Last night, at Lincoln Center's Rose Theater, director Tim Burton unveiled scenes from his upcoming film adaptation of Sweeney Todd, starring Johnny Depp, and as the cheering audience could attest, this Sweeney can sing. As part of the Film Society at Lincoln Center's special event, "An Evening with Tim Burton: Cinema's Demon Barber," the filmmaker was interviewed by the Society's program director, Richard Peña, who had collected a number of unforgettable scenes from some of Burton's most iconic films.

Tonight kicks off the University of Wisconsin–Madison Dance Program's Fall Faculty Dance Concert, which runs through Saturday, November 17. The event will feature works by faculty choreographers, including the premiere of Professor Li Chiao-Ping's Turnaround, set to the third movement of Steve Reich's Different Trains, "After the War." The new dance piece was created for students and, according to the Madison Daily Page, "takes snapshot looks at a community left to rebuild itself." It will also represent the University at a regional dance festival to be held in Madison in March 2008.

David Byrne's artwork graces the cover of the November issue of Poetry magazine. The issue features works by Heather McHugh, Elfriede Jelinek, and, more unexpectedly, powerhouse vocalist Neko Case. The cover art is called "Chairs," 2004–2006.

Philadelphia magazine is giving away tickets to see Youssou N'Dour in concert next Tuesday, November 20, for his debut appearance at the city's Kimmel Center. 

Dawn Upshaw will perform Berio's Folksongs with the New York Philharmonic, March 5–8, 2008. Audra McDonald was originally slated to perform at the concerts, but has had to withdraw due to a scheduling conflict. 

Responding to the news that Nonesuch will soon release the first-ever soundtrack from HBO's The Wire, Paste magazine points to the album's inclusion of local Baltimore artists as a prime example of the show's making authenticity paramount. Paste calls the upcoming soundtrack a "must-have" for the show's legendary die-hard fans.

On the LA Times film blog Extended Play, Todd Martens reports from a screening earlier this week of Paul Thomas Anderson's new film, There Will Be Blood. The director was in attendance and spoke afterwards about the film. Martens hopes that the "fascinating," "startling" score by Jonny Greenwood gets through to Oscar voters "for the original score nomination it deserves."

A new contest for fans of Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd gives new meaning to the song "My Friends." MySpace members can enter to win a three-day trip to attend the Tim Burton–directed film's premiere and meet its star, Johnny Depp, in person, simply by adding the Sweeney Todd page as a Friend.

This week, New York magazine's "Vulture" recommends Sérgio and Odair Assad's latest recording, Jardim Abandonado, as "a blissful testament to the richness of their pairing." Throughout the album, "the brothers perform a brilliant act of creative give-and-take." And on a record of astounding performances, the "Vulture" notes as "most appealing ... their subdued and lyrical 'Rhapsody in Blue'—a reminder of what can be accomplished when a guitar is in the right hands."

As part of Pitchfork's Guest List feature, Sonic Youth founder Thurston Moore names The Wire as his Favorite TV Show at the Moment. He admits that he didn't own a TV for years and doesn't watch much these days, but he does make time to catch the show: "The writing on The Wire is pretty intense. The dialogue, the storylines—they're really involving."

As part of its new feature, Source-Outing, Spinner.com asked Caetano Veloso to name five artists and albums that would give readers a better understanding of his own music. Writer Steve Hochman, in his introduction, writes: "In nearly 40 years he's covered so much ground but with so distinct an approach at all stages that trying to characterize any particular phase or album as anything different from any other just seems pointless and wrongheaded. Some have termed his most recent release, Cê, a 'rock' album. But, really, it's simply a Caetano Veloso album, just as Miles Davis' Sketches of Spain isn't a classical-fusion album, it's Davis. Or Rubber Soul isn't a folk-rock album, it's a Beatles album."

Last night, at a special event at New York's Lincoln Center, Youssou N'Dour was named among the 2008–09 mentor artists in the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative. The mentors, from five countries and six different fields in the arts, also include director Martin Scorsese and actress Kate Valk from the US, German artist Rebecca Horn, Nigerian writer Wole Soyinka, and Czech choreographer Jiri Kylian.