Entertainment Today: Showbiz news

ALEXANDER JOINS USC FACULTY

Tony winner and Emmy nominee Jason Alexander will join the faculty of the University of Southern California School of Theatre this fall as the first George Burns Distinguished Visiting Professor in Performance.

Alexander -- best known as George Costanza on the long-running television comedy "Seinfeld" -- won a Tony in 1989 for his performance in the musical revue "Jerome Robbins' Broadway."

In his new role at USC, Alexander will conduct seminar sessions in acting, scene study and musical theater.

"I can't think of a better person to be the initial George Burns Visiting Professor," said Robert Scales, dean of the USC School of Theatre. "Jason has had an excellent career that includes theater, film, television and commercials."

Alexander has been a professional actor since he got his first gig in 1977, at the age of 17.

The George Burns chair was established through a $1 million gift from the estate of late entertainment legend George Burns.

PETERS, HINES WILL HOST TONYS

Bernadette Peters and Gregory Hines will co-host the Tony Awards on June 2.

It will be Peters' first time while Hines co-hosted the show in 1994 with

Nathan Lane and Glenn Close.

Peters is a two-time Tony winner -- for "Song and Dance" in 1986 and "Annie Get Your Gun" in 1999. She is due to return to Broadway next season in a revival of "Gypsy."

Hines won a Grammy for "Jelly's Last Jam" in 1992.

The 2002 Tony Awards will be broadcast from Radio City Music Hall on CBS.

TONY NOMINATIONS GOOD FOR BUSINESS

Last week's announcement of this year's Tony nominees turned out, not surprisingly, to be good for business.

"Thoroughly Modern Millie" -- which had 11 nominations, the most for this year -- enjoyed a 20-percent increase in ticket sales. "Urinetown" scored an even bigger percentage increase and is playing to an 82.3 percent capacity.

"Mama Mia," based on the music of ABBA, also enjoyed a substantial increase in ticket sales, but "The Sweet Smell of Success" actually had a downturn.

Musicals got more of a bump than new plays and revivals of old plays. Overall, the Broadway box office was up 1.92 percent from the previous week.

Even "The Graduate" -- which was not nominated for a single Tony -- managed to increase its box office.

'XXX' LOOKS GOOD TO STUDIO HONCHOS

According to a report in FilmStew.com, Revolution Studio heads took one look at their upcoming summer action picture "XXX" and decided to move forward on a sequel -- currently going by the title "XXX2."

Studio executives are thinking of having the sequel ready for either summer or Christmas 2004.

"XXX" stars Vin Diesel as an extreme athlete pressed into the spy business.

Revolution will also bring back director Rob Cohen for the sequel. It will be Diesel's third picture with Cohen, who also directed him in the 2001 surprise summer hit, "The Fast and the Furious."

BET ANNOUNCES NOMINEES

Black Entertainment Network officials announced Tuesday that the 2nd annual BET Awards will include special honors for boxing legend Muhammad Ali and R&B hitmakers Earth, Wind & Fire.

Ali will be the first recipient of BET's new Humanitarian Award while Earth, Wind & Fire will receive the network's Lifetime Achievement Award.

The second annual BET Awards will be handed out June 25 at the new Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. The ceremonies will be hosted by Steve Harvey and Cedric the Entertainer, and will be telecast live over BET.