HubArts.com

BSO announces '06-'07 season

Names & Faces reports that James Levine is home in New York recuperating from his rotator cuff surgery and expects to be back on the mound, er, at the podium in time for the Tanglewood opener in July. The Boston Symphony Orchestra meanwhile has announced its 2006-07 season plans. Maybe it's just me, but  I can't find a Globe or Herald story online, although I know there's one in the print edition of the Globe, anyway. But through the miracle of technology, you can click on this link to read the entire announcement: Download BSO.doc.

Pernice in Stars Hollow

Regular readers will remember that the Pernice Brothers' "Discover a Lovelier You" was HubArts Album of the Year for 2005. Now Joe Pernice has achieved an even higher artistic honor - a guest role on "Gilmore Girls." Grant Lee Phillips is the regular troubador for Stars Hollow, Conn., the fictional little town in the WB series, and when he is whisked off to tour with Neil Young, Pernice is one of those who audition to replace him.

Concert notes

*Nine Inch Nails with Bauhaus at the Tweeter Center on June 23. Tix, $20-$50, on sale Saturday at 10 a.m. at the box office, Ticketmaster and teapartyconcerts.com.
*Ben Harper with Damien "Jr. Gong" Marley at the Pavilion on Sept. 8. Tix, $28.50-$40, on sale Saturday at 10 a.m. at the Orpheum box office, Ticketmaster and teapartyconcerts.com.
*Live at the Avalon on May 12, tix $29.50, on sale Friday at 10 a.m. Orpheum box office and Ticketmaster.

Plastination can be fun

Remember when you saw that newspaper picture of the museum exhibit in Germany with the preserved human corpses? Remember how you cringed but couldn't help looking? Well, the exhibit - "Body Worlds 2" - is coming to the  Museum of Science on July 30, and it sounds like it will top the current "Star Wars" exhibit's record attendance figures at the resurgent institution. (The Herald story is here. The Patriot Ledger story is here.)

Horovitz to retire from GSC

After 27 years, Israel Horovitz will retire as artistic director of Gloucester Stage Company , effective in December. The Globe story is here, the Herald's item here. The move has been more or less visibly in the works for a while. But expect an especially starry summer at the theater, with Jill Clayburgh, Peter Boyle and others lined up to act in tribute.

Sarah Caldwell has died

The woman who made opera happen in Boston is dead at 82. The Globe put the news on the front page. ... The Herald's story is here.

This explains everything

Tickets go on sale April 2 for the North Shore Music Theatre production of "Damn Yankees,"which has been rewritten to tell the story of a Red Sox fan who will do anything to break The Curse, even make a deal with the devil. (So in other words, pretty much any Red Sox fan before October 2004.) Most interesting, the play is presented "in association with" the Sox. The show runs April 25 to May 14 at the Beverly venue. Ballpark concession food, special guest appearances and a look at the World Series Trophy (April 27) will  jazz up the theatergoing experience. George Merrick stars as Joe Hardy and  Shannon Lewis is Lola. You can see why the Inside Track reported earlier this week that all work at Fenway Park ceased during the photo shoot. Tix, $40-$75, go on sale April 2 at  the box office, the web site or 978-232-7200.

The morning papers

Summer plans for Gloucester Stage and the Publick Theatre are here. ... I forgot to note this yesterday, but the Globe had a brief reporting that MFA officials trip to Italy has been postponed to May. They say it's Italy's request, but...

Huntington digs for spring

A new musical based on the classic Alec Guinness film "King Hearts and Coronets" highlights the Huntington Theatre Company's 2006 Breaking Ground Festival of new-play readings. Campbell Scott, Denis O'Hare and Michael T. Weiss top the list of name actors in the event at the BCA's Calderwood Pavilion April 6-9. Plays in development by Theresa Rebeck, Noah Haidle and Ronan Noone are also on the sked. The "suggested donation" at the door is just $10 but reservations are recommended. Call 617-266-0800.

The morning papers

The Plough & Stars has reopened at last. ... A nice little jazz-fan story here.  ... And to complete our morning spin through the Globe, here's a brilliantly written piece involving the "Da Vinci Code" and Barney Fife.  ... The Herald, meanwhile takes a look at the new tween-pop Girl Authority disc from, gulp, Cambridge's Rounder Records, with a column by  Dan Gewertz and a feature by Jennifer Lord from the MetroWest Daily News.