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LES MIZERABLE

Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schonberg are used to the success of the giant hits they have written in “Les Miserables” and “Miss Saigon.” The current failure of “Martin Guerre” and producer Cameron Mackintosh’s decision to cancel a Broadway run leaves the duo humbled. – Los Angeles Times

THE THEATRE PROBLEM?

Stephen Sondheim goes to London and sounds off about the current state of theater: “It’s quite discouraging to see that London is slowly becoming like Broadway,” he says. He bemoans the fact that Americans are drawn to productions whose values are based less on the words and the music than the length of the spectacle and the number of scenery changes. He is most frightened by the lack of serious plays on Broadway. In his opinion, audiences in London have broader tastes, attend more regularly and treat the theatre as enjoyment rather than a chore. The British hunger for challenging productions has helped to provide opportunities for new talent, from the West End to the fringe. The Sunday Times (UK)

WOUNDED MASTERS

In November three 17th Century Dutch Master paintings stolen from the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco on Christmas Eve 1978 were recovered in New York. Now San Francisco’s de Young Museum is showing the paintings in unrestored condition. They dramatically illustrate the effects of neglect on old master paintings. “We know from their condition only that they’ve been kept in very adverse circumstances, probably someplace very damp,” said Lynn Federle Orr, curator of European paintings at the Fine Arts Museums. San Francisco Chronicle