Quick Takes - Feb. 18, 2011

Magic vs. Bird on stage

The playwright behind the Broadway play “Lombardi” is moving from the gridiron to the hard court.

Eric Simonson is working on “Magic/Bird,” a new play that will chronicle the lives of basketball hall of famers Larry Bird and Earvin “Magic” Johnson.

The story will trace the basketball stars’ rivalry and friendship from their days as rookies in the NBA to their appearance on the Olympic Dream Team in 1992. Johnson and Bird were key parts in the storied struggle between the Lakers and the Boston Celtics during the 1980s.

The six-character play is scheduled to premiere on Broadway in 2012. The script is in development, and no theater or director has been chosen. Johnson and Bird will participate in the creative process.

Like “Lombardi,” which benefited from endorsement by the National Football League, the new play about Bird and Magic will be produced in association with the National Basketball Assn.

—Associated Press

Watson boosts ‘Jeopardy!’ views

The folks at “Jeopardy!” need to invite this Watson guy over a little more often.

This week’s “exhibition match” between IBM’s computer Watson and quiz champs Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter drove the syndicated game show to some of its best numbers in years.

The Wednesday episode, which ended with Watson beating Jennings and Rutter and winning $1 million earmarked for charities, was the No.2 program of the night among households, behind only Fox’s “American Idol” (a 9.1 rating vs. “Idol’s” 14.5 rating). Nielsen will not deliver viewer counts for a couple of weeks.

Even higher-rated was the Tuesday program, which did a 9.5 rating — “Jeopardy!’s” best numbers since May 2005, when Jennings and Rutter squared off in a champions’ tournament.

—Scott Collins

Musicians to vote on contract

Striking Detroit Symphony Orchestra musicians said Thursday that they will vote on whether to accept management’s final labor contract and get back to work after a months-long strike that has threatened to shut down the entire concert season.

Musician Karl Pituch said at a news conference that the Detroit Federation of Musicians members would vote online Friday evening and Saturday, and that the vote will be subject to a 72-hour ratification process.

The walkout began Oct. 4 and many concerts have been canceled. The season is due to end June 5, and an agreement could preserve the remaining schedule.

—Associated Press

5 Browns’ father pleads guilty

The distraught father of The 5 Browns musical group pleaded guilty Thursday to sexually abusing his daughters when they were children in a deal that will send him to prison for at least 10 years.

With scratches and bruises on his face from a car crash Monday, Keith Brown, 55, entered his plea to three felony counts in Provo, Utah.

“He is terribly remorseful for what has happened and for what he has put his family through,” defense attorney Steven Shapiro said after the hearing. “He recognizes that this is the next step in the long road to trying to accept responsibility for something terrible that he did a long time ago.”

Brown faces sentencing March 31. Under the plea deal with prosecutors, he will serve at least a decade in prison.

Brown’s three daughters and two sons constitute the classical piano group the 5 Browns, whose albums have topped the classical music charts and who have appeared on “Oprah” and other shows.

—Associated Press

‘Two and a Half Men’ is returning

Nothing is official when it comes to Charlie Sheen. But as of now, CBS’ “Two and a Half Men” is returning to production Feb. 28, although it remains unclear whether the addiction specialists treating the actor have signed off on his return to work.

Warner Bros., the studio that makes the hit sitcom, will churn out only four more episodes this season, as opposed to the eight originally planned — marking the second year in a row that Sheen’s problems have led to an episode reduction.

—Scott Collins

Barnes art move contested again

Opponents of a plan to move the Barnes Foundation’s legendary art collection from the suburbs to downtown Philadelphia asked a judge Thursday to reopen the case.

The Friends of the Barnes Foundation, seeking to halt the move, accused former Pennsylvania Atty. Gen. Mike Fisher of misconduct.

The Barnes galleries are slated to close in June and reopen next year in a new building near the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

—Associated Press