Ashland Chautauqua performances and workshops set promise action-packed programming

Ashland Chautauqua’s visiting scholars are known for their evening performances at Brookside Park. They also offer free daytime workshops for youth and adults, which will be especially lively this year, thanks to the action-packed 2023 theme History’s Real Action Figures.

Ashland Chautauqua runs July 11-July 15.

The action figure characters to be portrayed are Meriwether Lewis, co-leader of the Lewis and Clark Expedition; Jackie Cochran, a record-setting pilot in the early days of aviation; Pauli Murray, an activist seeking racial and gender equality; Samuel Bellamy, a pirate captain; and Harry Houdini, perhaps the greatest magician and escape artist of all time.

The workshops provide information about the characters or illuminate the context of their time in history.

At 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, July 11, an adult workshop titled "Jim Crow: Its History, Our Heritage" will be presented at the Ashland Public Library. Scholar Becky Stone, who will portray Murray Thursday evening, leads the workshop. Stone portrayed Maya Angelou and Rosa Parks at earlier Chautauquas. Her workshops are interactive.

Scholar Larry Bounds will present an adult workshop at the Loudonville library at 10 a.m. Wednesday, July 12. It is titled "Houdini's Scrapbook - A Life of Illusion." Bounds is a magician and promises to provide an active and illuminating look at the life of Houdini. The Houdini performance will be Saturday evening.

“The Golden Age of Piracy: Fact, Fiction, and Fantasy” is an adult workshop scheduled for 1 pm Wednesday, July 12, at the Ashland County Council on Aging. Joey Madia, who will portray Bellamy o Friday evening, is the workshop leader. He is well-versed on piracy in general and will give a wider context for the life and career of Bellamy.

Scholar Karen Vuranch will lead a workshop at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 12, titled “Fly Girls: Women of WW II” at Ashland Public Library. Vuranch will portray 1930s and ‘40s pilot Cochran on Wednesday evening, so this workshop is timed to give participants good background for the evening performance.

“The Magical World of Harry Houdini” will introduce area youth to the tricks of the world’s most renowned magician, with magician and scholar Bounds mystifying the audience. The location is the Salvation Army Kroc Center, Thursday, July 13, at 2:30 p.m.

Scholar Brian “Fox” Ellis will present an adult workshop at 3:30 p.m. Thursday, July 13, at the Ashland County Senior Citizen Center. Its title is “Lewis and Clark His-Story and Natural His-Story, too.” Meriwether Lewis is the first evening performance this year, opening the five-day Chautauqua event on Tuesday.

Ellis continues his storytelling at 10 a.m. Friday, June 14, with a youth workshop titled “Tribal Tales from the River’s Edge.” This workshop is at the Myers Memorial Band Shell in Brookside Park. The rain site location would be the Ashland YMCA.

Vuranch will lead a workshop titled “Women of NASA” at Mill Run Place, at 1 p.m. Friday. The workshop will illuminate the considerable contributions women have made to aerospace science and technology.

“Join a Pirate Crew!” is the invitation to Madia’s youth workshop Friday at 2:30 p.m. at Ashland Public Library.

The final workshop is Stone’s adult program titled “State Laws on Race and Color-Ohio.” The location is the Ronk Lecture Hall in the Schar College of Education on the Ashland University campus. The time is 2 p.m., Saturday, July 15.

All workshops are in accessible locations with convenient parking. Evening performances are at 8 p.m. in the Guy C. Myers Memorial Band Shell. An Opening Act begins each evening at 7 p.m. More information can be found at www.ashlandchautauqua.org.

This article originally appeared on Ashland Times Gazette: Ashland Chautauqua brings host of performers to bandshell