Brown held after arrest at school in Attleboro

R&B singer Bobby Brown was placed in handcuffs yesterday and packed off to jail, a day after he was arrested in Attleboro while on his way to see his daughter compete in a high school cheerleading contest .

The Roxbury native, whose 14-year marriage to singer Whitney Houston is all but over, was being held last night at the Norfolk County House of Correction while attorneys tried to sort out whether he is financially capable of supporting two children he fathered years ago with a former girlfriend.

The onetime Grammy winner was picked up Sunday evening as he walked into Attleboro High School to watch the cheerleading competition. Constables arrested Brown, 38, on a warrant for failing to appear at a child support hearing last fall. The singer has a 17-year-old daughter, LaPrincia, and a 14-year-old son, Bobby Jr., with former girlfriend Kim Ward.

"He's upset, but he's going to be fine," Brown's attorney, Phaedra Parks, said yesterday. "Bobby's a big boy. No one wants to be locked up."

Brown, who gained fame as a member of the boy band New Edition before embarking on a promising solo career in the late 1980s, was sweating heavily as he appeared yesterday before Judge Angela Ordonez at Norfolk Probate and Family Court . At issue are monthly child-support payments Brown is mandated to make to Ward.

Brown's attorney said the singer, who hasn't released a new CD in nearly 10 years, owes $19,100 in overdue child-support payments, penalties, and attorney fees, and another $8,000 for medical bills and other expenses. Ward's attorney, Linda Medonis , did not return a phone call yesterday.

"Obviously, Bobby hasn't been working as steady as he'd desire to," said Parks, who works in Atlanta but plans to be in Boston for Brown's next court appearance Thursday. "As a result, Bobby's had some financial difficulties paying these fees. He's definitely going to try to bring it current." In the past, Brown has been able to turn to his wife when he's run into money trouble. In 2005, the "Don't Be Cruel" singer owed Ward $47,000, and managed to come up with the money. But Houston, who is trying to resuscitate her own faltering career, announced last year that she's divorcing Brown, and the two now lead separate lives. The couple appeared last year on Bravo's bizarre reality TV show, "Being Bobby Brown," but the series was not picked up for a second season.

"At this point, they're not together," Parks said. "So this would not be her responsibility."

‘Departed’ makers won’t forsake Hub

Even before "The Departed" won best movie, Graham King's dance card was full. The producer of Martin Scorsese's South Boston-based crime drama had four movies in production and a few more set to go. But as he wandered the rope line outside the Kodak Theater Sunday, King had a kernel of news for us: He's coming back to Boston to make another movie. The producer, whose past credits include "The Aviator" and "Ali," said it was such a treat to shoot "The Departed" that he's got a deal to return. "It's not yet announced," King said. "It will be shot in Charlestown." Scorsese, meanwhile, mentioned again the possibility of a sequel. "We were talking about it the night the picture opened," the decorated director said backstage. "So I am interested in the possibility of doing a prequel. Or a sequel. I don't know if I would direct, but [it] depends on how the script turns out." Recalling his '05 shoot in Boston, Scorsese was sweet on the city . "I'm really thankful for the people in Boston who really did a great job, that great group, the Dropkick Murphys, who did 'Shipping Up to Boston.' " For his part, screenwriter Bill Monahan found the Oscar experience unnerving. "There's nothing like being in front of a billion people to realize you've got to lose weight and cut your hair," he said. "I was the first idiot to be played off the stage by the orchestra."

Bad old days are behind Wahlberg

Anyone who didn't know about Mark Wahlberg's hooligan history does now. The onetime ruffian was teased during Sunday's Oscar broad c ast about his bad old days on Dorchester's mean streets. But there's no doubt the best supporting actor nominee has changed his stripes. As the well-scrubbed Wahlberg and girlfriend Rhea Durham walked into the Vanity Fair party, an E! reporter asked if he had any words of wisdom for viewers . "Go to church," replied Wahlberg. Back in Boston, the actor's family is disappointed he didn't win, but not depressed. "What are you going to do? Alan Arkin was the sentimental choice," said brother Bob. "My mom's bummed, but she's been through a lot tougher stuff ."

Cambridge filmmaker hits Oscar mark

The best thing about Sunday's Oscar broadcast may have been the five-minute montage of nominees artfully arranged by Errol Morris. "I had a very short time to collect and edit it," the filmmaker said yesterday from his Cambridge studio. "There were 130 people, and I'd done fairly substantial interviews with all of them." The "Fog of War" director conducted the interviews and hopes to make something of the surplus celluloid. "I have some very strong stuff," he said. "It was quite amazing to have Peter O'Toole standing in front of the camera. The writers Peter Morgan and Patrick Marber were both fabulous, and Alan Arkin, Randy Newman, and Eddie Murphy were all very funny." . . . Never mind his Boston roots, Paramount's Sumner Redstone told us he wasn't rooting for "The Departed," produced by Paramount rival Warner Bros. "It's a great picture. I liked it a lot," said Redstone. "But I hope 'Babel' wins, naturally."

Yesterday was the first day of shooting for the untitled film formerly known as "21." Based on Ben Mezrich's book "Bringing Down the House," about six MIT students whose card-counting cost Las Vegas casinos millions, the film features Kevin Spacey, Laurence Fishburne, and Kate Bosworth. We're told the crew, which is in town for the next three months, will set up shop today at People's Republik in Central Square. Spacey, who dined the other night at Duozo, is a producer of the film. The filmmakers are referring to the movie as "the untitled blackjack picture," but are also encouraging Globe readers to suggest a new name.

Names can be reached at names@globe.com or at 617-929-8253.