`42ND STREET': ROLE OF INGENUE NO STRETCH FOR RECENT GRADUATE

TULSA, Okla. -- Rebecca Christine Kupka is living her own version of "42nd Street," the Tony-winning musical about a chorus girl who becomes an overnight star.

Fresh out of Rhode Island's Providence College, Kupka almost skipped the New York City audition for tap dance-happy "42nd Street" because she'd done almost no dancing in college. But a friend insisted she'd be perfect as Peggy Sawyer, the chorus girl chosen to star when the leading lady breaks her leg.

They're going to cast some diva tapper, Kupka assured herself but went to the audition anyway, hoping to land a spot in the chorus.

The rest is her own personal show biz history. They cast an ingenue to play the ingenue. She has had the Peggy Sawyer role in the touring company of "42nd Street" since December.

"It's my first professional anything," she said, still a bit amazed.

The musical will be presented at 8 p.m. Wednesday at SIU's Shryock Auditorium.

"42nd Street" is a Broadway fable based on the 1933 film starring Ruby Keeler, Dick Powell and Ginger Rogers. It opened on Broadway in August 1980 and ran for 10 years, collecting rave reviews along the way.

Besides the tap dancing and glittering costumes, the musical is packed with memorable songs, including "We're in the Money," "Lullaby of Broadway," "A Quarter to Nine" and "Shuffle Off to Buffalo," in addition to the title tune.

The show isn't vocally demanding for Kupka, and she's grown to love tap dancing, though there are injuries and sore feet.

"When we were rehearsing we were like old men and women," she said in a phone call from a stop in Tulsa. "I was soaking my feet every night."

The 22-year-old Kupka isn't quite the complete ingenue from Allentown, Pa., she plays. A Long Island native, she's been hanging around theaters since she was a small child because her mother was an actress.

"She was involved in shows constantly and would take me to performances. She would sit me in the auditorium where she could see me. And sometimes she'd let me come up on stage at the end," Kupka says.

Her father is completely unmusical, she said. "But he loves theater and he brings the roses."

Her youngest sister was just cast as Annie in a production of the musical on Long Island.

In college she appeared as Audrey in "Little Shop of Horrors," Dorothy in "The Wizard of Oz" Babe in "Crimes of the Heart" and Peppermint Patty in "Snoopy!"

The "42nd Street" touring company sometimes plays one-nighters, as at SIU, but more often spends a week in larger cities like Hartford, Sacramento and Dayton. Traveling with the group is much like being in college, she says, except that this school has only 26 students, one class and rolls around the country in one bus.

"One of the reasons I accepted a job like this is that I don't feel I adapt to change as well as I should," she said. "It would force me to adapt to change."

Kupka is enjoying her first taste of professional theater but admits to some loneliness and intends sooner than later to work with children's theater in a school environment.

Until then, she'll settle for the starring role.

`42nd Street'

When: 8 p.m. Wednesday

Where: SIU's Shryock Auditorium, Carbondale, Ill.

Admission: $19.50/$17.50 with $4 discount for children 12 and under. To order tickets, phone (618) 453-ARTS.