ARTS SCENE

AMOS AND ANDY WON'T BE COMING TO BROADWAY. A federal district court judge in White Plains, N.Y., has ruled that CBS still holds the rights to the characters from the ``Amos 'n' Andy'' show - and CBS has so far refused to give permission for a musical based on the old radio and TV series. Stephen Silverman had conceived of an Amos 'n' Andy musical in 1981 and spent more than $500,000 preparing it. CBS maintains that blacks would find its portrayal of blacks demeaning and offensive, as was the case when the series, featuring white actors, was taken off the air 23 years ago. The series came to television in 1951 with a black cast and was taken off the air 13 years later when civil rights groups protested. NEW HAVEN'S LONG WHARF THEATRE ENDED ITS 1986-87 SEASON with a record 18,343 subscribers and an increase in overall attendance. Main Stage attendance edged up from 92 percent of capacity in 1985-86 to 93.2 percent last season. Main Stage productions included world premi`eres of Joe Cacaci's ``Self Defense'' and Pam Gem's version of ``Camille'' and the American premi`ere of Tom Stoppard's ``Dalliance.'' The Long Wharf's award-winning revival of Arthur Miller's ``All My Sons'' later visited Washington, Boston, and New York, while ``Self Defense'' launched the current American Theatre Exchange season at Off Broadway's Joyce Theater. CBS NEWS SETS DATES FOR POLITICAL DEBATES. Presidential debates for Republican and Democratic candidates will be televised March 3-4. The one-hour debates, anchored by Dan Rather, will begin at 10 p.m., Eastern time. The programs precede by a few days ``Super Tuesday,'' March 8, when a large number of states choose convention delegates. AN INTERNATIONAL COMPUTER MUSIC CONFERENCE will be held Aug. 23-26 at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. More than 300 composers, performers, researchers, and equipment builders are expected to attend. The keynote address will be given by Max Mathews, developer of the first computer sound-synthesis languages. TWO OF LAST SEASON'S most successful Off Broadway hits and a popular 1985 Negro Ensemble Company comedy have returned to the New York scene. They are Alfred Uhry's ``Driving Miss Daisy,'' starring Morgan Freeman and Dana Ivey, now at the John Houseman Theatre; Ben Caldwell's ``Moms,'' starring Clarice Taylor as Jackie ``Moms Mabley,'' at the Astor Place; and Trevor Rhone's ``Two Can Play,'' with Hazel J. Medina and Sullivan M. Walker, at Theatre Four (through Aug. 30). -30-{et