Woman Behind Bugs Bunny Mask
By DAVID HALE
Bee Arts Writer
Donna Tchapraste divides a career in dance between one of New York's
important new modern dance groups and "Bugs Bunny Follies," the touring
stage classic Warner Bros. cartoons.
Some people may find the combination incongruous, but not Miss Tchapraste:
"I approach them in the same way," she said. "They are both very
challenging
to the performers, and they are both art forms."
"Bugs Bunny Follies" will play Fresno's Convention Center Theater Thursday
at 7:30 p.m. and Friday at 4:30 and 8. The Bee, KMJ and KMJ- TV are
sponsoring the attraction.
Miss Tchapraste, in fact, knows the cartoon show from the inside out. She
started with Roger Hess Production disguised as Bugs Bunny himself (or
herself). Now she is the director-choreographer, interspersing
performances
with the May O'Donnell Concert Dance Company of New York with flights
around
the Western Hemisphere to check up on various touring versions of "Bugs
Bunny Follies."
Variety has always been the spice of Miss Tchapraste's career. She went
from
the Boston Conservatory of Music to summer stock in Kansas, danced in
"Sweet
Charity" in New York and Paris, and once toured Europe with a ballet
headed
by Irina Gajebina of the old Ballet Russe. And she isn't a bit defensive
about being Bugs Bunny.
"I'm very proud of the show," she said over the telephone from the May
O'Donnell rehearsal studio in New York.
"You have to believe in it to do it, but it's a happy show, with the kind
of
audience that lets you know instantly whether they believe you.
"Characters don't just get out there and jump around, and mouth the
dialogue
that Mel Blanc gives them. It's a real challenge, making bodies move in
the
style of animated cartoons."
"Bugs Bunny Follies" brings to life such famous Warner Bros. characters as
Porky Pig, Elmer Fudd, Yosemite Sam, and Speedy Gonzales, along with Bugs,
Sylvester and Tweety Bird. Those two famous crime fighters. Batman and
Robin, make a guest appearance.
"We have 11 actors and dancers," Miss Tchapraste explained. "They do songs
and comedy skits based on the cartoons. There are also regular production
numbers with performers in conventional costume. There's a Disco number
included that gets a terrific ovation when the kids perform it really
well."
"Kids really believe in what they see. When I was doing Bugs, a little
girl
caught me backstage In my jeans and was disappointed because I didn't talk
like Bugs. I finally thought to tell her I only use the voice when I'm
acting."
The feat of creating cartoon characters just as children see them on
Saturday morning television is the result of painstaking teamwork between
choreographer and costumer.
"The idea is to present characters which look as close as possible to the
originals," she said. "Did you know that cartoon characters have only four
fingers, for instance; that's because five
fingers make a hand that looks too busy in animation.
"To do the costumes we got Brooks Van Horn, probably the best costume
house
in New York - Broadway and everything. The costumes are so elaborate, some
of them weigh 20 pounds and more. To get the right animated feeling you
have
to literally overcome the costume.
"You start choreography by locking yourself in a room with projection
equipment and studying the films. The point is to see what movements
identify with which characters.
"It's no different than choreographing for modern dance - dance is a
matter
of space patterns, of creating a mood."
Tickets are on sale in the Convention Center box office for $4 and $5,
with
$1 off for children and persons 65 and older.
- Fresno Bee, Sunday, Feb. 12, 1978
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