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Chautauqua returns to Garrett College
Six nights of entertainment planned under big tent on the lawn
MCHENRY — Garrett Lakes Arts Festival is sponsoring six nights of Chautauqua entertainment under the big tent on the lawn of Garrett College, Bumblebee Road, today through Wednesday. Though admission to each program is free, contributions will be accepted to help offset program costs.
• Kicking off the program today is “Gus,” a long-form improvisational comedy troupe sponsored by the Baltimore Improv Group. They will perform at 7:30 p.m. under the tent. They will be joined by former Garrett County resident Alexander Hill, a former member of Gus who had performed with the troupe for three years prior to his relocation to New York City.
• Saturday will premier the traditional Independence Day Concert with both the Garrett Community Concert Band and the Garrett Choral Society. The free concert will be held rain or shine, beginning at 7:30 p.m. In case of rain, the concert will be held in the Garrett College auditorium. The community fireworks display, will begin immediately following the concert.
• Sunday through Wednesday, Chautauqua, the annual living history program of the Maryland Humanities Council, will return to the for its 15th season. This year’s theme is “Rights and Reformers,” featuring portrayals of Woody Guthrie, Jackie Robinson, Eleanor Roosevelt and Alice Paul.
Held under a tent on the college lawn, each day’s program will begin at 7 p.m. with entertainment by local musicians, followed by the evening’s featured performer at 7:30 p.m. Each evening, an actor or scholar will portray one of the aforementioned historical characters, adopting the character’s style, mannerisms, accent, and fashion of dress. After each portrayal, the performer will answer audience questions — first in character, then as a scholar of the character portrayed.
On Sunday, David Fenimore of the University of Nevada, Reno, will portray American singer-songwriter, folk musician, and social critic Woody Guthrie. Guthrie’s songs, ballads, prose, poetry, and drawings captured the plight of the downtrodden during the great social and political upheavals of the ’30s and ’40s, and inspired a new generation of socially conscious musicians in the ’50s and ’60s.
Fenimore, who portrayed Horace Greeley at Maryland’s first Chautauqua in 1996, has also performed as Zane Grey, John A. Sutter, and Donner party survivor Lewis Keseberg, and has published a play based on the life of Zane Grey, A Bad Boy Grown Up.
Monday’s program will feature a portrayal of Jackie Robinson by professional actor Gregory Gibson Kenney. Robinson, who endured intense pressure and hatred as the man who broke major league baseball’s color line, went on to become a businessman and social change activist following his Hall of Fame career, and was posthumously awarded both the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal.
Kenney, who has also portrayed Martin Luther King, Jr., Louis Armstrong and Roberto Clemente, is the winner of the 1998 YWCA Racial Justice Award and has served as a member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame Education Advisory Board since 2000.
Veteran Chautauqua performer Suzan King will portray former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt on Tuesday. Although born to wealth and privilege, Roosevelt was deeply committed to service and was involved in a wide range of social issues.
Her work on the alleviation of poverty brought her to Garrett County and nearby Arthurdale, West Virginia. King, who taught American Literature, creative writing, and freshman composition for 30 years, now devotes herself fulltime to performing Chautauqua characters throughout the country.
A unique addition to the Chautauqua roster is Garrett County’s own Joanna Guy, who will portray Alice Paul on July 8. Paul was a 20th century women’s rights activist and social reformer. A committed Quaker, Paul held an abiding belief in the equality of all people, regardless of race, social class or gender.
Guy is a 2009 graduate of Southern Garrett High School. A Maryland Distinguished Scholar in both Academic Achievement and Talent in the Arts, she was involved during high school in student government, varsity athletics, theatre, All-State Chorus and the National Honor Society.
In April 2009 she won first place in the Individual Performance category at Maryland History Day for her portrayal of Alice Paul.
Chautauqua is a tradition in Garrett County that dates to the last years of the 19th century in Mountain Lake Park. Summer Chautauqua’s of the era, featuring guest appearances by famous actors, performers, orators, and politicians, filled the town’s circular Bashford Amphitheater and necessitated special excursion trains on the B&O; line to accommodate enthusiastic audiences.
The Chautauqua series at Garrett College is a presentation of the Maryland Humanities Council in association with Garrett College, Garrett Lakes Arts Festival, and the Garrett County Arts Council.
Additional information is available by calling (301) 387-3082 or (301) 334-6580.
