Entertainment Briefs: Wednesday, November 11, 2009

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Gospel music singer Bobby Jones has donated an estimated $6 million worth of recordings to Tennessee State University, his alma mater.

Jones has given about 30 years’ worth of recordings, along with exclusive rights, of his performances and the television programs he hosted and produced on Black Entertainment Television cable network.

The university said in a statement that the recordings have been professionally appraised at $6 million and will be used for scholarly research. The donation is the largest in-kind gift the university has ever received.

The donated recordings are being preserved and will be housed in the school’s library.

ATLANTA — R&B singer Usher’s divorce from his wife is final.

Fulton County Superior Court spokeswoman Jada Hudspeth said a final decree in the divorce case was issued Nov. 4.

Usher, pictured, whose real name is Usher Raymond IV, filed for divorce from Tameka Raymond on June 12. He claimed there was "no reasonable hope of reconciliation” and the marriage was "irretrievably broken.”

Lawyers for both declined to comment Friday.

The couple have two young sons, Usher Raymond V and Naviyd Ely Raymond. Usher was seeking joint custody of the boys, but it was not immediately clear whether a custody arrangement had been reached.

The couple married in August 2007 in a lavish ceremony just outside Atlanta in front of about 200 people.

WILMINGTON, Ohio — Television cooking star Rachael Ray is boosting the local food supply for a struggling Ohio town.

On Saturday, Ray brought a Wilmington soup kitchen new appliances, shelves and furniture. Ray’s show also promised to supply food for the kitchen for the next year.

The soup kitchen is getting as many customers in a day as it did in a week a year ago.

Wilmington is still reeling from the departure of DHL Express and other Wilmington Air Park operations, which has left a 15 percent local unemployment rate in its wake.

On Sunday, the Food Network star hosted an early Thanksgiving feast for the community. The soup kitchen improvements and the Thanksgiving meal are scheduled to be featured Nov. 25 on "The Rachael Ray Show.”

NEW YORK — TV Land and TV Guide Network say they are jointly acquiring basic cable rights to air "Curb Your Enthusiasm,” the HBO comedy series produced by and starring "Seinfeld” co-creator Larry David, pictured.

"Curb Your Enthusiasm” will come to TV Guide Network starting next February. TV Land expects to air the series as early as 2013, immediately following its run on TV Guide Network.

Both networks also say they will acquire certain broadband, wireless and video-on-demand rights, bringing "Curb Your Enthusiasm” to multiple platforms.

Pay-cable network HBO is currently premiering the seventh season of the series, which also stars Cheryl Hines, Jeff Garlin and Susie Essman.

NEW YORK — Broadway has found its Spider-Man: rock singer Reeve Carney.

Carney, pictured, will portray celebrated web-slinger Peter Parker in "Spider-Man Turn Off the Dark,” producer Michael Cohl announced Friday.

The lavish musical is scheduled to open sometime in 2010 at the Hilton Theatre. Dates will be announced. The show has had a troubled history, with work on the musical stopped last summer because of financial difficulties. New financing is expected to be in place shortly, according to its producers, and then full production on the musical, which reportedly has a budget of more than $40 million, will begin.

The Hilton, one of Broadway’s largest theaters, has undergone extensive renovation to accommodate "Spider-Man,” which will be directed by Julie Taymor and features a score by Bono and The Edge of U2.

The cast also includes Evan Rachel Wood as Mary Jane Watson, Parker’s girl friend, and Alan Cumming in the role of Norman Osborn, also known as the villainous Green Goblin.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

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