Entertainment

The Northridge Broadway could be converted into a multiuse entertainment center if the department store's new owner decides to sell the property, a mall official said. Borrowing the general concept of the new Spectrum Entertainment Center in Irvine, the Northridge Fashion Center could design a high-tech leisure center combining theaters, restaurants and music, book and video vendors, said Donn Fuller, senior vice president at MEPC American Properties Inc., the Dallas-based owner of the mall.

The City Council has approved live entertainment at Borders Books and Music in the Brea Plaza Shopping Center. The permit will allow the bookstore, at 429 S. Associated Road, to have live music and poetry readings Wednesdays through Sundays. Borders manager Stan Iddings said the store will feature poetry and dramatic readings Wednesday and Thursday evenings, folk music Thursdays through Sundays, and classical music Sunday afternoons.

Somebody else does the cooking; Arianna Huffington selects the menu: rack of lamb and ravioli with asparagus tips and wild mushrooms. She puts on a black velvet skirt, white silk top and black cashmere sweater by Valentino--Nancy Reagan's designer of choice. The guests, an assemblage of conservative big shots--including media watchers, think tankers and pundits--gather before a roaring fire for cocktails, then move on to dinner.

Eliane Elias, a tall, slender Brazilian woman with dark, mysterious eyes and a radiant smile, slips behind the keyboard of a Steinway grand piano, slowly stretches her fingers and begins to play. Music pours out, a lush fusion of cultures, rich with the harmonies of bossa nova and Jobim, surging forward with the night rhythms of jazz. The mood of the music is dark and atmospheric, a perfect soundtrack for the late-night setting of a smoky jazz club. But Elias is nowhere near a jazz club.

At the stylish Old Fox Bar, the music blares, the conversation roars and a busy waiter juggles drinks. Suddenly a group of teenagers hurries to finish cups of tea and coffee. The girls pull on coats and leave. At another table, three young men down the last of their beers. One checks his watch. "It's time." They too rush into the cold night. In Sarajevo, the young and fashionable also have to be punctual.

Businesses wanting to offer live entertainment in Long Beach may have to prove themselves good neighbors under a proposal that was scheduled for final consideration last night by the City Council. Councilwoman Jenny Oropeza said granting permanent entertainment permits has often led to unresolved complaints from neighbors about noise and other disturbances at local businesses.

Halloween may not fall on a weekend this year, but don't get spooked: There's no shortage of holiday events for revelers in O.C. Indeed, there are beaucoup options to the trick-or-treat thing, ranging from haunted houses and whodunits to harvest fests, parades, puppet shows--there's even a costume contest for Bowser. And you can get a jump on the season if you want, because many events are being held this weekend. (But if you do make the rounds, don't forget to save a Hershey bar for Mom.

As construction starts on a 200,000-square-foot entertainment mall, the City Council will meet today to settle parking and access issues connected with the so-called Kaleidoscope project. The city became partners last year with the developer, Pacific Development Partners Inc., investing $2 million to build the mall, which is to include specialty shops and entertainment such as a theater complex and a community concert venue.

The organizers of a three-story "House of Terror" Saturday agreed to modify the haunted house's gory re-creation of Nicole Brown Simpson's slaying following complaints from her sister. Promoter Jeffrey Immediato said he agreed to change the "O.J. Room" after Nicole's sister Denise Brown called Friday to object to a scene in which a blond actress sprawls on a blood-splattered sidewalk, with a feigned slit throat. Immediato said he made the change to make Brown "more comfortable."