Monster Mash: Paris museums, monuments shut down; Shakespeare’s home; bye-bye to ‘Birdie’

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-- Fighting back: Many museums and monuments in Paris -- including the Musee d’Orsay and Arc de Triomphe -- were closed or partially shut down today in protest of planned job cuts. (Bloomberg)

-- Looking for the Bard: Archaeologists are digging at the site of Shakespeare’s home in Stratford-upon-Avon in hopes of finding out more about the playwright’s life. (Times Online)

-- Money hunt: European cultural institutions are going after American donors and philanthropists. (The Wall Street Journal)

-- Ink-stained wretches: The Newseum in Washington, D.C., has cut jobs as a result of fewer donations. (The Washington Post)

-- Choose your own adventure: A New York theater company is offering five alternate endings to George Bernard Shaw’s final, unfinished play. (The New York Times)

-- Say bye bye: The Broadway revival of ‘Bye Bye Birdie’ has posted a closing notice of Jan. 24. (Variety)

-- Pop auteur: Composer Brian Eno will serve as guest director for the 2010 Brighton Festival. (The Stage)

-- Is it a masterpiece? A museum in the Ukraine claims that it owns a portrait by Titian. (BBC News)

-- Major gift: The planned Tampa Museum of Art has received a $3-million donation. (Tampa Business Journal, via Art Info)

-- And in the L.A. Times: Basketball star Pau Gasol gets an opera assist from Placido Domingo; the Calder Quartet stretches its boundaries; architecture critic Christopher Hawthorne discusses the Swiss ban on minarets.