Two good of Berklee stories in the Globe today. If you think Madonna or Chris Martin had an easy road, read the stories of the kids auditioning to get into Berklee - and what some did to get here. The other is a review of the concert by commencement honoree Steve Winwood at Berklee, which I notice a lot of people were coming here to find details about. ...

Like Madonna yesterday, Coldplay is apparently too big a deal to put out the news with all the other shows on Tuesday. So here it is: Coldplay will perform "Clocks" and a bunch of songs from its forthcoming "Viva la Vida" album at TD Banknorth Garden on Nov. 3. Tix, $47.50-$97.50, go on sale June 14 at 10 a.m. at at the box office and Ticketmaster, which is 866-448-7849 or ticketmaster.com. ...

Kidding! It's called the Sticky & Sweet tour, after her new "Hard Candy" album, and she'll be rolling it into the TD Banknorth Garden on Oct. 15. Tickets are $57.50-$352.50, and they go on sale May 17 at 10 a.m. at the box office and Ticketmaster, which is 866-448-7849 or ticketmaster.com. There's all kind of presales and resales and crap. For details hit livenation.com or madonna.com. ...

I've been warily eyeing the poster for "Young@Heart" in the window of our beloved local moviehouse, the Screening Room, for some weeks now. Do I really want to see a flick about a bunch of oldsters rocking out? Or is too uncomfortably close to my own classic-rockin' heart? It's the tale of The Young at Heart Chorus, formed in 1982 in an elderly housing complex in Northampton, Massachusetts to sing songs by Coldplay, Sonic Youth, the Clash, Lou Reed, OutKast, Talking Heads and the Ramon...

The Huntington Theatre Company's Join the Conversation blog posted this video, which was shown at this week's farewell for departing artistic director Nicholas Martin: ...

Hot off the wire from Live Nation: New Kids On The BlockAt the TD Banknorth GardenFriday, September 26, 2008 at 8:00 pmTickets are $37.50, $57.50 and $77.50 Tickets go on-sale Saturday, May 10, 2008 at NOON. Tickets are available at the TD Banknorth Garden Box Office and at Ticketmaster outlets, including Macy's, by calling 866-448-7849, or by logging on to www.livenation.com.Of course, if you're an American Express cardholder, you can get your tix now...  ...

Into my In Box drops the 2008-09 season announcement from the Lyric Stage Company of Boston, actually listing five of the seven main stage productions the company will deliver in its 35th anniversary season. These are: "Follies," with Leigh Barrett and other local faves; "Cat On A Hot Tin Roof," with Lyric Stage Artistic Director Spiro Veloudos as Big Daddy; the Boston premiere of the musical "Grey Gardens"; the Boston premiere of "Speech and Debate" by ...

Some cool stuff (the touring company of "Spring Awakening," Chazz Palminteri in a solo version of his "A Bronx Tale") and some traditional show biz (musical versions of "Dirty Dancing" and "Legally Blond") top the '08-09 Broadway Across America - Boston season. And whoever gets tired of "A Chorus Line," right? Right? Also on tap are Harry Connick in a new Gershwin-based musical and a revival of "Brigadoon," both shows hitting Boston b...

Out walking the dog yesterday, I ran into Susan Levine, a fine folksinger and songwriter who lives a couple of blocks from HubArts World Headquarters in Newburyport. She said she's gearing up for a trip to the legendary Kerrville Folk Festival in Texas at the end of this month. She's one of 32 finalists in the festival's New Folk competition. Chris O'Brien and Laura Bullock, both of Somerville, and Emily Elbert of Boston are also listed in the competition. But if you've heard Susan's album, &qu...

It's not a good thing when a cultural institution closes due to lack of money. I learned from the Exhibitionist this week that the Fiber Art Center in Amherst is closing its doors May 9. I have to admit, I never went there. It seems I'm not alone. Finances are blamed for the demise of the insitution dedicated to weaving, textile making and related arts and crafts. But I couldn't help noticing this in their farewell statement (boldface is mine): "For the past seven years we have had the gre...

