University of Nebraska Kearney - Blue and Gold Yearbook (Kearney, NE)

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The team of Oliver I he Dummy and Sharon Pek work hard on their routine, Oliver said their classy net w s limited only to Pole's imagination. of them made by Pole's father. Oliver hail that special touch of class which set him apart from the others, He said that since he stood out in a crowd, it was only a matter of being in the right place at the right time. Their relationship began in a Denver ventriloquism shop where he hung out. He was the ideal candidate to play the naughty role while Pelc played the nice role, Oliver recalled. Pelc couldn’t resist. Oliver's natty attire and classy demeanor were the finish- ing touch to a class act. His only speaking limitations were the script and Pelc. And of course, Oliver always tried to be a good listener. With Oliver in hand and serious thought to her education, Pole studied and graduated from Chadron State College in speech and English. “I went from small school to small school, Pelc said. Even though she pre- ferred a small school setting, she and Oliver continued to enjoy the applause of a crowd. Oliver remembered that upon Pole's college graduation they hit (he big lime. Pelc was persuaded to enter the 1974 Miss Nebraska pageant and won. Oliver was beside himself as they prepared for the Miss America pageant in Atlantic City. He knew he held only a minor part, but as Pelc learned to model and detail her talent, their act solidified. Neither was disappointed when they were not placed in the top 10. Both Pole and Oliver were amazed by what they found in the pageant. They were amazed by the ambitious women and the never-ending press coverage. They found it peculiar that the press wanted their opinion on every- thing. Oliver laughed as he recalled that Pelc had said, “They should be covering foreign wars or something.” After Atlantic City, Oliver and Pole tried several forms of entertainment. Prom a television host show in Iowa to a talent agency in Minneapolis, they entertained. Pole’s experiences as Miss Nebraska opened doors for their talent. The stops on their journey were never pre-planned. “Life is led by coincidence. 1 didn't sit down and do career planning, Pelc said, “When my need to entertain decreased, I packed Oliver in his trunk and enrolled in KSC where my sister was.” Pelc worked on a master’s degree in counseling and then on to the MBA program. Pelc said the aspects of the MBA program arc truly great and KSC students are lucky to have this program available. Over six years ago, KSC hired Pelc as director of financial aid, and then later as the director of' the Student Union. Oliver and those days of entertainment were becoming part of her past. On occasion, Pelc and Oliver still entertain locally. Pelc said she always wanted to entertain, did it, and got it out of her system. Pole said with a smile that it is easier to do their act in front of children because children do not recognize a minor mistake now and then. Oliver knows that his days of glory are numbered. His satisfaction comes from knowing that he helped Pelc experience life in a special way. If Oliver had it to do over again, he still would have been that wooden dummy smiling at the world through the Denver shop window on the day Sharon Pele came to town, Pole busy on the phone in the Nebraskan. Ci.vr.-sd,:

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‘It’s all Greek to me’ Antigone: a classic challenge Acting in a play which was written in 442 B.C. may sound like a job that would scare most students right out of the theater, but not Denise Shope. This year, Shope played the lead role in the KSC production “Antigone.” “Antigone” is a Greek tragedy, writ- ten from a series of plays by the Greek philosopher Sophocles. Although the play is very old and the script is difficult to understand, Shope said she enjoyed her role as Antigone. “I liked playing Antigone very much. It’s a challenge and is very different from any role I have ever played,” she said. Shope, a junior from Seward, has played in many other KSC productions including “Extremities,” “Children’s Hour” and she did the stage directing for “Ah Wilderness.” She was also involved in numerous high school productions. Shope feels her role as Antigone was most challenging because the play is a classic. “Acting in any play is great experi- ence, but a classic is more of a challenge because interpreting the language is an important part of the play,” Shope said. “It is more than just memorizing the lines.” The script is written in very old poetic language and is difficult to understand. Antigone fights Creon for justice and dignity in the Kearney State production of Antigone . Genoa senior, Mike Christensen played Creon and Seward, junior. Deb Shope played Antigone, in Kearney State’s version of the Greek classic. Shope said the old adage “It’s all Greek to me”, is very appropriate in “Antigone.” “The actor has to know what is being said in order to say it in Greek,” Shope said. Throughout the first weeks of re- hearsal, Shope said that most of the time was spent on interpreting and understand- ing the script. Under the direction of Fred Koontz, every cast member had to not only learn his lines, but understand their mean- ing. Rehearsals were four to six nights a week for three hours or more. Much of the rehearsal time was spent on stage directing and blocking as with most plays. In “Antigone,” however, Shope said a great deal of time was spent concentrating on interpreting the script and putting the words into more understandable terms. “On the second night of rehearsal Mr. Koontz told me and another cast member to sit in chairs, face each other and read through the scene,” Shope said. Then he told us to move down center stage and read it again; after all that, we had to stand and read it. Then he took away our scripts and said ‘Now do it!’ We had nothing memo- rized but he wanted us to get away from all the Greek and just say the lines as we understood them.” Practicing and rehearsing over and over as in “Antigone” is very necessary, however, Shope said that it is also a very frustrating part of being in any play. Shope said the play is very short and by Mary Ann Kill takes place in one scene, about an hour and a half. “A lot happens in a short period of time. The mood is tense and remains tense throughout the whole play,” she said. Getting into character did not seem to be a problem for Shope or any of the cast members. “When you are backstage, you have to be intact, not really in character and not really tense, but if you are goofing around you would lose it,” she said. “It would be hard to get the mood back right before going on stage.” Shope said that each cast member had to work hard to understand the character he played. A theater major, Shope said she likes being in plays and loves to be challenged. “It is great experience playing differ- ent roles. Antigone is different roles. Antigone is different because it is some- thing I’ve never had to deal with,” she said. “I can’t imagine believing the way the Greeks did.” After college, Shope would like to continue to work in the theater. “I don’t really have any plans of where I would like to go, I just want to do something I like, maybe in a small town in a community theater, either acting or doing technical work.” Accepting a challenge is alt a part of theater work and after her performance as Antigone, Denise Shope has proven that challenges are what she does best. 17