Monster Mash: A new Pompidou Centre; SFMOMA narrows architects list; actor's mistaken identity

-- Form over function? Shigeru Ban and Jean de Gastines' design for the new Pompidou Centre in the eastern French city of Metz may overshadow the Picassos, Dalis and Warhols displayed inside. (Associated Press)

-- Winning performance: Actor Ian McKellen, on break outside an Australian theater during a rehearsal for "Waiting for Godot," is mistaken for a tramp. (Telegraph)

-- And then there were four: The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art narrows to four its list of architects for its expansion. (SFMOMA)

-- Return engagement: Lin-Manuel Miranda will reprise his Tony-winning role in the musical "In the Heights" when the Broadway hit arrives in Los Angeles this summer. (Los Angeles Times)

-- It's a hit: A UPS truck smashed through a concrete barrier and into the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington on Monday night, shattering a plate-glass window in the lobby's outer wall. The driver was injured, but no art was affected. (Washington Post)

-- Fighting back: Actress Kristin Chenoweth has set the blog world abuzz with a fiery defense of "Promises, Promises" costar Sean Hayes in response to a Newsweek essay about gay actors playing straight characters. (Ministry of Gossip)

-- Showtime: The Apollo Theater is installing a Hollywood-style Walk of Fame with plaques that will honor entertainers who once played the Harlem hot spot. (Reuters)

-- Lending a hand: Smithsonian organizes art conservation effort in earthquake-ravaged Haiti. (New York Times)

-- Sour note: Julie Andrews has made a long-awaited return to the London stage, but her special concert appearance triggered a backlash from fans and critics, who complained she barely sang during the show. (The Stage)

-- Home schooling: Philosopher Alain de Botton commissions leading European architects to create houses he plans to rent out on a not-for-profit basis to help the British public overcome the belief that "modernism equals awful." (Guardian)

And in the Los Angeles Times: Director Marcia Milgrom Dodge, a Tony nominee for "Ragtime," prepares "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" for Reprise; Reed Johnson offers an appreciation of singer Lena Horne; the performance piece "Piedra de Sol" seeks to immerse itself in the aesthetic of Octavio Paz.

-- Karen Wada

Photo: Pompidou Centre in Metz, France. Credit: Roland Halbe / Centre Georges Pompidou-Metz/EPA 

Comments

[Donald Frazell]

See the comment i just posted on Medellin below, yech. Thought the Jetson's look was over.

[william wray]

Frazetta died. It was mentioned in the arts section of the NY Times. LA Times in entertainment?