Monster Mash: Autry drops expansion plans; Wall Project coming to L.A.; LACMA to meet with spurned film fans

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

-- About face: The Autry National Center has dropped plans for a $175-million expansion in Griffith Park.

-- Public art: L.A.’s Wilshire Boulevard will close to traffic for three hours on Nov. 8 for the Wall Project, an artistic commemoration of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

-- Reeling: LACMA’s Michael Govan is planning to meet with members of Save Film at LACMA to discuss the fate of the museum’s film program.

-- Remember him? Esa-Pekka Salonen is one of four composers commissioned by the New York City Ballet to write new scores for the company’s upcoming season.

-- Change of pace: David Mamet is teaming with Disney to adapt and direct a new film version of ‘The Diary of Anne Frank.’

-- Big debut: Martin McDonagh’s new play, ‘A Behanding in Spokane,’ is set to have its world premiere in March on Broadway.

-- Budgetary cuts: The Cleveland Museum of Art has laid off 14 employees and will leave eight posts vacant in an attempt to balance its budget.

-- An offer you can’t refuse: ‘Come Fly With Me,’ the upcoming Frank Sinatra musical directed by Twyla Tharp, will tour North America in 2010 after premiering in Atlanta.

-- Casting nightmare: Opera divas Angela Gheorgiu and Anna Netrebko have withdrawn from performances of ‘Carmen’ and ‘La Traviata,’ respectively, in the Metropolitan Opera’s upcoming season.

-- David Ng

Photo: the Autry National Center. Credit: Lori Shepler / Los Angeles Times