Page 8
University Daily Kansan
Tuesday, March 8, 1960
Broadwayite Tells Secrets of Acting
By Donna Engle
Acting is no more or less than behaving according to predetermined ideas to produce a reality.
This is Bill Butler's definition of acting.
The Kansan-born Broadway director is visiting KU to direct the opera, "The Ballad of Baby Doe," which opens at 8 p.m. today at the University Theatre.
"Young actors are given the notion that acting is some mysterious emotional thrashing process, sort of like fumbling in the dark," continued Mr. Butler.
"But it is not. Acting is responsiveness, simplicity and willingness to let ideas work slowly to create a sense of reality."
Mr. Butler maintains that young actors grow up in an atmosphere which keeps them from being expressive because too much emphasis is placed on people who do not express themselves in any richness of speech or action.
Cast Praised
Speaking of the cast members of "The Ballad of Baby Doe,"Mr. Butler said he expected them to give a professional performance.
"Professionalism is a matter of attitude and their attitude is professional," he explained.
Mr. Butler said the five-week rehearsal period for the play has been brief considering that the cast could rehearse.
Bill Butler
"Acting is responsiveness . . . "
arse for only three hours a day.
Rehearsals Strenuous
"Because of the student's responsibilities and their desire for a little scrap of private life, the rehearsal periods have been strenuous over the five-week span," he said.
"The concentration problem has been harder than it is for professional actors who have only to worry about one major production and a little private life," he said.
"The Ballad of Baby Doe' is one of the most beautiful productions from the design standpoint that I've been associated with."
Show Goes On — Burroless
One production problem for the play will remain unsolved.
The production problem for the play will remain unsolved.
"I wanted to use a live burro on stage. We tried to find one. When we finally did, his salary was too high. So, we don't have a burro," Mr. Butler explained.
Flop Stories Told
"I had a notable flop in London in 1956. It was 'The Crystal Heart.' starring Gladys Cooper."
"Opening night the audience rioted. They did not like the play because they thought it was too 'high flown.'
"We closed in four performances, which is rave in London. There, even flops run for a week," the director commented wrylv.
Mr. Butler divulged two bits of advice that were given to him a long time ago.
"People have told me to do all of my work most seriously and not to take myself seriously at all.
"Also, I don't read my own reviews until they are very old."
Professor to Speak On Self Knowledge
A professor of philosophy from the University of Munich, Austria, will give a philosophy department lecture tomorrow, on self knowledge as a philosophical problem. Helmut Kuhn will talk at 8 p.m. in 411 Summerfield.
Professor Kuhn is currently visiting professor at the University of Pennsylvania. -His son, Reinhard Kuhn, is an assistant professor of Romance languages at KU.
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Carey Will Exhibit In Geneva Show
J. Sheldon Carey, professor of design, has been chosen to participate in the International Cultural Exchange Exhibit in May in Geneva, Switzerland.
Each participating nation will receive some of the ceramic pieces for its permanent collection. The exhibit will be held on the U.N. grounds.
Prof. Carey was notified of his selection by the design division of the American Ceramics Society. He will have the honor of being the United States representative. His ceramics will be placed in the permanent collection of a museum in one of the participating nations.
Wright to Lecture At Australian College
Around the Campus
M. Erik Wright, professor of psychology and director of the KU clinical psychology program, has been awarded a Fulbright lectureship to work with the faculties of psychology and medicine at the University of Western Australia in Perth next year.
Beatrice A. Wright, his wife, has been appointed as lecturer on child development and parent education at the University there.
Marry your son when you will, but your daughter when you can. — Benj. Franklin.
Gilbert E. Seeley, Detroit, will discuss "The Plans of the ASTME on the National Level for Student Chapters."
The national director of education of the American Society of Tool and Manufacturing Engineers will speak to the KU student chapter at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in room 300, Fowler Shops.
Teammates Ed Collister, Lawrence junior, and Alan Kimball, Derby junior, went into the final round with a 9-2 record, then dropped to second against the University of Illinois. Counter-part team Bill Haught, Alamosa, Colo., junior, and Larry Ehrlich, Russell junior, dropped out of the tournament in the octo-final rounds with a 7-3 record.
The tournament was held at the College of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn.
Seeley to Address Engineering Society
For the second time in two years KU debaters won the first runner-up crown at the Northwest Debate Tournament.
Borcherdt to Address Club
Debaters from KU and Harvard will debate this question English style tomorrow.
Would Abraham Lincoln be a Democrat today?
KU Debaters Win Runner-Up Crown
H. H. Borcherdt will speak to the German Club on the Oberammergau Passion Play at 5 p.m. Thursday in 402 Fraser. Prof. Borcherdt, Fulbright visiting professor at KU, is the academic adviser to the passion play and director of the Theater Institute at the University of Munich.
Lincoln a Democrat? Well, It's Debatable
Mr. Seeley is in charge of planning and coordinating all seminars and conferences on the college level and in awarding $11,000 in scholarships to engineering students each year.
The verbal foray will take place at 7:30 p.m. in the Jayhawk Room of the Kansas Union. It will kickoff the fourth Annual Heart of America Debate Tournament.
The English-style debate is characterized by audience participation and judgment. Observers show their approval or disapproval by voice and physical movement from one side of the room to the other during the affirmative an negative turns on the floor.
Baloney is flattery so thick it cannot be true, and blarney is flattery so thin we like it. — Fulton John Sheen.
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