in American performers to replace British cast members over time.

Any Broadway run for the production is now "indefinitely postponed" and might never happen, Mackintosh told Daily Variety.

Clapton

LOS ANGELES (CNN) -- Eric Clapton will auction off 100 guitars at Christie's in New York on June 24 to raise money for an addiction recovery center he founded in Antigua.

The guitars span about 20 years of Clapton's career. Among those to be auctioned is Brownie, one of the musician's favorites. The 1956 Fender Stratocaster is expected to bring $75,000 to $120,000. A rare 1958 Gibson Explorer, one of only 19 released commercially, will also be among the offering.

Clapton, who overcame a drug and alcohol addiction in the 1970s, will donate the proceeds to the 36-bed Crossroads Center which he founded last year on the Caribbean island where he owns a home.

Twain

(CNN) -- Country and pop superstar Shania Twain hasn't always had it easy. The Canadian-born performer grew up in poverty and overcame stage fright to become what she is today, a woman with six Grammy nominations and new home in Switzerland, according to an interview in this week's USA Weekend magazine.

Countering detractors who claim she is a studio performer, 33-year-old Twain says she is not a "little puppet that's been created" with no experience: "I've been singing since I was 8."

Twain has spent the last eight months promoting her third album, "Come on Over," which is nominated for album of the year at this year's Grammy Awards.

• Visit CNN Interactive's Grammys 1999 special

Lovett

BOSTON (CNN) -- The Boston Ballet performance set to open Thursday, "Nine Lives: The Songs of Lyle Lovett," has the show's namesake singing a happy tune.

"Gosh, I'm so excited, I just think it's incredible that they would want to do it," Lovett said Wednesday. "I've been to the ballet, but I'm not a regular goer to the ballet. That's why this is such a surprise and such an honor."

The show choreographed to his music will play at the Shubert Theater and runs through February 28. Among the featured Lovett songs are "Blues Walk," "Nobody Knows Me," "If You Were to Wake Up" and "I've Been to Memphis."

Gibson

SYDNEY, Australia (CNN) -- Box-office sweetheart and "Payback" star Mel Gibson donated $640,000 to Sydney's National Institute of Dramatic Art where he studied acting, officials announced Wednesday.

Gibson, who now lives in Los Angeles, grew up in Australia after his parents emigrated from the United States. He studied acting at the school for three years starting in 1977.

His donation was made public at a celebration of the school's 40th birthday. According to the Daily Telegraph newspaper, Gibson's contribution will help build a new theater, film and television studio and performance arts library.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.