Oscars 2011, Midwinter Madness and More Culture Picks

Each week, The Daily Beast sifts through the cultural landscape to choose three top picks. This week, we predict who will sell out after Sunday’s Oscar ceremony wraps up, Picasso turns into a guitar hero, and theater lovers get a wild, not to mention inexpensive, alternative.

Seeing Gold

The most popular man in Hollywood stands 13.5 inches high and weighs 8.5 pounds. Each elusive Oscar, dozens of which will be handed out during Sunday’s show, costs the Academy of Film and Television an estimated $500 to produce. For many actors, however, a win can spell millions more. Many of the winners milk their newfound status for every last drop (remember Nic Cage jumped from Leaving Las Vegas to The Rock?). Marlow Stern talks with experts—including Mr. Oscar, Harvey Weinstein—to find out how much that gold statue matters in a star’s career.

Picasso Unplugged

One of the greatest, most probing episodes in the career of one of the greatest, most probing artists of all time looks as though it was inspired by a humble guitar. That's one conclusion to draw from Picasso Guitars: 1912-1914, a wonderful new exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Blake Gopnik explores the new show and looks at eight images that helped form a symphony of work that changed art forever.

Midwinter Madness

A suicidal woman is persuaded from the edge of a subway platform. A biracial jazz musician attempts to pass for a white man in 19th-century Louisiana. A girl in search of love tries to find Mr. Right in a sea of losers on Match.com. Anything is possible during Midwinter Madness, the three-week-long festival of one-act plays that’s been heating up New York City’s off-off Broadway scene this month. The Daily Beast’s Lizzie Crocker has your front-row seat to Broadway vet John Chatterton’s wild—and inexpensive!—show.