It’s August. The  northern hemisphere is on vacation. But the arts just keep chugging along with news bits, some happy and some depressing. A quick look at some of the top stories.

The Intiman Theatre may have new lease on life (even though it owes its landlord, Seattle Center, a lot of money).  And it seems to have taken a side in the great Regional Theatre Debate:

“We’re returning to the core impulse of what Intiman was at the start — a place created by theater artists, not run by one godlike director,” he [new consulting artistic director Andrew Russell] said. “We’re not alone in questioning the structure of a regional theater — every city in the country is. We have a chance to do something new, that champions great local artists.”

Russell’s goal for 2012 is to establish a loose collective of playwrights, directors, actors, designers and others to devise projects for Intiman to produce, in a short “micro-season” mounted next summer.

Before “Bye Bye Liver” makes it to Oregon, maybe a local brew-pub can come up with something different on its own? Because beer and a good comedy are so symbiotic? And we wouldn’t want to be part of a Chicago theater chain?

Your week at the symphony (national edition): The musicians of the bankrupt Philadelphia Orchestra (well, most of them) rejected the strategic plan advanced by the board (which the board had said they supported: silly board); Wichita Symphony musicians have accepted a 20 percent wage cut (after a 10 percent cut two years ago and a 4 percent cut last year), taking the salary of the average musician below $6,000 per year; The Sacramento Opera (which is hanging on by a thread) and the Sacramento Symphony are in serious talks about merging their organizations; the Louisville Orchestra emerged from bankruptcy without a collective bargaining agreement with its musicians, and the American Federation of Musicians union promptly put it on the “unfair list,” meaning that big-name union soloists will be fined if they play with the orchestra.

Dear musicians, You are ruining Bach. Stop it immediately. Truly yours, Nigel Kennedy

Dear artistic director, We don’t need you. Good luck in your future dance endeavors, Truly yours, Morphoses