Monster Mash: Breaking news and headlines

--The Los Angeles County Museum of Art plans to deaccession Lucas Cranach the Elder's 1518 "Portrait of a Bearded Young Man."

--San Francisco's Magic Theatre extends the deadline for its fundraising campaign as it closes in on the $350,000 it needs to stay open.

--Steve Wynn's $30-million Vermeer is quietly sold, but currently on view at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

--"Wicked" ends its L.A. run; "Gypsy," "All My Sons" and "Spamalot" close on Broadway.

--On the Golden Globes red carpet, "Speed-the-Plow" dropout Jeremy Piven assures all that his mercury poisoning is real and that "my life has always been in the theater. I was raised in the theater."

--The Denver Art Museum slashes its budget by $2.5 million in anticipation of continuing economic woes.

--LA Weekly lays off theater editor/critic Steven Leigh Morris and eliminates his position.

--Secret documents revealing a dark tale of adultery and suicide may threaten Felix Mendelssohn's reputation.

--Austin arts groups trim costs, cancel marginal shows, offer ticket deals to make their budgets work.

--Original Magna Carta on exhibition at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library beginning Jan 23.

--Banners designed by Alexander Calder, thought to be missing for two decades, go on view in Philadelphia.

--Lisa Fung

Image credit: LACMA