Roundup

-The NEA (along with NEH, and NPR, and PBS) is still hanging by a thread at the mercy of Congress. You can follow the advocacy angle and get involved at Americans for the Arts. Meanwhile, Isaac Butler has been exploring all the issues in a massive yet essential 3-part post, engaging with the political blogosphere's not-always-arts-friendly discourses.

- Remember the travails of that downtown NY fixture, the Ohio Theatre? Well, a fairy godmother has come to the rescue and given them a new home in the Archive Building in the West Village. That fairy godmother being the mandating of space in that building "for nonprofit use at below market rates as part of an agreement made with the city during the commercial development of the building in 1988." Ah, the eighties...

-Meet the new AD of South Coast Rep, Mark Masterson, formerly of Actors Theater of Louisville. Playwrights, take note.

-Nice overview by Toby Zinman in this month's American Theatre mag on the enduring popularity of that darn Doll's House play and the multiple variations recently on display. Title: 50 Ways to Leave Your Torvald.