STEVEN CARRILLO/Arizona Daily Wildcat Arizona baseball players, from left, Chris Marini, Greg Powers, Pat Reilly, Brad Hassey, and Jeff Van Houten put on a show and prove they are actors on and off the field. The five are enrolled together in Acting 101.

Baseball players expand horizons in acting class

It would be a dilemma if several members of the baseball team had to choose between going to practice or playing a game of "Big Booty."

The latter involves several people getting in a circle with much thigh-slapping and chanting of the two words. A leader calls out numbers and singles out a group member to repeat it. The chosen player must repeat the number, say a new one and call on another group member without stumbling - grounds for dismissal from the game. Meanwhile, the rest of the group repeats to the chorus until one person is left.

"It's so stupid, but it's so much fun," right fielder Jeff Van Houten said. "It just works on our quick thinking."

Five members of the Wildcat squad are currently enrolled in Acting 100, a class of about 250 students that meets Tuesdays and Thursdays at noon. The class fulfills the players' Tier Two arts requirement.

Second baseman Greg Powers was the first on the team to enroll in the class and quickly recruited his teammates.

"I heard it was fun, so I signed up for it. I told a bunch of guys they should get in to it," he said.

The course focuses on improvisation and comedy. Throughout the semester, students have to pick, learn and perform their dialogue in front of the class.

Shortstop Brad Hassey and Van Houten performed a scene from "Boys in the Band" that involved two men discussing homosexuality.

Hassey's character was contemplating becoming a homosexual in the scene. Van Houten, playing the role of a homosexual friend, helped Hassey explored the positives of being gay.

The scene ends with a drastically confused Hassey running frantically off-stage, late for meeting a woman for dinner.

"We thought it'd be fun to do it and get a higher grade for playing something out of character," Hassey said.

Outfielder Chris Marini chose the character Happy Gilmore, originally played by Adam Sandler, for the class' monologue unit. Marini said he has had trouble identifying with Gilmore because of the ostentatious behavior.

"It's a lot of fun, I get to be a little loud and obnoxious, but it's hard mainly getting the character down," he said.

It's common for members of the baseball team to take certain classes together. But every year there is usually one class that stands out on the team, like right fielder Shelly Duncan's dance course last season.

"We like to take care of our education requirements. This year we all decided to jump into this one because we though that acting would be fun," first baseman Pat Reilly said, who earlier performed a business-like scene with Powers.

The class has taught the five how to be open-minded. It is one of their favorites because they are introduced to a different side of thinking, especially for those who haven't picked a major yet, Marini said.

They are able to build chemistry and schedule their group work around their baseball schedules.

"We've got a great group of guys in there. It helps us keep each other in line, but I'm the quiet one," Reilly said.

There has never been a game of "Big Booty" that has broken out on the baseball field. Powers and Van Houten said they will change that and plan to make it a pre-game ritual.

"We're going to try and get our team together and play it before our game just for fun," Powers said.