Monster Mash: Vaclav Havel dies; Ai Weiwei is a Time runner-up

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Political giant: Vaclav Havel, the dissident playwright and former Czech leader, has died at age 75. (Los Angeles Times)

Outspoken: Ai Weiwei is a runner-up for Time magazine’s person of the year. The weekly publication chose ‘The Protester’ for its annual cover story. (Time)

Not surprising: Most people who saw a Broadway show during the 2010-2011 season were white, affluent, well-educated, middle-aged and female, according to a recent study. (Washington Post)

Slow sales: ‘Bonnie & Clyde,’ the new Broadway musical that originated at the La Jolla Playhouse, will close earlier than expected, on Dec. 30. (Broadway World)

Failing up? Two people involved with the troubled La Plaza de Cultura y Artes in Los Angeles are leading the push for a new museum on the National Mall in Washington, devoted to the history and culture of American Latinos. (Los Angeles Times)

Controversial measure: Israel’s parliament appears likely to pass a law funding Israeli museums in the West Bank. (Christian Science Monitor)

Hot ticket: The Sydney Theatre Company’s production of ‘Uncle Vanya,’ starring Cate Blanchett and Hugo Weaving, will travel to New York in July. (Broadway World)

Bickering: Jorge Perez has expressed sadness over the fighting surrounding his $35-million naming gift to the Miami Art Museum. (Miami Herald)

Recovered: Mezzo-soprano Wendy White was released from a hospital Sunday after she fell from a platform during a Saturday performance of Charles Gounod’s ‘Faust’ at the Metropolitan Opera. (Wall Street Journal)

Looking ahead: There is growing concern that the 2012 Olympics in London will force some West End theaters to close for the duration of the Games. (BBC News)

Passing: Bob Brookmeyer, the influential jazz musician and composer, has died at age 81. (Washington Post)

Also in the L.A. Times: A congressional bill would require large auction houses to pay 7% on sales over $10,000 of works by living artists or dead artists whose works are not yet in the public domain; architecture critic Christopher Hawthorne on the late architecture critic Esther McCoy.

-- David Ng