Muse of Fire Alert! Any actors longing to brush up their Shakespeare with a nationally acclaimed training program will have a chance this weekend. The Academy for Classical Acting, a one-year MFA program through the Shakespeare Theatre and George Washington University in Washington, D.C. – that’s where our own Babs George is toiling away these days – will offer a full day of classical acting workshops in Austin this Saturday, Nov. 13. ACA program director Catherine Weidner will lead sessions on acting Shakespeare (9:30am-12:30pm) and working with Shakespearean monologues (1:30-4:30pm), while Ellen O’Brien, academy head of Voice and Text, will lead sessions on voicing Shakespeare (9:30am-12:30pm) and exploring wit and wordplay in his plays (1:30-4:30pm). Weidner says, “There is something here for every actor, from those with little or no experience with Shakespeare to those who want to take their work to the next level.” The workshops will take place at the Zachary Scott Theatre Center, 1510 Toomey. Cost is $25 per workshop; $40 for two. Reservations required. To reserve a space, contact Rebecca Wahl at rwahl@shakespearedc.org or 202/547-3230 x2402. For more information, visit www.shakespearetheatre.org.

VSA arts of Texas has canceled its Fall Soiree scheduled for this weekend. The event, originally set for Saturday, Nov. 13, at the Texas School for the Deaf Auditorium, 1102 S. Congress, was to feature Five Foot Feat, Catherine Cole’s dance-theatre piece that uses live music, spoken text, able-bodied dancers, and an amputee; and Sextet, Allison Orr’s award-winning dance for guide dogs and their blind companions. For more information, call 454-9912.

The epidemic of extended runs continues! The Rude Mechanicals have just extended their latest theatrical party, Cherrywood, to Saturday, Nov. 20. No further extensions are possible, so you’ve been warned. The show plays this Thursday through Sunday, 8pm, and Nov. 18-20, Thursday-Saturday, 8pm, at the Off Center, 2211-A Hidalgo. For more information, call 476-RUDE or visit www.rudemechs.com.

This article appears in November 12 • 2004.

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