Monster Mash: Breaking news and headlines

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--Big purchase: Kimball Art Museum in Fort Worth acquires what is said to be the earliest known painting by Michelangelo, ‘The Torment of Saint Anthony,’ right.

--Nominee for top arts job: Broadway producer Rocco Landesman is tapped for chairman of National Endowment for the Arts

--No Tony hosting the Tonys: Sorry, doesn’t look like James Gandolfini will accept an invitation to host the theater awards.

--Aiming for authenticity: ‘Ben Hur’ musical will include chariot races, real horses and camels, 400 performers -- and performances in Latin and Aramaic. Well, one song in the score, by Stewart Copeland of The Police, will be in English.

--Theater’s glass ceiling: Women directors start to break through in theater, but their numbers are still small.

--Hollywood license: Adam Crane (subscription) sets the record straight on ‘The Soloist’ and Jamie Foxx’s portrayal of Nathaniel Ayres.

--It’s about time: James Spader will make his Broadway debut in David Mamet’s ‘Race.’

--Hanging with Barack: President Obama promotes the arts in an hour-long poetry jam.

--Arts honor: Michael Kaiser, president of the Kennedy Center in Washington, wins the George Peabody Medal for Outstanding Contributions to Music in America.

--Private showcase: An inside look at Peter Brant’s new museum, the Brant Foundation Art Study Center, in Greenwich, Conn.

--Notable sale: Jeff Koons egg sculpture, owned by hedge fund manager Daniel Loeb, sells for $5.5 million at auction.

--Lisa Fung

1487, oil and tempera on wood panel, believed to be Michelangelo’s earliest known work. Credit: Associated Press