Lincoln Land Community College’s Community Education department is presenting “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon Abe Lincoln” March 2 at 7 p.m. in the Trutter Center on the Springfield campus, 5250 Shepherd Road.
Abraham Lincoln, the initial character, is being portrayed by Fritz Klein, who is well-known to area audiences. Each of the additional characters in the program also lived in Illinois, and references to local history and culture are frequent. The program is being presented in both first-person/living history style, plus includes segments of third-person interpretation. The presenters include Klein, Betsy Irwin, Jeannie Alexander, Doug Kamholz, Brian “Fox” Ellis, Tom Irwin and Kathryn Harris.
The concept of six degrees of separation, that all people are interrelated somehow within degrees, is an idea first presented by Hungarian writer Frigyes Karinthy. The concept has been fostered through research of mathematicians, and became well-known when a play and subsequent movie of that title were created several years ago. It also became a popular game in recent years as college students encountered the ideas in classes and turned it into a game based on the movie career of actor Kevin Bacon.
“We expect it to be an enjoyable evening, with entertainment and learning combined,” said Judy Wagenblast, director of Community Education at LLCC. “Some connections might be easy to predict, while others will be a surprise to the audience. That’s part of the fun–to guess who could possibly come next as you work through the six degrees of separation to show the connections that can be made through a historical timeline.”
The cost for the presentation is $12 if registering in advance or $15 at the door. To register, call 786-2432; payment is required at the time of registration. No refunds are available.
LLCC’s Community Education department has developed a non-credit interpretation curriculum to further enhance the educational presentations at historic sites, nature centers, museums, etc. In conjunction with the “Six Degrees” program, several of the evening presenters will also teach interpretation workshops from 1 to 4 p.m. March 2 at LLCC. Each instructor will have a prepared set of activities that relates to his or her own background and perspectives about interpretation.
Interpretation workshops include:
Interpretation workshop Instructor
Third person – scripts Doug Kamholz
Third person/music Tom Irwin
First person Brian “Fox” Ellis
First person Fritz Klein
First person from script Jeannie Alexander
First and third person together Kathryn Harris
A third person workshop led by Betsy Irwin, CIG, is being held March 20 from 6 to 9 p.m.
Fee is $39 for each of the above workshops. A brochure and more information on the background of the presenters/instructors can be found at www.llcc.edu/commed or requested by calling 786.2430. To register, call 786.2292 or go online to www.llcc.edu/commed.
