Georgia Shakespeare stages benefit to avoid final act

To be or not to be? That really is the question. Georgia Shakespeare, facing financial toil and trouble, plans a Monday night fundraiser, hoping to keep its curtain from falling for good. "We must raise $150,000 by Friday, Sept. 23 or Georgia Shakespeare will cease operations and shut its doors," producing artistic director and co-founder Richard Garner said recently in a letter to supporters. The benefit, themed "Go Big or Go Home," will be from 7 to 9:30 p.m. at Le Fais Do-Do, 1611 Ellsworth Ind. Blvd. Emceed by Rob Cleveland, the event will feature musical performances by Joe Knezevich, Allen O'Reilly, Courtney Patterson, Mari Arguelles, Jordan Craig and Ann Marie Gideon, along with a spread from Carole Parks Catering, an open bar and an auction. Tickets are $40, and all proceeds benefit the theater. Call 404-504-1473 or see www.gashakespeare.org for information.

Tupac Shakur Collection Debuts

Scholars wishing to research the late Tupac Shakur have a trove of artifacts awaiting them at Atlanta University Center's Robert W. Woodruff Library. The collection, on loan from the Tupac Amaru Shakur Foundation, includes notebooks full of poetry and lyrics, fan letters, artwork, personal correspondence, photographs, press clippings and other memorabilia. Assistant head of archives Courtney Chartier said the collection filled nearly 30 boxes. "We want people to come and study his work and really focus on him as an academic subject," she told us. A controversial figure who spent time in prison, Shakur was shot in Las Vegas in September 1996 and died six days later, at age 25. "Tupac is a watershed rapper," Chartier said. "He had party songs but also songs about politics and policy, especially as they affected African Americans." The library launched the collection on Tuesday afternoon with a block party for students, who lined up to view a sampling of the collection, including  his birth certificate and an autographed display of CDs. Chartier said the library would like to host a symposium at some point, where scholars could come to discuss the rapper's works. "I would love for someone to come in and do a sociological study of his fan mail," she said. "He still gets fan mail. He's like the black Elvis." Loretta Parham, CEO and director of the library, said work on the collection has been a learning experience for her. "What surprised me was his commitment to building family bonds," she said. "He was a brilliant young man." For information about reviewing the material, email the library's archives research center at archives@auctr.edu or call 404-978-2052.