Boulder City Chautauqua brings historical figures to life

Heather Cory

Charlie Shaffer plays the piano during the 15th annual Boulder City Chautauqua on Saturday.

By Diana Cox

Monday, Sept. 15, 2008 | 4:41 p.m.

Boulder City Chautauqua

Launch slideshow »

On Saturday, 461 years after his death, King Henry VIII made his way to the stage at the Boulder Dam Theatre. Later in the evening, playwright Eugene O'Neill, the four-time Pulitzer Prize winner who died in 1953, took his place in the spotlight.

For the past 15 years, famous faces from history have been appearing annually for the Boulder City Chautauqua, an adult education movement featuring monologues and depictions of people from history.

"It's fantastic," said Sara Weber, a member of the Chautauqua board.

The Boulder City Chautauqua is an offshoot of the Great Basin Chautauqua that takes place in Reno.

"We decided to try hosting a chautauqua here and it went really well," Weber said.

Chautauqua is more than just pretending to be a person from the past, said Brian Kral, who portrayed Eugene O'Neill. It involves extensive research and studying of the person's writings. Kral said the research into the person is so intense that he can only focus on one person per year.

This year he chose Eugene O'Neill, he said, because O'Neill inspired Kral in his own writing. In previous years, Kral has portrayed Yugoslavian dictator Josip Broz Tito, explorer William Clark and Wild West entertainer Buffalo Bill Cody.

At the conclusion of each performance, audience members are allowed to ask questions of the characters.

"There are always people in the audience who try to stump them," said Sue McCullough, who added that she has never seen an audience member succeed.

McCullough said chautauqua helps people understand historic figures better.

"It gives you a whole different perspective on the person," she said. "You only hear about the famous things, but at Chautauqua you learn things about them that are not well known."

Frank Mullen, the scholar who portrayed Henry VIII, became involved in the movement 10 years ago after writing a book about the Donner Party.

"I had a friend who was on the board of the Nevada Humanities and he said, 'Why don't you play a character from your book?'" Mullen said. "I tried it. I liked it."

Mullen has portrayed Babe Ruth, Louisiana Sen. and Gov. Huey Long, Benedict Arnold and Albert Einstein.

Portraying Einstein was his biggest challenge, Mullen said.

"He was very introverted, the opposite of the usual Chautauqua characters," he said.

The one character he would like to play is Jimmy Hoffa, the Teamsters leader who disappeared in 1975. Hoffa's body has never been found.

The only problem, Mullen said: "He's not that dead yet. They need to be dead."

Mullen would also like to portray Walt Whitman, because he is a fan of his poetry.

Chautauqua is a good fit for Boulder City, Desi Arnaz Jr., owner of the Boulder City Theatre, said.

"It's much more in-house, more grass roots," he said.

The theater, restored to its 1930s look, provides a old-time feeling in which to watch the scholars. Arnaz noted that it would be a different feeling if Chautauqua were performed at a casino on the Strip.

Chautauqua originated in the village of Chautauqua, N.Y., in 1874, and originally was held in tents. It has since become a national institution. More than 200 Chautauqua performances in 23 states take place each year.

Diana Cox can be reached at 990-8183 or diana.cox@hbcpub.com.