We hope you enjoyed our recently posted Q&A with Alan Gephardt (who portrays Francis Scott Key).  Chautauqua, MHC’s popular free living history performance series begins July 5 at Garrett College! Michele Baylin, MHC’s Communications Manager, also spoke with Mary Ann Jung, who will portray Rosalie Stier Calvert at the McHenry, Elkton, Easton, and La Plata locations. 

• View Ms Jung in a sneak peek of her performance as Rosalie Stier Calvert on MHC’s YouTube channel.
• Click here to view and print a 2012 Chautauqua Schedule. 

(MB) How long have you been appearing as Rosalie Stier Calvert? What drew you to her?

(MAJ) I wrote the Rosalie show in 1998 after reading “Mistress of Riversdale” by Margaret Law Callcott. Her letters home to her family in Belgium were so captivating and full of derails on life on a Maryland plantation in the early 1800′s I knew she’d be a perfect window into the War of 1812. I love that she’s an arrogant aristocrat who hated Thomas Jefferson, and Dolley Madison. It makes her very human and teaches people that historical characters didn’t all get along. Students are especially shocked when I say I hate Jefferson and I love it when they gasp! I want to bring history alive and this is one fun way to do it-by showing strong emotions.

(MB) How do you prepare for a living history performance?  What (if any) is the biggest misconception the public has about your character?

(MAJ) It takes me 6 months to a year to research my character, write a script, find the right costumes and props and then memorize. Daily prep means putting on the right costume, hairdo, accent, and attitude for the show.

The biggest misconception about Rosalie is that because she was wealthy she was a lady of leisure-far from it! She had 2 big plantations to run, her own Riversdale and her husband’s, Mt Albion. That meant supervising in total over a hundred servants and slaves while raising and teaching her own, large family of nine children.

(MB) Is there another historical figure whom you’d like to portray?

(MAJ) Only about a million fascinating women! But I have to choose on what audiences will want to see. I also pick people who aren’t from periods I’ve already covered. I want to do a female scientist next like Rachel Carson or Marie Curie since the emphasis in schools is on science now.

(MB) There is a Q&A which follows your performance. What’s the most interesting question (or oddest) you’ve been asked about Rosalie Stier Calvert?  Is there a question you’ve always expected but never been asked? How do you feel about this component?

(MAJ) The most interesting is “Did she know about her husband’s slave mistress Eleanor Beckett and family?” She never mentions them in her letters but I don’t see how she couldn’t have known.

I can’t think of a question I haven’t gotten-I’m pretty thorough in the show! Q & A can be as much fun and a surprising as the show itself. My 33 years of improv performing starting at the MD Renaissance Festival and then in my own shows over 25 years come in handy in both!

Mary Ann Jung as Rosalie Stier Calvert

Mary Ann Jung (Rosalie Stier Calvert) is the award-winning actress behind History Alive! Interactive shows. She has been a lead actress and Director of Renaissance History and Shakespearean Language at the Maryland Renaissance Festival for over thirty years. She is a Smithsonian scholar/performer and has appeared on CNN, the Today Show, and Good Morning America. Jung’s living history performances include Julia Child, Clara Barton, Mistress Margaret Brent, Rosalie of Riversdale, Amelia Earhart, Good Queen Bess, and Rosie the Riveter. She has a B.A. in British History from the University of Maryland.

The countdown to Chautauqua 2012 has begun, with only a month until MHC’s popular free living history performance series begins at its first location at Garrett College!  Michele Baylin, MHC’s Communications Manager, spoke with Alan Gephardt, who will portray Francis Scott Key at the Elkton, Easton, and Germantown locations.  We hope it provides some insight to audience members prior to Chautauqua performances.

Click here to view and print a 2012 Chautauqua Schedule.  We’d love to read your comments about your experiences as an audience member who has attended a Chautauqua performance. What historical characters did you find the most engaging, enlightening, or unexpected?

(MB) How long have you been appearing as Francis Scott Key? What drew you to him?

(AG) I have been interpreting Mr. Key since 1988 or 1989. It was quite serendipitous that I came to do this. I was raised in Edgemere, in the North Point community where the Todd’s Inheritance is. One summer day in 1989 I was riding my bike near Todd’s, when the then-owner, Elmer Cook, a high school teacher whom I knew, waved me over and told me about a historical festival to be held at Fort Howard in September. In high school, I had been very active in theatre and acting. He asked me if I would be interested in doing a five minute talk as Key at the event. I agreed to do it, and the rest is history, after a fashion!

(MB) How do you prepare for a living history performance?

(AG) To prepare, I read and reread the information I have acquired about him. I always recite the four verses of the poem before I perform because I usually finish with them. There have been a few times when I have suddenly blanked, and so I always try to remember to recite.
(MB) What (if any) is the biggest misconception the public has about Francis Scott Key?

(AG) The biggest misconception about Key is that he was called “Francis,” or “Sir Francis.” People seem to forget that he was an American, not a Brit, and therefore would not have been a knighted person. He was not called “Francis” by close friends and family. He was called “Frank.” Of course, in his day, strangers would have addressed him as “Mr. Key.” People will speak to me/him familiarly, and it bothers me. We are so casual today that we are on an immediate first-name basis. In his time that was not the case, and so when I am portraying him I can only imagine how put off he would be to be addressed by his first name by perfect strangers!

(MB) Is there another historical figure that you’d like to portray?

