Monster Mash: Dance at the Music Center; scent of an opera; award for Norman Foster

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--Prestigious honor: Architect Norman Foster wins Spain’s Principe de Asturias arts prize.

--We smell a gimmick: French perfume designer creates scents to go with ‘Green Aria,’ a performance art piece that will open at the Guggenheim Museum May 31.

--Money cushion: Music Center announces its 2009-10 dance season featuring American troupes.

--Shutting out playwrights?: If the Tony Award is for best play, why do the producers take the spotlight?

--In need of help: A California arts funding measure reaches a critical point.

--Cute, but can he dance?: ‘Gossip Girl’s’ Chace Crawford replaces ‘High School Musical’s’ Zac Efron in remake of ‘Footloose’ film.

--New leadership: Salzburg Festival names Alexander Pereira, currently head of Zurich’s Opernhaus, as its director, starting in 2011.

--We told you so: Tracy Letts’ ’Superior Donuts’ goes to Broadway this fall, just as we said it would.

--Makeup optional: David Russo is picked to direct the Blue Man Group movie in IMAX.

--Surprise: Lyric Opera of Chicago is in good financial shape -- but that doesn’t mean it’s not worried about its future.

--Next project #1: Christopher Hampton (‘Les Liaisons Dangereuses’) set to write the book for ‘Rebecca’ musical.

--Next project #2: Bartlett Sher (‘South Pacific’) takes on a musical version of Pedro Almodovar’s ‘Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown.’

--Honored by their peers: A LACMA exhibition wins an award from the Assn. of Art Museum Curators.

--Former ‘Golden Girl’: Rue McClanahan to premiere a one-woman show in Chicago.

--Emphasis on arts: Has the time come for a new motto for the NEA?

--Lisa Fung