A DEPARTURE IN FORT WORTH: Just six months into the job, the director of artistic planning and communications for the Van Cliburn Foundation has left her post. Janice Mayer tells the Fort-Worth Star Telegram, “I can’t talk anymore about it as I’m seeking legal counsel, and I don’t want to compromise myself.” The Cliburn Foundation says the two parties parted ways amicably. Stay tuned.

STRINGS ATTACHED: Hansel & Gretel is a tale tailor-made for puppetry. After all, there are a few semi-scary bits in there, and puppets can come off a little less frightening than people. That’s the approach that the Dallas Children’s Theater is taking, partnering with Kathy Burks Theatre of Puppetry Arts for its current staging. And the decision is paying off. Mark Lowry calls it, “a marvelous 55-minutes of expert puppetry work, terrific singing and the magic of live theater,” in his theaterjones.com review. Nancy Churnin observes that, “the preschoolers … did seem to laugh as much as they gasped,” in her writeup. The show continues through March 21.

THE RICH GET RICHER: It seems like a couple times a year, we hear about the University of Texas getting its hands on some treasure trove of fascinating material. Last year, the school acquired Robert De Niro’s archives. Last month, it learned it will get to display (courtesy of Michael Dell) a photo collection valued at $100 million. And today we learn that the Harry Ransom Center will be the new home for the papers of the late David Foster Wallace. The papers will be available for researchers in the fall. As a UT grad, all I have to add is: hook ’em.