IF IT AIN’T GOT THAT SWING … IT’S NOT 2001 CHAUTAUQUA
05/15/2001
Jazz Age Chautauqua Comes to Illinois in June
CHICAGO -This summer, when the heat of Illinois sends the mercury rising, learn more about the cool Jazz Age in towns across Illinois at Heartland Chautauqua. The towns of Alton, Marshall, and Carbondale will swing into the real life experiences of some of the Roaring ‘20s’ most fascinating historical figures with this year’s Heartland Chautauqua (pronounced “shuh-TAH-kwuh”), which highlights the “The Jazz Age.”
This summer’s Chautauqua includes a troupe of five actor/scholars who will lead audiences in an exploration of what life was like between 1918 and 1929. This year, Willa Cather (Lynn Swanson), John Dos Passos (Richard Johnson), Edna Ferber (Gayle Stahlhuth), H.L. Mencken (John Chalberg), and Harry Reser (Michael Mason) will enthrall audiences with their unique tales and perspectives about a time of incredible innovation and struggle in the United States. The Chautauqua performers speak in first person dressed in full costume and field audience questions (both in and out of character) after their presentation.
Sponsored by both the Illinois Humanities Council and the Missouri Humanities Council, the 2001 Heartland Chautauqua tour will visit nine sites (six in Missouri, three in Illinois) beginning in Alton, Illinois on June 4 and concluding in Lexington,
Missouri on July 7. The 2001 Heartland Chautauqua tour will visit three Illinois towns for one week each: Alton (June 4- June 9), Marshall (June 18 – June 23), and Carbondale (June 25-June 30). Each day, a different Chautauquan will perform. On the first night in town, community members are invited to relive the 100-year-old tradition of raising the Chautauqua circus tent, which hosts the performances.
Chautauquas began in the 19th century as a vehicle to bring education and entertainment to small midwestern towns by presenting great oratory, music and drama. Chautauquans, including William Jennings Bryan and Theodore Roosevelt, would travel from town to town exchanging ideas under the big tent, typical of all Chautauqua performances.
In the 1970s, the Humanities Councils of the Midwest revived the lost art of Chautauqua as a community event for all ages. In 1995, the Illinois Humanities Council joined the Missouri Humanities Council in producing this event, thus creating the “Heartland Chautauqua.”
2001 Illinois Heartland Chautauqua Schedule
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June 4 – June 9 |
Alton, IL
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June 18 – June 23 |
Marshall, IL
Pat McCammon Marshall Main Street (217) 826-9023 |
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June 25 – June 30 |
Carbondale, IL
Nancy Stemper Carbondale Community Arts (618 ) 457-5100 |
For more information about the 2001 Heartland Chautauqua, contact the local representatives at the numbers listed above, call the IHC at 312-422-5585 ext. 233, or visit our website at http://www.prairie.org.
The Illinois Humanities Council is a nonprofit educational organization [501 (c) 3] dedicated to fostering a culture in which the humanities are a vital part of the lives of individuals and communities. Organized more than 25 years ago as the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, the IHC promotes greater understanding of, appreciation for, and involvement in the humanities by the citizens of Illinois, regardless of their economic resources, cultural background, or geographic location. The IHC is supported by state, federal, and private funds.
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