Monster Mash: Washington National Opera names music director; Billie Joe Armstrong lifts ‘American Idiot’ sales

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-- New leader: The Washington National Opera has appointed conductor Philippe Auguin as its new music director, replacing Heinz Fricke. (Washington Post)

-- Stage star: Broadway’s ‘American Idiot’ received a box-office boost from the onstage appearance of Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong. (Playbill)

-- Sales record: A Marc Chagall painting became the most expensive contemporary Western painting sold in Asia when it was auctioned for $4.2 million in a Hong Kong sale. (Reuters)

-- Stage mishap: Actor David Birrell was injured accidentally with a prop gun in the Donmar Warehouse production of the musical ‘Passion.’ (BBC News)

-- On the run: An artist whose depictions of Jesus Christ have stirred controversy is fleeing Russia for fear of imprisonment. (Bloomberg)

-- Missing: Thieves have stolen a work of art that depicts a giant eyeball outside the Science Museum of Virginia. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

-- Major renovations: The Maryhill Museum of Art in Washington has announced a $10-million expansion project. (Art Daily)

-- And in the L.A. Times: Theater critic Charles McNulty reviews ‘Leap of Faith’ at the Ahmanson; the U.S. Supreme Court has asked for more information before deciding whether to hear a case involving the Norton Simon Museum’s ‘Adam and Eve’ painting.

-- David Ng