Quick Takes, Musée strike continues in Paris

For the second consecutive day, visitors hoping to glimpse the reopened, renovated spaces in the Musée d’Orsay in Paris were greeted with closed doors Friday due to a workers’ strike.

The unveiling of the two-year, $27-million renovation was supposed to take place on Thursday, but some 34 employees went on strike against an expected cut in jobs that they said was a slap in the face in light of ambitious, costly additions to the museum that they believe require an increase of personnel.

The museum was unable to operate without sufficient staff and was forced to close.

The strike may continue Saturday, depending on a vote by union members in the morning.

—Devorah Lauter

Philadelphia museums make deal on rare portrait

An early portrait of a freed slave went on view Friday at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, which bought the work from the Philadelphia History Museum.

The painting of Yarrow Mamout is one of the earliest formal portraits of a black man. Charles Willson Peale painted the portrait of the elderly Muslim and former slave in Washington, D.C.

The Philadelphia History Museum at the Atwater Kent is selling off some paintings and artifacts to pay for a $5.9-million expansion. The price was not disclosed.

The Philadelphia Museum of Art will finance the purchase by selling some pieces from its collection. Director Timothy Rub told the Philadelphia Inquirer that the painting’s historical significance makes it worth it.

—Associated Press

Mavericks reunion planned

Boundary-bending alt-country band the Mavericks will reunite for the 2012 Stagecoach Festival in Indio.

Singer-songwriter-guitarist Raul Malo will reconvene with the group’s original bassist, Robert Reynolds, and drummer, Paul Deakin, for the show, although a date has not been set.

The Mavericks charted more than a dozen hits on the country charts in the 1990s, among them “All You Ever Do Is Bring Me Down,” “What a Crying Shame,” “There Goes My Heart” and “Dance the Night Away.” Although the group’s music was generally well-regarded by critics, it often confounded country radio programmers by weaving country, rock, vintage pop, Latin and other strains into the mix.

—Randy Lewis

‘Fast, Furious’ two-fer mulled

Eager to move ahead with new installments of what’s currently the studio’s hottest series, Universal Pictures is considering shooting its sixth and seventh “Fast and Furious” movies back-to-back with a single story connecting the two films.

Screenwriter Chris Morgan, who wrote the last three films, is busy working on story ideas, while director Justin Lin, who also worked on the last three “Fast” movies, is expected to return behind the cameras for both films, according to people familiar with the studio’s plans but not authorized to discuss them publicly.

Universal already has penciled in a May 24, 2013, release for “Fast and the Furious 6,” but the consecutive shooting schedule may result in a later launch, as Lin would be shooting the seventh film before he could edit the sixth.

By making the two movies together, the seventh film could be in theaters sooner than the typical two-year gap between the Vin Diesel movies.

—John Horn and Ben Fritz

DirecTV lands ‘Hit and Miss’

DirecTV’s Audience Network continues to build its slate, serving as U.S. broadcaster of the new British series “Hit and Miss.”

“Hit and Miss” stars Chloe Sevigny (“Big Love”) as a contract assassin who also happens to be a pre-op transsexual.

Audience Network has aired American-made series “Friday Night Lights” and “Damages” along with shows from Canada and Australia.

“Hit and Miss” is scheduled to air in Britain in January and will kick off its DirecTV run the following month.

—Yvonne Villarreal

Final round for radio confab

The annual Friends of Old-Time Radio Convention is signing off for the last time Saturday.

The ghosts and survivors of Jack Benny, Benny Goodman and hundreds of other legends of the old days of radio are holding court for one final weekend at a hotel in Newark, N.J.

After 36 years, musician and organizer Jay Hickerson says the march of time has taken its toll.

The gathering used to call on a constellation of stars from radio’s early days. Now it’s down to former child stars in their 80s and 90s.

—Associated Press