Reuters - It cost nearly $20 million more than planned, and opens amid fear of recession, but Australians are hailing a new portrait gallery as a celebration of national identity.

Playbill - The 2009 Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival, a weekend of readings and discussions focused on playwright and fiction writer Williams, will welcome Broadway stars Zoe Caldwell, Marian Seldes and Frances Sternhagen March 25-29.

Playbill - Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago announced Dec. 2 that its newest ensemble member is William Petersen, the Chicago-area actor who is internationally known for the TV crime drama "CSI."

Playbill - While renovations continue at historic Ford's Theatre in Washington, DC, the not-for-profit institution presents its annual production of A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story of Christmas at DC's Lansburgh Theatre, Dec. 2-28.

Playbill - Round House Theatre in Bethesda, MD, launches the world premiere of Alice, a new theatrically buoyant adaptation of Lewis Carroll's beloved novel "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland," opening Dec. 2 after previews from Nov. 26, for a holiday run through Dec. 28.

Playbill - Director Rebecca Bayla Taichman's new production of Twelfth Night, featuring Veanne Cox as Olivia, Samantha Soule as Viola and Christopher Innvar as Orsino, begins Dec. 2 at Washington, DC's Shakespeare Theatre Company.

Playbill - The Olivier Award-winning Slava's Snowshow, already an Off-Broadway hit known for its climactic blizzard and its wordless clowns who roam a wintry landscape, makes its Broadway debut Dec. 2 at the Helen Hayes Theatre.

Playbill - Rising Phoenix Repertory and Piece by Piece Productions remount the world premiere of Keith Reddin and Meg Gibson's contemporary take on the Greek tale of Antigone, Too Much Memory, seen this past summer in the New York International Fringe Festival, Dec. 2-22 in Manhattan.

Playbill - Signature Theatre's innovative and intimate new production of Les Misérables, in Arlington, VA, begins Dec. 2 under the direction of artistic director Eric Schaeffer.

Playbill - Florida Studio Theatre will stage the Southeastern regional premiere of the nostalgic revue, Hula Hoop Sha-Boop, by Larry Deckel and John Leicht, with musical arrangements by John Tanner and direction by Bill Castellino.