Take a Seat: CWE Mentoring at Popovich Pet Theater

"You've CATS to be kitten me!"

 On April 6^th Camp War Eagle Mentoring Program gathered fourteen student/adult matches (28 participants total) and headed to the Walton Arts Center to see an unusually entertaining production of the Popovich Comedy Pet Theater, thanks to a generous partnership with the WAC’s Take a Seat program.  The Popovich production, where the actors are all animals, is a family fun blend of the unique comedy and juggling skills of Gregory Popovich and the amazing talents of his performing house pets. The show consists of 30 animals that were once strays, rescued by Gregory Popovich from animal shelters; 15 house cats, 10 dogs, 3 geese and 2 parrots make up the animal cast!  Fourteen mentoring matches came to enjoy the unique tricks that Popovich trained his rescued animals to perform.  The first scene starts out at a three story downtown apartment complex. The animals are going about their morning, getting the paper and preparing to head off to work. Suddenly, the complex catches on fire. The fire department, which is made up of dogs, comes in on a fire engine to rescue and save the helpless tenants! Every animal knew their cue and performed their parts so well. 
The high point of the scene occurred when a cat tenant was “stuck” in the building and had to jump from the 3^rd floor to a life net held by the firemen dogs, which was altogether very impressive.  Sophomore Elyssa, who attended the performance with her mentor, reflected, “I enjoyed it because it had all sorts of animal actors that were very comical. It was good to hang out with other matches and spend some quality time laughing and making memories.”  The morning was filled with laughter as the animal actors continued to impress the audience with their brilliant set of tricks.  The show was a big hit and made for a pretty special group activity for the Camp War Eagle Mentoring Program!