Longview News-Journal from Longview, Texas • Page 107

1 -i-j SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 1984, Longview Morning Journal .1 2S-H Tubetalk Canadian puppet troupre extraordinary professionals .1, fAiinwpH n't already told each other ol which is followed n't already told each other off. on the track, nrwision and timing of the Rock- They work in almost total darkness, dressed from head to toe in black velvet. They move with speed and precision, but are invisible to the audience as they manimiiate fish, birds, umbrel They have their own company meetings and go through it together." i The independence that Miss Dupuv worked so hard to instill in them continues, even to Monday-night cooking classes at a local cooking school, which most attend. And there are other plans. "We would like to be good will ambassadors people helping other people," she said.

'We would like to do performances and raise money for projects such as Paul Newman's drug program. It's important for people with talents and abilities to be able to feed it back into other communities, to open projects for integration, to help others. We want to show people what can be done." by weight lifting, stretching, a fitness class and a swim. At 4:30, they're back for two more fitness classes. "The exercises are very hard," said Benny D'Onofrio, a 27-year-old company member.

"But if you want a good show, you have to keep in shape. If you're not in shape then you don't have a good show and then Diane starts screaming." Diane Diipuy, who is known to be vocal, says that she no longer is the taskmaster she once was. "They are professionals." she said. "Not that I don't ride them. Any director has to do that.

But I don't go around and psych them up before a show. They want it to work more than I do. If anything goes wrong onstage, I'm not backstage fast enough that they have- ettes. If one person is off one inch to the left or right, there can be an accident." The props, which number in the thousands, included several life-sized puppets of famous personalities, such as Barbra Streisand. Frank Sinatra, Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers.

"It takes three people to make one character come to life," said Miss Dupuy. "The Liberace puppet, for example, weighs about 75-80 pounds. One person, in a lie position, manipulates the arms, someone else is down on his knees manipulating the bottom, and a third moves the top." To keep themselves in shape for the rigors of performance, the Players have a rigid routine that starts at 8:30 a.ml, when they go the local and run a mile las, canes, butterflies, bats, pin-wheels, brooms and life-sized puppets of famous people, all colored with flourescent paint. They number 13, are mostly in their 20s. and have been cheered across Canada, in Las Vegas.

New York and in the People's Republic of China. They are the Famous People Players. Most of them are mentally handicapped. The trials, tears and triumphs special be made," said Diane Dupuy, the group's founder and director, as she sat on the set in Toronto, the company's home base. "It takes eight years of our work and brings it to life.

It also shows the trials and tribulations we went through. When you see our show, it looks so simple, as if it didn't require much to pull it off." Indeed, creating a professional company out of a group of unruly, disorganized, undisciplined, insecure youngsters was a feat in itself. But working in "black light," an ultraviolet illumination that highlights only objects painted in flourescent paint, requires disciplines of its own. "You're like a blind man on the stage," explained Miss Dupuy. "You're covered in black, and you can't see where you're going.

You have to have the of this extraordinary wuauiou puppet troupe will be dramatized in "Special People: Based on a True Story," a dramatic special to be broadcast Sept. 11 on the CBS Television Network. "It's very important that this 'Capitol' star Mar Dusay to sponsor go It tourney Kansas-born Marj Dusay. who stars as Myrna Clegg in "Capitol." daytime drama set in Washington. D.C., and broadcast weekdays on the CBS Television Network, will sponsor the Marj Dusay Celebrity Golf Tournament in her hometown of Rus- nurturing community that has continually encouraged and supported me in my career." Proceeds from the golf tourney will be donated to the Kansas Child Abuse Prevention Centers and used to establish a statewide "Hot Line." Heading up the honorary committee for the Marj Dusay Celebrity Golf Tournament is another Russell native; Senator Robert Dole, who is joined by Kansas Senator Nancy Kassebaum on the committee.

The National Youth Chairman for the Prevention of Child Abuse, "Capitol" star Bill Beyers, will act as Special Representative to the tournament. sen. on sepi. io iu. While her television persona could be dubbed "The Wicked Witch of the East." the real-life Marj Dusay is a warm, down-to-earth woman who still believes there's no place like home when it comes to Kansas.

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