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KU's Children's Theatre Features Popper's Penguins
By Joanne Prim
How does it feel to be a penguin? "Gorki!" answered a local youngster performing in "Mr. Popper's Penguins," a KU Children's Theatre production.
In private life, the theatrical penguins are local pre-school and grade school youngsters. "Mr. Popper's Penguins" was presented Friday and Saturday at the KU Children's Theatre. Other performances are scheduled for tomorrow, Friday, and Saturday in Kansas City and March 23 at Wichita.
One penguin said Saturday he got "hot and steamed up" in his penguin suit made of black corduroy and white terry cloth. The lights made him hot and thirsty, too.
ONE OF THE girl penguins said she had a problem concerning her penguin feet, made of yellow felt and attached by strips of elastic.
"GORK" IS A penguin expression meaning anything from "Fine" to "Horrible" to "I'd feel better if I had some fish."
"They are so light I really can't feel them, so I have to glance down occasionally and make sure they're still there," she explained.
One young lady had mixed feelings toward her role as a penguin. Was it fun?
"In some ways, yes. We could be silly, and jump around and have fun," she said.
"BUT WHEN WE had to just stand there and not listen, no. We weren't supposed to turn and listen to what the other characters were saying.
Martin Luther King Will Be KU-Y Topic
The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. will be discussed tonight in the KU-Y Great men of the 20th Century Study Group.
Lacy Banks, Kansas City sophomore, will lead the discussion at 8 p.m. in the Pan American Room of the Kansas Union.
He will explain the segregation system in Montgomery, Ala., and will give his opinion of the Rev. King's effectiveness as a leader.
Banks lived in Lyons, Miss., before moving to Kansas City six years ago. He is a psychology major and is planning to enter the seminary after graduation.
The penguins were trained to ignore most of the conversation going on around them on the stage. However, they responded with a general clamor of "gorks" when the North and South Poles were mentioned.
"The only thing I really hate is the make-up. It's so darn hard to get off."
Twenty-six penguins were chosen and divided into two performing casts.
Wednesday, March 6, 1963 University Daily Kansan
The part of Elmer is played by little girls in both casts. Other examples of casting quirks include a male Jenny, a female Nelson, and a male Isabella.
Jed Davis, associate professor of speech and drama and director of the Children's Theatre, said double casts were selected because the possibility of sickness. Substitutions were made during the Lawrence performances and probably will continue to be made when the production is presented in Kansas City and Wichita.
THE FAVORITE part of the play for the youngest penguin was the scene where she was fishing for gold fish with her beak in the Popper's fish bowl.
THE MAIN BASIS for selection during the tryouts for the penguin roles was height. Both sets of penguins are matched in height by pairs.
In addition to learning to walk like penguins (in a side-to-side rocking motion), the children had to learn control of their beaks to avoid gouging each other in the eye. The bright yellow beaks were attached to a cap which fit over the forehead. A black hood fitted over
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the head, and black makeup covered the penguins' faces.
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SHARON SCOVILLE, Kansas City, trained the newguine.
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Attendance at the Saturday afternoon performance showed that both the penguins and the audience were having fun. Excitement was apparent in the outbursts of the children as they watched the 13 penguins march, box, faint and bow their way through an hour and 15 minutes.
After the performance, the penguins and certain members of the cast trooped out to the lobby of the theater to autograph programs for the audience.
ONE LITTLE GIRL was especially awed by all she had seen. Did she like the penguins? "Yes."
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China-India Conflict To be Topic of Forum
Klaus Pringsheim, instructor of political science and East Asian Studies, will be the speaker at the Current Events Forum this week.
Pringsheim will speak on "China and India at Bay" at 4:30 p.m. Friday in the Music Room of the Kansas Union.
He will discuss the last 10 years leading to "the violent outbreak in the cruel bout in October of 1962."
Pringsheim, whose special interest is in East Asian studies, has lived in Japan.
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Poet to Address German Students
Hans-Egon Holthusen, German poet and essayist, will speak to the department of Germanic languages and literature. Tuesday, Mar. 12.
He will give two public lectures. At 4 p.m., he will speak on "Brecht's Theory of Drama." At 8 p.m., he will speak on "New Trends in the Contemporary German Novel." Both lectures will be in the Forum Room of the Kansas Union.
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