Quick Takes: Museums free for PST

The end of Pacific Standard Time — the Getty’s region-wide survey on the history of art in Southern California — will be celebrated with free admission at 19 local museums on March 31.

Among the participating institutions will be the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Pasadena Museum of California Art, the Fisher Museum of Art and the American Museum of Ceramic Art.

Pacific Standard Time explored the history of art in Southern California through a series of exhibitions and events held at museums, galleries and other cultural institutions in the area. The survey was an initiative by the Getty, which always has no admission fee.

The full list of participating museums can be found at latimes.com/culturemonster.

—David Ng

Thumbs up for NBC’s ‘Smash’

NBC’s theatrical drama “Smash” is getting a curtain call.

The show, which follows the production of a musical about the life of Marilyn Monroe, was renewed Thursday for a second season.

“Smash” had its premiere in early February and is averaging about 7.7 million viewers per week, less than half the audience that television’s top-rated series draw. But it is NBC’s highest-rated drama among adults 18 to 49 and attracts a desirable audience for advertisers.

The cast includes Debra Messing, Katharine McPhee and Jack Davenport.

—Joe Flint

A shake-up at Shakespeare Co.

Gregory Doran was announced Thursday as the new artistic director for the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Doran, who joined the company as an actor in 1987 and has directed many shows there over the last two decades, will take up the post in September.

He replaces Michael Boyd, who has led the company since 2002.

Associated Press

Rush Limbaugh’s foes plan ad hits

Rush Limbaugh’s opponents are starting a radio campaign against him Thursday, seizing upon the radio star’s attack of a Georgetown law student as a “slut” to make a long-term effort aimed at weakening his business.

The liberal Media Matters for America is using a past campaign against Glenn Beck as a template. In Limbaugh, however, they’re going after bigger game. He’s already fighting back, and the group’s stance has provoked concerns that an effort to silence someone for objectionable talk is in itself objectionable.

Media Matters is spending at least $100,000 for two advertisements that will run in eight cities.

In one of the anti-Limbaugh ads, listeners are urged to call the local station that carries Limbaugh to say, “We don’t talk to women like that” in our city.

A spokeswoman for Premiere Radio Networks, which syndicates Limbaugh’s show to KFI-AM (640) in L.A. and nearly 600 other radio stations nationally, said Media Matters has gone beyond criticism of Limbaugh’s words to an attempt to silence him and intimidate advertisers.

“It’s essentially a call for censorship masquerading as high-minded indignation,” said Rachel Nelson, Premiere spokeswoman.

—Associated Press

Tomlin, Kronos at the Carpenter

Appearances by the performance artists known as the “NEA Four” will be among the highlights of the new 2012-13 season at the Carpenter Performing Arts Center in Long Beach. The season also includes actress Lily Tomlin, the Kronos Quartet and radio host Ira Glass.

The season will feature four prominent performance artists who are (or once were) considered controversial: Holly Hughes, Tim Miller, Karen Finley and John Fleck. The artists are often referred to collectively as the “NEA Four” for their part in the Culture Wars of the 1990s.

Their appearances will be part of “The B-Word Project,” an initiative at Cal State Long Beach addressing censorship in the arts, journalism and other fields. Hughes and Miller will appear on Sept. 27, and Finley and Fleck on Sept. 28.

—David Ng

Jimmy Buffett hits the jackpot

Nevada gambling regulators have approved a license that will let singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett share in the gambling revenue from his Margaritaville casino in Las Vegas.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that the Nevada Gaming Commission unanimously approved a gambling license Thursday for Florida-based Margaritaville Holdings and its famous chairman, Buffett.

The casino, located inside the Flamingo on the Las Vegas Strip, opened in October. Buffett has had a presence in Las Vegas since 2003 through his Margaritaville restaurant.

—Associated Press