Arts and entertainment reports from The Times, national and international news services and the nation’s press.

THE ARTS

Cezanne in Philly: A retrospective of French post-Impressionist painter Paul Cezanne that caused a sensation in Paris and London opens Thursday at the Philadelphia Museum of Art in its only U.S. exhibition. The exhibition, which consists of 112 paintings and 75 drawings, has sold 120,000 advance tickets; 500,000 visitors are expected by the time it ends Sept. 1. Philadelphia is counting on the show for a tourism windfall of $30 million to $40 million. In its two other stops, at Paris’ Grand Palais and London’s Tate Gallery, the show drew 640,000 and 410,000 visitors, respectively. Those unable to attend can check out a cyberspace version on the Web at https://www.cezanne.com. There are also two CD-ROMs of the exhibition available, including one designed for children.

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Young Composers: A fourth-grade class from L.A.’s 28th Street School will perform a classroom music composition project on Tuesday and Wednesday with the help of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. The event will take place at Inner-City Arts, an arts organization that provides music and art experience to youth in the downtown area. The Philharmonic is sponsoring “Composer in the Classroom” workshops, which show teachers how to teach musical techniques that allow non-musicians to participate in group composition activities. London-based cellist Matthew Barley and British composer Alec Roth, who lead the workshops, will demonstrate the program to Philharmonic musicians and local teachers by leading the fourth-graders in the classroom composition project, which is the culmination of workshops that started last week.

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Dancing Fifth-Graders: Fifth-graders from schools in and around Los Angeles will also have a chance to get into the arts scene by participating in the 26th annual Blue Ribbon Children’s Festival at the Music Center on June 3-5. Bella Lewitzky will bring her Lewitzky Dance Company to the festival to talk about dance and perform for the 20,000 students expected to attend. The students, who will learn about modern dance in their classrooms and prepare their own performance before the event, will show off their fancy footwork on the Music Center Plaza. The festival is sponsored by the Blue Ribbon, a support group of the Music Center, in association with the Music Center Education Division.

TELEVISION

‘GMA’s’ New Digs: ABC’s “Good Morning America” will have a new look on Tuesday. The show’s new set is contemporary-looking with a larger living room, a modern kitchen, a big performance space and a duplex loft. Weatherman Spencer Christian will use the second level to do his weather reports. Also on Tuesday, the show’s new news anchor, Elizabeth Vargas, begins work. Vargas will anchor from a news desk on the set, with a working newsroom behind her. Vargas replaces Morton Dean, who said an emotional goodbye on the show Friday.

MOVIES

Cinema Paradiso: The Roberto Rossellini Theater, named for the famed Italian director and devoted to showing Italian films, will open Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the Italian Cultural Institute at 1023 Hilgard Ave. in Westwood. The new 135-seat theater will be managed by the institute and Italy’s RAI Television. Opening night will feature the U.S. premiere of “The Elective Affinities,” directed by Paolo and Vittorio Taviani, which played at the recent Cannes Film Festival. Next up is a four-day series of new Italian films including “Il Maresciallo Rocca,” directed by Giorgio Capitani and Lodovico Gasparini, and “Va Dove Ti Porta Il Cuore” (Follow Your Heart), directed by Cristina Comencini.

LEGAL FILE

Another Fight for Ali: Former heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali has sued a film production company for $500,000, alleging the business allowed his picture to be used on a telephone credit card without his permission. The breach of contract suit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court claims that Ali granted Los Angeles-based Forever Films nonexclusive rights to use his name and likeness in the promotion of the 1989 film “Champions Forever.” Ali’s attorney said that, in 1994, Forever Films illegally allowed Nevada-based telephone company Amerivox to use the boxer’s photograph on a telephone credit card. Ali also sued Amerivox. Forever Films spokesman Ron Hamady had no comment on the dispute.

QUICK TAKES

Rock star Eric Clapton’s luxurious London home was damaged by fire Saturday night, police said. No one was injured in the fire, which was started by an electrical fault, authorities said. Clapton himself discovered the fire and called firefighters. . . . Last week, ABC announced that it will air a four-hour miniseries inspired by the Jules Verne classic “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.” CBS, too, is preparing a TV movie based on the book. The two-hour movie will apparently compete with ABC’s version. . . . Thousands lined Sydney’s main street Sunday to catch a glimpse of Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis and Jean-Claude Van Damme at the opening of Australia’s first Planet Hollywood. The restaurant is the chain’s 32nd outlet. . . . Rod Stewart kicked around with the Scottish national soccer team Friday in Connecticut during the filming of the music video for his new single, “Purple Heather.” Proceeds from the sale of the video will benefit children at Scotland’s Dunblane Primary School, where 16 kindergartners and a teacher were gunned down in March.