No, at the moment there is no one else I wish to portray. If I could portray an American President that would be fun, but I don’t resemble any of them, so…

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Alan Gephardt has worked in the public history field for over twenty years and is currently a Park Ranger for the National Park Service, splitting his time between Hampton National Historic Site and Fort McHenry in Baltimore, and James A. Garfield National Historic Site outside Cleveland.  He earned his Bachelor’s degree in history at Towson University and his Masters at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.
Mr. Gephardt will join four other actor/scholars as he portrays Francis Scott Key at the Maryland Humanities Council’s Chautauqua 2012:  Maryland and the War of 1812, running July 5-13 at six locations in Maryland.

Watch a documentary about Francis Scott Key, with Mr. Gephardt voice as Key:

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=UBi2d5fb5M4#!

This spring, MHC was honored to take part in a partnership with the Towson University Electronic Media & Film Department’s Corporate Video Class, under the deft hand of Dr. David Reiss. Teams of students were paired up with nonprofits to create short video presentations which tell each organization’s narrative. Not only does this provide essential educational and real-world experience for graduating seniors, but creates dynamic content that we hope will raise awareness about our work across the state.

It was a challenge to choose from our many worthy programs, but we focused efforts on three:  MHC’s Chautauqua living history series, One Maryland One Book, our state-wide reading and discussion program, and Maryland History Day.  Our filmcrew interviewed partners and participants in Calvert, Montgomery, Carroll, and Cecil counties and Baltimore City.

Our gratitude to our student filmmakers, Edward Shirk and Sam Parker, and their professor, Dr. Reiss. Our thanks also goes out to MHC staff, especially Jayme Kilburn, all of our amazing interview subjects. Photographs used were taken by Ken Stanek, the College of Southern Maryland, and National History Day.

Take a look and let us know what you think! Has an MHC program opened your ears, your eyes, your mind?  Tell us about it!

As a newcomer to the MHC staff, I wanted to learn a little more about Chautauqua. While my background is in the world of theater, Chautauqua was new to me.  I had an opportunity to briefly interview Jim Getty, who will portray Abraham Lincoln at Chautauqua this summer, from July 5 – 13 at six locations around the state of Maryland and I thought that others might enjoy his responses.

Do you have a question for Jim or any of our other Chautauqua performers?  Place them in the comment section and I’ll do our best to track down the answers.   Or share what you experienced at past Chautauqua performances.  Any favorites? What pivotal figures have you always wanted to see portrayed onstage?  We’d love your feedback.  I hope to see you there! – Michele Baylin, Communications Manager

(MHC) How long have you been performing with Chautauqua (here or elsewhere)? How did you first get involved with MHC and/or Chautauqua?

(Jim) I was contacted by Judy (Dobbs, Program Officer) to first present about four years ago.  I have been contacted by other states but have been unable to work them within my schedule.

(MHC) How would you describe your Chautauqua experience as a performer?  What is it like to portray a historical figure?

(Jim) I have wonderful memories of my six presentations in Maryland.  Each organization in the respective venues has covered every detail and they have been so very accommodating.  There is the foremost responsibility in the performance of an historical character to be accurate.

(MHC) What other characters do you portray? Is there a historical character to play whom you’ve always wanted to portray? Are there other places you perform these characters that we should know about?

(Jim) While I have been encouraged to present Captain Ahab or a New England Sea Captain, I have not.  I have gone into such research but have found myself so busy as Abraham Lincoln that I couldn’t manage the inclusion.  As Lincoln, I do quite a variety of presentations, including Leadership Programs for Departments within the Federal Government and the business community.

(MHC) What do you do to prepare for a living history performance? Does portraying a historical figure offer unique challenges?  How does this differ from performances that aren’t of historical figures?

(Jim) Prep for presentations includes gathering information about the locale; significant personalities from the general area in that period who Mr. Lincoln might have known or have been in contact with; often political or military figures.  Really, to learn everything you can about the significance of the location.  One tries to prepare for the q/a session that follows each presentation.

(MHC) There is a Q&A which follows your performance. What’s the most interesting question (or oddest) you’ve been asked before?  How do you feel about this component? Is there a question you’ve always expected but never been asked?

(Jim) I believe we have run a circle with the variety of questions asked of the President from folks of all ages.  The most difficult thing for the presenter is to be able to offer the variation to a question asked by someone who has you in the wrong time-frame.

View Jim Getty’s bio and more information about Abraham Lincoln on the MHC website.

“More Chautauqua!”-audience member at this years Chautauqua

This year’s Chautauqua really went “Beyond Boundaries!” (more…)

“What a great way to learn history” -Audience member from Greenbelt. (more…)

Two of MHC’s popular programs will merge at the Garrett Lakes Arts Festival at Garrett College in McHenry on July 8 when Maryland History Day participant Joanna Guy presents her living history performance of women’s rights activist Alice Paul at this year’s Chautauqua!

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It was a wonderful day when the Maryland Humanities Council brought Eleanor Roosevelt back to Greenbelt as part of its Chautauqua series! (Click here for a full schedule of Chautauqua events.)

The historical re-enactment performance by Suzan King was lively and thought-provoking, as Eleanor shared her personal and public experiences growing up, serving as First Lady, at home in Hyde Park and Val-Kill, and working on Human Rights at the United Nations. Her reflections on her interest and support of the development of Greenbelt as a planned community were particularly relevant to all of us at the performance.

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So what do Eleanor Roosevelt, Woody Guthrie, and Jackie Robinson have in common besides the stage at Chautauqua performances this summer in Maryland? The Chautauqua 2009 theme is “Rights and Reformers” and each of these historic characters had great impact on improving life for future generations. They all lived and strove for improving the life of Americans in their different ways through the 1930s, 40s, and 50s—the era of great reform movements.

Eleanor Roosevelt, a child of wealth and privilege, worked tirelessly for the poor as the nation’s First Lady and later with the United Nations. Singer-songwriter Woody Guthrie was an outspoken advocate for free speech, economic justice, and the right to unionize. