Monster Mash: Michael Crichton’s Jasper Johns ‘Flag’ sets record; Pasadena Playhouse files for Chapter 11

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-- Big money: Artwork from the estate of writer Michael Crichton has brought $93.3 million at auction, led by Jasper Johns’ ‘Flag’ (1960-66), which sold for a record price of $28.6 million. (Los Angeles Times and Bloomberg).

-- Recovery plan: The Pasadena Playhouse has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in hopes of regaining its financial footing so it can present shows on a stage that has been dark since Feb. 7. (Los Angeles Times)

-- Warm welcome: Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic have opened their national tour with two sold-out concerts in San Francisco. As they wend their way across the country you can follow the action on the Phil’s new blog. (Los Angeles Times)

-- Happy trails: The Autry National Center has acquired the Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Archive, which contains materials and memorabilia from the couple’s more than 50 years in show business. (Los Angeles Times)

-- Expansion plan: Tate Modern is celebrating its 10th birthday by buying works from the Mideast, North Africa, the Asia-Pacific region and Latin America in an attempt to ‘collect the best art regardless of geography.’ (Guardian)

-- Concessions: North Carolina Symphony musicians -- and their conductor -- have agreed to pay cuts to help the debt-ridden orchestra survive the rocky economy. (News & Observer)

-- Prize winner: American sculptor Richard Serra has won Spain’s Prince of Asturias Award in the arts and will receive a $63,000 prize and a Joan Miro sculpture. (Associated Press)

-- Identity crisis: British playwright Alan Ayckbourn lost thousands of dollars’ worth of jewelry after he mistook a burglar for a house guest at his sprawling five-story residence, according to court proceedings. (Times of London)

-- Tribute: Broadway dimmed its lights Tuesday night in memory of singer Lena Horne. (TheaterMania)

-- L.A. artist: Craig Kauffman, a spark plug of the Los Angeles art scene in the late 1950s and early ‘60s, has died at 78 in the Philippines. (Los Angeles Times)

-- Follies favorite: Doris Eaton Travis, a former Ziegfeld Follies dancer who wowed audiences as recently as April with her annual appearances at Broadway’s Easter Bonnet AIDS benefits, has died at 106. (Playbill)

Also in the Los Angeles Times: L.A. architect Peter Zellner has become a go-to guy for the art world; documentary filmmaker Lance Laspina remembers Frank Frazetta, the fantasy painter and illustrator whose sinewy warriors and lush vixens graced paperback novels, album covers and comic books.

--Karen Wada