Arts

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Never mind the recession. Workers can still find ways to do less and get away with it, says the author of a tongue-in-cheek look at the workplace, "How to Relax Without Getting the Axe." Full Story »

Michael Ball and Imelda Staunton are set to star in a new production of Sondheim's 1979 Broadway musical Sweeney Todd, that will open at Chichester Festival Theatre in the 2011 summer season, ahead of a projected West End transfer. Full Story »

Two-time Tony winner Jonathan Pryce is to reprise his performance as Davies in Harold Pinter's The Caretaker, when it transfers from Liverpool's Everyman Theatre to the West End's Trafalgar Studios. Full Story »

Marcy Heisler and Zina Goldrich have been named the recipients of the 2009 Fred Ebb Award, which will be presented in a ceremony at the American Airlines Theatre on Nov. 30. Full Story »

Sister's Christmas Catechism will play a limited Off-Broadway engagement just in time for the holidays, beginning Nov. 27 at The Downstairs Cabaret Theatre at Sofia's. Full Story »

This, Melissa James Gibson's tale of the complicated life of a single mom who is a promising poet, played by Julianne Nicholson, begins a world premiere engagement at Playwrights Horizons Nov. 6. Full Story »

Any dedicated New York theatregoer knows that actor Jim Norton has been on a roll for some time. Full Story »

Off-Broadway's Classic Stage Company (CSC) melds two Elizabethan texts about the Trojan War to create The Age of Iron, a new three-hour epic that begins performances Nov. 6. CSC artistic director Brian Kulick adapted the plays and directs. Full Story »

Producers of the new Broadway-bound Spider-Man, Turn Off the Dark gave a progress report about the developing show on Nov. 5. New producing partners are on board and Reeve Carney has been announced to play the title role. Full Story »

A host of theatre's leading ladies will join composer Scott Alan for a concert of his music as part of Jim Caruso's Cast Party Dec. 7 at Birdland. Full Story »

BANGALORE (Reuters) - Sotheby's, the world's largest publicly traded auction house, said it was past the bottom in the art market with net auction sales trending higher in the second half of the year. Full Story »

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Backstage, renowned novelist John Irving tells a story about the 300-pound (165-kg) man he found in the sauna at his New York hotel that morning. Full Story »

Actor Christopher Evan Welch will join John Douglas Thompson and Matthew Rauch for Marlowe vs. Shakespeare: Rivalry, Imitation, and Influence at the Kaye Playhouse on Nov. 9. Full Story »

LONDON (Reuters) - It could be one of the most disturbing images in classical music since Charlotte Moorman played the cello in the nude and brought out the New York City vice squad. Full Story »

The Marvelous Wonderettes, the characterful pop revue about a girl-group performing at its high school in Act One and at a reunion ten years later in Act Two, will play its final Off-Broadway performance on Jan. 3, 2010, the producers announced on Nov. 6. Full Story »

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Anyone approaching Harlan Werner's multi-level Hollywood home during a weekday morning is likely to be greeted by the rousing sounds of a classically trained tenor exercising his unique voice. Full Story »

Brighton Beach Memoirs announced a closing date this week and Broadway headed to the psychiatrist's couch, plaintively asking the skies, "Why?" Full Story »

NEW YORK (Reuters) - If there is distress in the art market, it was not on view at Sotheby's on Wednesday as the auction house sold more than $180 million worth of Impressionist and modern art at a sale exceeding even the most optimistic expectations. Full Story »