UPDATE 2/8: A Regal manager has told us that complaints should be directed to its corporate Web site. Here's the place you can make a comment.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: In a comment, Beehive reader Dante already asked about the absence of the Regal movie listings, so I figured this topic deserved its own post. Here's a sample call I received today, this one from Fresno Filmworks stalwart Stan Poss:

It's ironic that when three of the best films of the year open, we don't know when they play. Is there any reason why Regal has opted not to publish the times?

The answer: The movie showtimes are paid advertising, and Regal decided to drop those daily ads in The Bee. The other theater in the Fresno/Clovis area, at Sierra Vista mall, is still running its ads. You do have an online option: Check out The Bee's movie index page.

You're also encouraged to call Regal's local managers and let them know how you feel about the decision. In some cases, we've heard, Regal has brought back the ads after local feedback. Here are the numbers:

• Edwards: Hnub (pronounced New) Lor, 447-3247
• Manchester: Lynette Clark, 243-7451
• Clovis Towne: John Fraley, 292-5708
• Broadway Faire: Dean Pugh, 221-6498

Two items related to the recent appearance of the Dance Theatre of Harlem:

OFFENSIVE COMMENT?

Sharon, a reader from Clovis, was troubled by one of Diane Mosier's quotations in my 7 story about the Dance Theatre of Harlem's performance at the Saroyan Theatre. In talking about the multicultural aspect of the company's appeal, I included a comment from Mosier (the artistic director of the Lively Arts Foundation, which brought the company to town) in which she talked about the ethnic bond that exists between black audience members and the performers. Mosier said: "Any time you went to a Dance Theatre of Harlem performance, you could see the pride in the faces of the black people who attended."

Sharon said in a phone-mail message:

I hope if you go further with this that someone interview an African-American person and have them quote themselves. I'm trying not to let [the comment] be racist ... It just sounded so white. I guess Diane Mosier isn't getting the NAACP White Person of the Year award. Probably not. I appreciate her passion for bringing [the company] here, but maybe they ought to have somebody else do the quotes.

My response:

I think this is a case where I could have written the explanatory material around the quote more smoothly. I don't think Mosier's comment was offensive. She was saying that the DTOH has always been strongly identified -- and positively so -- with the black community. Is it legitimate for a non-black person to comment on this bond? I'd say yes. But the quotation does sound a little brittle. I could have added more context. One other thing I'd point out: the majority of the quotations in the story come from company director Keith Saunders, who is black.

The lights come up slowly, duskily, and in the shadowy details it's hard to tell at first exactly what it is we're seeing. One person? Two? Soon it becomes apparent it's a man and a woman dressed in skin-tight lycra. The front of her costume is red and the back a pure black; the color scheme is opposite for the man. Bathed in the spotlight, the couple intertwines in a variety of nimble poses -- including one in which the woman quivers on all fours on pointe -- and as the red and black colors shift with their moves, it almost looks like some extravagant rainforest insect dancing in the sun.

This was choreographer Peter Pucci's "Episode," and it was one of the highlights of Friday's performance at the Saroyan Theatre of the Dance Theatre of Harlem Ensemble.

Mike already has run down some great options. Here are a couple more:

DANCE THEATRE OF HARLEM ENSEMBLE

Direct from New York, this contemporary ballet company plans an eclectic program 7:30 p.m. today at the Saroyan Theatre. I write about DTOH's rejuvenation in today's 7 cover story.

Lots of cool stuff happening at tonight's ArtHop, 5-8 p.m. at various locations downtown and in the Tower District. I give my picks in today's Bee. One hot spot will be the Downtown Community Arts Collective, which features a show by Chris Sorensen and Amy Kohl titled "Metalworkers."

On the jump: More ArtHop images and fliers. Where do you plan to go tonight? Leave a note in the comments.

FINAL UPDATE: We have our third winner: Sharon Alford-Oakley.

UPDATE: We have two winners so far: Cindy Wathen and Iris Badillo. The good news is that I got my hand on a third pair of tickets to give away. The bad news is that our original winner never responded to the two emails I sent. So I picked another winner at random and am waiting for confirmation.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: If you're a fan of contemporary ballet, you won't want to miss the Dance Theatre of Harlem Ensemble's 7:30 p.m. Friday performance at the Saroyan Theatre. Though I'm sure dance connoisseurs will find a lot to like about this concert, it also sounds as if it will be good for "beginning" fans and kids. That's because the company has an educational/interactive philosophy toward the program. The audience will get a chance to meet the dancers, and a narrator will introduce each piece and give a little background.

I have two pairs of tickets to give away to the event -- all orchestra seats, Row N.

