WHERE DID THEY GO?: The tough economy might have claimed another arts organization. According to star-telegram.com, Metropolitan Classical Ballet has vacated its Arlington office. “They stopped paying their rent and we found the doors locked by the landlord,” Melody Tyler Horne, who runs Dance Invasion Centre for Dance, tells the site. “We were about to partner on some Nutcracker performances. We were left without costumes and backdrops, and without any notification they were leaving.”

RHETT COVERS ‘EM: On the heels of The Grant Theatre, Vol. 2, released earlier this year, Old 97’s frontman Rhett Miller is also keeping his solo career moving. On his latest effort, The Interpreter: Live at Largo, he offers up a dozen acoustic covers of everyone from David Bowie to the Pixies. The album isn’t out until Tuesday, but you can preview the whole thing at rollingstone.com.

PRINCESS OF THE PUPPETS: If you think of puppeteers in North Texas, Kathy Burks is the first name that comes to mind. Her Theatre of Puppetry Arts has entertained kids for years, and its puppet version of The Nutcracker is back at Dallas Children’s Theater beginning this week. And she says that the freedom that comes with being the puppet master is what keeps her interested. “You get the feeling that the puppeteer is like god, because they do everything,” she tells theaterjones.com in a Q&A. “It’s small enough you can put your finger into every aspect of production. It’s wonderful that you can create the whole thing.”