My email informs me that our North Shore neighbors in The Brew, who I profiled for the Globe a couple of years ago, are up for a Jammy award next week at Madison Square Garden's WaMu Theater, just a couple of weeks after their big CD release party at Harper's Ferry. The awards are announced on Monday and the jamming is on Wednesday. The Brew is nominated for Best New Groove, a tie-dyed way of saying best new artist, and the winner will be chosen by online voting that closes tonight. All of whic...

In the Globe today, on page one, Geoff Edgers breaks the news that the MFA will be opening its Fenway entrance this June, two years ahead of schedule. And on the front of the North section, I have a feature about subtle changes in approach at Strawbery Banke up in Portsmouth. ...

My duties at the Herald sometimes included editing film freelancer Paul Sherman's copy. This week he's out with a book, "Big Screen Boston," looking at some 80 films that were filmed in and around the Hub. Today the Globe gives him a double pump: in the Shelf Life column in the Books section, and a larger item, with a nice pic from "Gone Baby Gone," in the Movies section. If the Herald has run a story, I can't find it on their web site. In 2006, long after I'd departed, She...

Four new troupes have been added to the lineup for the10th annual Boston Theater Marathon: Spontaneous Theatre Project, Orfeo Theatre Company, Gurnet Theatre Project and Theatre On Fire. They'll be among 50 theatre companies performing 50 ten-minute plays in 10 hours on May 11 at the Stanford Calderwood Pavilion in Boston's South End. The charity event benefits the Theatre Community Benevolent Fund, which "provides financial relief in a confidential, respectful manner" to members of t...

Tony-winning director and choreographer Susan Stroman, BSO bassist James Orleans and the late Thommie Walsh (right) will be honored at the Boston Conservatory commencement on May 17. Orleans is a Conservatory grad ('81) and Walsh, a Broadway director and choreographer who died last year, attended the school in the 1970s. Stroman gets an honorary degree, Orleans the Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award, and Walsh the Conservatory's first posthumous lifetime achievement award. ...

You ever have one of those moments of shuffle-play synchronicity with your iTunes? A few weeks back as I was loading the very bottom CD shelf into the computer, I ripped a promo disc of TV theme songs that the SciFi Channel sent out years ago. Flash forward to this morning when I finally checked out the press release from the Boston Lyric Opera, about their "reimagining" of Mozart's "The Abduction From The Seraglio," which opens Friday. It offered up a video of workers con...

Cake will headline the free Radio 92.9 EarthFest at the Hatch Shell on May 24, backed up by Cracker, the BoDeans and the English Beat. I'm just old enough to be most interested in the Beat, which according to this interview is just founder Dave Wakeling and some other guys now. A fifth act will be a local musician chosen via the 929 EarthFest Channel on OurStage.com. And take the T and recycle and stuff, 'K? ...

So as I sit here listening to iTunes, I just thought I ought to tell you that Saturday is Record Store Day, organized to salute those purveyors of vinyl and CDs who have managed to survive the onslaught of Napster and BitTorrent, iTunes and Rhapsody. There's a nice piece in the Times today, and because I saw the poster, I happen to know that my local store - Dyno Records here in Newburyport - will host one of many in-store performances nationwide tomorrow. Newbury Comics will have events at mos...

One of the most talked-about features of the new ICA on the waterfront when it opened in Dec. 2006 was the harborwalk/staircase area under the giant cantilever. With a great view of downtown and the harbor, it ought to be a great place to hang out on a summer night. This summer's lineup of free Berklee student, faculty and alumni performances in world music, jazz and other genres sounds like fun (Thursdays, 6-8:30, free). The 13-week series begins June 19 with Maeve Gilchrist, who's listed as...

Say what you will about WBZ's Joyce Kulhawik - I may have made a few cracks about the outfits over the years, and her reports ranged from mildly caustic reviews to, well, huggy celeb interviews - but in an era of continuous cutbacks, Kulhawik lasted longer than the arts reporters on WHDH or WCVB. She was the last one covering the arts on local newscasts, unless you count those shabby "American Idol" cross-promotions now masquerading as news on WFXT; I suggest trepanning if you do. Wi...