Monster Mash: Presale Green Day musical tix; LACMA film fans petition; Spike Lee’s ‘Passing Strange’ in L.A.

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-- Don’t say we didn’t tell you: Tickets to the new Green Day musical in Berkeley will officially be on sale Friday, but we share a way to get them now.

-- Thriller of a contest: Call for entries for Michael Jackson Monument Design Competition

-- Saving money: Houston Symphony conductor takes a pay cut, musicians agree to unpaid furloughs to save nearly $1 million.

-- Spending money: Meanwhile, the Houston Zoo breaks ground on a $50-million African Forest.

-- From Broadway to the big screen: Spike Lee’s ‘’Passing Strange’’ to open L.A. Downtown Film Festival.

-- All grown up: Remember former L.A. Times theater critic Michael Phillips? He’s now a film critic and taking over ‘At the Movies’ chair opposite New York Times’ A.O. Scott.

-- Cleaning house: 50 artworks owned by Sir Richard Attenborough and his wife to be auctioned off in November.

-- Rallying the troops: Angry movie buffs start a petition in response to Los Angeles County Museum of Art decision to scrap film program.

-- Maybe now the show will start on time? Geffen Playhouse shifts to a later weekday curtain time to lessen commuting woes.

-- New table setting: Sam Sifton, New York Times culture editor, is named restaurant critic at the paper.

-- Plans in Germany: House where artist Otto Dix spent his final years to be renovated and converted into a museum.

-- Whole lotta laughs: Eugene Levy, Martin Short, Harold Ramis and Catherine O’Hara among Second City’s alums reuniting for the troupe’s 50th anniversary.

-- Keepers of the flame: Four trustees named for Merce Cunningham foundation. Dancers talk about ways to keep alive the legacy of Cunningham and Pina Bausch.

-- Lisa Fung