Disaster Relief

Not surprisingly, Austin theatre artists have been just as eager to help out in the wake of last week's terrorist attacks. Both the Rude Mechanicals and the Austin Shakespeare Festival solicited donations for the American Red Cross during their weekend performances of Big Love and Hamlet, respectively. Rude Mech and Big Love cast member Sarah Richardson reports that during four nights Big Love audiences contributed between $1,100 and $1,200, while Hamlet director and newly announced Austin Shakespeare Festival artistic director Guy Roberts reports that from Thursday through Sunday, the Shakespeare Festival audiences contributed approximately $2,200. (Full disclosure: This writer and his wife, Chronicle Community Listings editor and Food writer Barbara Chisholm, and his daughter Rosalind, are all in the cast of Hamlet.) Big Love, which has turned into a big hit for the Rudes, has been extended through September 29 at the Off Center, 2211-A Hidalgo. Hamlet continues through October 7 at the Beverly Sheffield Zilker Hillside Theatre, Zilker Park.

This week, Austin Musical Theatre joins the cause. Following each performance of its production of Man of La Mancha, the company will try to "right the unrightable wrong," as it says in the song "The Impossible Dream," by collecting donations for the New York Firefighters 9-11 Relief Fund, with proceeds going to assist the families of those heroes who lost their lives in the World Trade Center tragedies and to aid the firefighters still doing the unbelievable work at ground zero in New York City. The show runs through October 7 at the Paramount Theatre, 713 Congress. For information, call 428-9696.