ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT REPORTS FROM THE TIMES, NEWS SERVICES AND THE NATION’S PRESS.

AWARDS

‘Highest Ethical Standards’: Cardinal Roger Mahony will present awards on Sunday to the Catholics in Media Associates honorees at the organization’s seventh annual ceremonies. Recipients are actor and social activist Martin Sheen, receiving the lifetime achievement award; Miramax/Showtime’s movie “Down in the Delta”; last season’s CBS miniseries “Joan of Arc”; and Father Elwood “Bud” Kieser, executive producer of Paulist Pictures, who receives the organization’s first board of directors’ award. A primary focus of CIMA, said co-founders Patt and Jack Shea, is “to recognize projects and people in our industry who have, by their work, made clearer the word of God and affirmed the highest ethical standards of the Judeo-Christian tradition.”

POP/ROCK

Jewel’s Aid: Atlantic recording artist Jewel will have a special benefit single released in conjunction with her Oct. 9 performance for NetAid, the live global musical event being staged at Giants Stadium in New Jersey, as part of a long-term initiative to help eradicate extreme poverty. Due in stores Oct. 12, the single will feature a previously unreleased live version of “Life Uncommon,” a song from Jewel’s current multiplatinum album, “Spirit.” All of the proceeds from sales of the “Life Uncommon” single will directly benefit the Clearwater Project, a program of Higher Ground for Humanity, a nonprofit organization founded by Jewel and her mother and manager, Nedra Carroll. Clearwater is working to bring about change for those around the world suffering from a lack of clean drinking water.

STAGE

‘Dralion’ Extended: “Dralion,” Cirque du Soleil’s latest production, will extend its run for two weeks at Santa Monica Pier. The new block of tickets goes on sale Sunday at 9 a.m. “Dralion” must close Nov. 21 before moving to Irvine Spectrum Center in Orange County Dec. 2. Tickets can be purchased by visiting Cirque’s box office, in front of the blue-and-yellow big top site at the pier; by calling (800) 678-5440; or by going online at https://www.cirquedusoleil.com or https://www.admission.com.

Theatre 40 Dispute: Theatre 40, a resident professional company on the campus of Beverly Hills High School since 1972, was given 30 days to vacate the premises in a recent letter from a school district attorney. The letter cited safety and handicapped accessibility at the 99-seat theater where the company produces, as well as the discovery of a few props that were said to be in violation of school policy--toy guns, replicas of historic pistols, empty liquor bottles. The props were to be used in the company’s production of “Nicholas Nickleby,” scheduled to open Oct. 27. The letter was backed by a 4-0 vote at a closed meeting of the school board Monday, said board President Barry Brucker, who noted that the board was concerned only about the safety and handicapped issues, not the discovery of the props. He also said he will try to call an emergency board meeting next week in the wake of protests from the company and community supporters.

TELEVISION

‘ER’ on Call: The sixth season premiere of “ER” delivered stellar ratings Thursday, as more than 31.5 million people tuned in, based on Nielsen Media Research estimates--a virtual push with last year’s opener. If NBC has cause for concern, it’s mostly due to a slight weakening of its Thursday comedy block. Both “Frasier” (22.9 million viewers) and “Friends” (23.7 million) were down a bit compared with a year ago, and the 8:30 and 9:30 p.m. shows--”Jesse” and the new sitcom “Stark Raving Mad,” respectively--both lost more than 18% of their lead-in audience Thursday, although that was less of a drop than the previous week.

VIDEO

‘Matrix’ Release Record: In just its first week in release, Warner Home Video’s DVD release of “The Matrix” sold approximately 780,000 units, making it the most successful DVD in first-week sales. According to VideoScan, consumer sales of “The Matrix” DVD were three times greater than the next highest-selling title to date. The DVD shipped 1.5 million units Sept. 21. It took only two years from DVD’s national launch for the format to ship 1 million of the DVDs of a single title, compared with four years for compact discs and 11 years for VHS.

QUICK TAKES

More than half of TV news directors nationwide chose NBC’s “Nightly News With Tom Brokaw” as the best evening newscast, in Broadcasting and Cable magazine’s annual survey. ABC’s “World News Tonight” was second in the poll, followed by “The CBS Evening News.” . . . Walt Disney’s “Tarzan”--audio-described for the blind by actor Tony Goldwyn--will be presented free to the blind and companions at the Pacific Theater outlet in Northridge this afternoon at 12:30, 2:35 and 4:50. . . . Harry Shearer’s comedy program “Le Show,” a staple at 10 a.m. Sundays on KCRW-FM (89.9), will now get a repeat airing on Sundays at 6 p.m., starting this weekend. . . . KCRW’s “Which Way, L.A.?” will discuss the current Brooklyn Museum of Art arts funding controversy on Monday at 1 p.m. (repeated at 7 p.m.). . . . Rachel Dratch, a member of Chicago’s Second City comedy troupe, has joined NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” as a featured player. . . . A special free acoustic performance by Melissa Etheridge in celebration of the release of her album Tuesday will be held in New York Monday night, and can be accessed at 8 p.m. on https://www.melissaetheridge.com, https://www.vh1.com and https://www.hardrock.com.