Quick Takes: Tim Burton exhibition set, Gregg Allman undergoes transplant, Steinbeck fails to sell well

From Beetlejuice to Batman, from Ed Wood to Willy Wonka, the characters that Tim Burton has brought to movie screens are notable for their dark idiosyncracies and macabre weirdness.

Burton’s goth universe, at once disturbing and oddly inviting, will land at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in an exhibition featuring artwork tied to his movies as well as original drawings, sculptures and other works created throughout his career. The show is scheduled to run May 29 to Oct. 31, 2011.

The exhibition initially opened at New York’s Museum of Modern Art in November, where it became the third most-attended exhibition in the museum’s history. Before coming to LACMA, the show also will have run at the Australian Center for the Moving Image and Toronto’s Bell Light Box.

The show will feature more than 700 pieces of art from Burton’s own archive, as well as from studio archives and private collections.

Burton, a former CalArts student, worked for Disney as an animator before becoming a director. His first major feature film was “Pee-wee’s Big Adventure” in 1985. His other notable films include “Beetlejuice,” “Batman,” “Ed Wood,” “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” and “Alice in Wonderland.”

MoMA’s version of the exhibition featured screenings of Burton’s movies. LACMA said it could not confirm at this time whether it will host screenings as part of the show.

—David Ng

Jackson in wax marks one year

The King of Pop will return in wax effigy to meet his public on Thursday when Madame Tussauds Hollywood marks the eve of the one-year anniversary of Michael Jackson’s death by displaying its $300,000 image of the much-mourned musical star from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. in its courtyard at 6933 Hollywood Blvd.

The wax Jackson, an attraction at Madame Tussauds since August, will stand about 100 feet from his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. After the free showing, it’ll be back to the Pop Icons room that the gloved and fedora-topped wax Jax shares with Madonna and Elton John — and back to the $25-a-pop admission.

—Mike Boehm

Gregg Allman gets new liver

Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Gregg Allman underwent a successful liver transplant Wednesday morning at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Fla.

Allman’s manager, Michael Lehman, said Allman was groggy but awake Wednesday morning and that the co-founder of the Allman Brothers Band could be on his feet by nightfall.

Allman began treatment for hepatitis C in 2007, but damage to his liver led to the transplant.

—Associated Press

Steinbeck not a big draw for bids

A day after Christie’s did a bonanza business in William Faulkner, reaping more than $833,000 for a collection of the Nobel laureate’s personal items and books he’d signed, the market turned thumbs down on another American novelist who won the Nobel.

A cache of John Steinbeck’s letters, manuscripts and photographs fetched just $73,950 at Bloomsbury Auction; the estimate for the items from the author of “Grapes of Wrath” and “Of Mice and Men” had been $200,000 to $250,000, but 26 of the 50 lots failed to sell, the auctioneer said. Heirs of Steinbeck’s third wife, Elaine, were selling the items.

An exception was a briefcase that had belonged to Edward Ricketts, the friend who inspired the character of the ‘Doc’ in “Cannery Row.” It sold for $18,000, 50% above the top estimate.

—Associated Press

Disney gives to Ryman Arts

The Walt Disney Co. is donating $250,000 to Ryman Arts, a 20-year-old nonprofit that provides free intensive weekend drawing and painting courses to area high school students who compete for 165 openings each semester.

Ryman Arts, which uses studio space donated by USC, announced Tuesday that it had independently raised $130,000, exceeding the $100,000 minimum in outside funding Disney required as a match to activate its own pledge. The combined $380,000 creates an endowment whose earnings are expected to cover the cost of one of the 10 classes Ryman Arts sponsors each semester, said Diane Brigham, the organization’s executive director.

—Mike Boehm