Arts Roundup: Puppet Show Panned, Etc.

The Brooklyn Paper's Thurston Dooley III pans Puppetworks' Hansel & Gretel, claiming the puppeteers' "ability to pull the more important strings —- the heartstrings —- was unfairly hampered by a story that is dour when it should be upbeat and morose when it should be merely sad." He also says the marionettes are "showing signs of wear and tear." Hansel & Gretel runs in Park Slope through December 21.

Wandering the Streets, however, took in Central, Washington Square, and Brooklyn Bridge Bridge Parks this weekend, as well as the Brazilian Street Fair; pronounced them fine, took pictures.

Steve Katz, founder of Blood, Sweat & Tears and the "all-Jewish Blues Project," reminisces in the Jerusalem Post about his New York salad days and how he got Lou Reed to do Rock 'n' Roll Animal.

Old fart makes chart: New York legend Dion has a new version of "Summertime Blues" at iTunes.

New York magazine lists "Ten Woody Allen Sex Scenes Better Than the Ones in 'Vicky Cristina Barcelona.'" They mean "good" in the cinematic and not the erotic sense. Next up: Ten Kevin Smith Sex Scenes Better Than Genital Heat Rash.