THE OUTLOOK wasn't brilliant
for the Mudville niue chat day;

The score stood four to two with
one inning more to play.

By A.P. McCredie
News Reporter

An American performer named
Dewolf Hopper performed Ernest
Lawrence Thayers’ classic poem
Casey at the Bat a reported 19,000
times to baseball audiences
throughout North America during
the late 14th century.

Rasty Corben of North Van-
couver foves performing the ode
to the fallen mighty Cascy, but
Hopper’s record should be safe.

Then fram five thousand throats
. and more there rose a lusty yell,

it rumbled in the mountaintops, it
rattled in the dell;

It knocked upon the hillside and
_ recoiled upon the flat,

For Casey, mighty Casey, was ad-
vancing to the bat.

In 1984, Corben first read the
famous poem in preparation for
his grade eight class performance
at Balmoral Junior Secondary.

“TF loved it the first time { read

_ it,’? said Corben.
From there he took it on the
. summer stock circuit. Well, kind
of. ;

“Every summer | worked at
summer camps and honed the
‘comedic aspects of the perfor-
mance after dinner for the kids,’’
he said.

It was during one of these

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YOU GOING TO B

THIS SUMMER?

SANULOT THESPIAN Rusty Corben performs Ernest Lawrence Thayer's epic poem Casey at the Bat

Wednesday, May 12, 1993 - North Shore News -— 27

Seas

NEWS photo Noil Lucente

during openirizg ceremonies of the Lynn Valiey Little League baseball season.

Corben
worst

mess-hall_ matinees that
realized every actor's
dream. He forgot his lines.

He signalled to the pitcher, and
once more the spheroid flew;

But Casey still ignored it, and the
Umpire said, “Strike Two.”
“Fraud!” cried the maddened
thousands, and the echo an-
swered, ‘Fraud!”’

But one scornful look from Casey

and the multitude was awed.

“It was about halfway through
the show and I just blanked right
out, froze,’’ recalled the Simon
Fraser University fourth-year
English student. ‘“‘It’s the only
time I forgot the lines, and 1 hope
it’s the last.””

The 52-line poem takes Corben
between five and six minute: to
perform,

The current incarnation of the
show — most recently played out
at the Lynn Valley Little League
opening ceremonies — is a solo
performance. Corben has tried it
out with fellow actors, but prefers
the solo act better.

‘“*The words are great, but the
part { enjoy best are the move-
ments used to tell the story,”
Corben said. ‘‘! find that when
I’m out there alone I have better

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Sait a) A ee Magh Sedetat gi Me tec

44 I loved it the
first time I read
it. 99

control of the pace.”

The Lynn Valley performance
was the debut of a Mudville
uniform Corben had made to add
a more professional look to the
show, Also, he is currently putting
a video package together in hopes
of attracting corporate clients and
larger baseball teams.

The iron-man record of Hopper
doesn’t impress Corben, who
managed to get his hands on a
vinyl recording of Hopper’s
reading of the poem.

“{ didn’t like his version at
all,’”’ said Corben. ‘The best’ ver-
sion still is. the animated Walt
Disney one.”

lf anyone should know,
Rusty.

it's

And now the pitcher holds the
ball, and now he lets it go,

And now the air is shattered sy
the force of Casey’s blow.

Oh, somewhere in this favored
Jand the sun is shining bright;

The band is playing somewhere,
and somewhere hearts are light,
And somewhere men are laughing,
and somewhere children shout;

But there is no joy in Mudville —
mighty Casey has struck out.

(For a complete version of

. Thayer’s Casey at the Bat, visit

your local public library.)

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