Enter by leaving a comment on this post. No repeat comments, please. You're ineligible if you've won something in the past 30 days. You'll need to pick up your tickets at The Bee's front lobby by 5 p.m. Friday. Complete rules after the jump.

Deadline is 10 a.m. Thursday. Please, if you enter this contest, be sure to check your email late Thursday morning to see if you're a winner.

Does anyone remember the last time Dance Theatre of Harlem came to Fresno, in 2002?

The Fresno Metropolitan Museum is getting closer to liquidating its holdings. First up, on Feb. 17, will be the office furniture, equipment, exhibit fixtures and holiday decorations, says executive director Dana Thorpe. The controversial part of the process is still to come. From today's Bee:

The Met next week will review auction house proposals for sale of The Met's art collection, which was deaccessioned by the museum's board. The collection consists of 3,000 objects and is insured for $3 million. Thorpe said its appraised value is estimated at $3 million to $6 million. The location for the fine art auction will be determined by the auction house, Thorpe said.

The article provoked this response from noted Fresno art collector George Blair, who knows a thing or 20 about donating art to museums. He writes:

How can one justify a fine art collection donated to a museum in public trust being auctioned off? Of course, the deaccession of individual items from time to time to improve the quality of a collection is proper, but to deaccess the entire collection at one time? As a public trust the collection, by rights, should be offered to other museums who could hold it in trust for the public. It should not be auctioned off at fire-sale prices to satisfy the demands of debtors thereby violating the public trust implied at the time of donation.

My response: This is the crux of the matter, isn't it? That people donated art to the museum with certain expectations (and tax advantages), and now that the museum is going kaput, all that goes out the window? I can't even imagine trying to convince people to donate art to any new museum formed in the future in Fresno.

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Wanna read a weird story? Over the weekend I wrote in the Bee's print edition about Fresno Philharmonic music director Theodore Kuchar's strange tale from the Czech Republic involving a late-night train, a mysterious man in black and a map with a strange smell. From my story:

"He pushed the map under my nose," Kuchar is quoted as saying in the Czech police report. "It was dark in the compartment. I smelled slight 'stink' from his sleeve or map, like some chemical ... Then the man left and I fell asleep right after that."

When he got to Fresno the morning of Dec. 21, he opened the cases. Both violas were gone.

Turns out that cash from Kuchar's wallet was missing, too. When he made the police report, officers told him that thieves have all sorts of nefarious ways for parting people from their belongings on European trains.

On the jump: a reader responds.

Try as I might, I can't write a regular theater review for the Good Company Players revival of "The Producers." Even though it was almost a year and a half ago that I put on a little-old-lady dress and appeared in one matinee performance of the production -- all as part of a behind-the-scenes Bee story about what it's like for a critic to be on the other side of the curtain -- the experience is still too fresh in my mind. Sitting there watching the show last Thursday night, I felt like a proud parent watching a child perform a routine that we'd endlessly rehearsed together. I've seen many of these actors in shows since the 2008 run of "The Producers" and have easily been able to maintain my professional distance, but when it comes to these roles and this production, there was no way I could be even remotely detached enough from the show to render critical judgment.

So I just sat back and had a wonderful time. Thanks, cast and crew, for such a funny show.

Anyone else see this revival and care to comment?

The scene: Friday night at the Saroyan Theatre/Selland Arena parking garage. Gridlock rages on the O Street side of the garage. Traffic is backed up all the way through the Ventura intersection, up the Highway 41 onramp and for a long stretch on the highway itself.

The time: It's about 7:45 p.m., just fifteen minutes before the curtain is to rise on Fresno Grand Opera's "Rigoletto." There's also a big crush of cars for the Fresno Monsters hockey game at Selland, which started at 7:30. Hockey and opera: It's the perfect parking storm. I've already been waiting for a while, fuming.

Number of parking attendants: One. I've been to the Saroyan parking garage numerous times on much less busy nights, and there have always been at least two lanes open on the O Street side. Not tonight. If that isn't bad enough, the guy who's posted there is a dawdler: slow with making change, relaxed body language, a tendency toward small talk. "Well, how aaaaaaare ya doing?" he asks pleasantly at 7:56 p.m. as I, by this time frantic after waiting 20 minutes in a tortoise-speed line, roll down my window. I glare. He seems completely oblivious to the mad scramble to get into the garage -- totally unaware that he is the narrowest part of the funnel in this process. Off to the side, a man who appears to be some sort of supervisor is just sort of wandering ineffectually. The concept of opening the other lane is a distant galaxy at this point.

The resolution: I run from the garage to the theater, race to my seat and spend the first act getting my heartbeat down to normal levels. I made it just in time, but there was a slew of cars behind me that never had a chance. Latecomers pop in for a good 15 minutes.

The question: Why can't parking officials get their acts together when there's a double event downtown?