Monster Mash: Maestro Slatkin bows out; ‘Hedwig’ eyes Broadway; a puppet show for grownups

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--Early exit: Conductor Leonard Slatkin has withdrawn from the Metropolitan Opera production of ‘La Traviata’ after reviewers panned his opening-night performance, claiming he seemed unfamiliar with the Verdi score and out of sync with the singers. (New York Times)

--Rock star returns: The creators of ‘Hedwig and the Angry Inch,’ a cult favorite on stage and screen, are prepping the show in hopes of making a Broadway debut this fall with a production starring John Cameron Mitchell, who first played the transgender rocker off-Broadway 12 years ago. (New York Post)

--Top three: ‘The Glass Menagerie,’ ‘The Pride’ and ‘When the Rain Stops Falling’ lead the field with six nods each as nominations for off-Broadway’s 2010 Lucille Lortel Awards are announced. (Los Angeles Times)

--Quick change: ‘Everyday Rapture,’ Sherie Rene Scott’s semi-autobiographical tale of going from mostly Mennonite past to mostly Manhattan future, will open this month at the Roundabout Theatre Co. The show replaces Terrence McNally’s ‘Lips Together, Teeth Apart,’ which was pulled after Megan Mullally left the cast during rehearsals. (Broadway.com)

--Beyond ‘Sesame Street’: ‘Stuffed and Unstrung’ -- a multimedia puppetry-improv show for adults created by Brian Henson, the son of Muppet maker Jim Henson -- has opened off-Broadway. (Playbill)

--Starting over: The management of the Honolulu Symphony Society says it has a plan to relaunch the orchestra, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in December. (Pacific Business News via ArtsJournal)

--Also in the L.A. Times: Theater critic Charles McNulty on Broadway star Valerie Harper keeping ‘Looped’ fans in the loop on Facebook; playwright Julia Cho finds a home at South Coast Repertory; the national tour of the musical ‘101 Dalmatians’ will be cut short.

-- Karen Wada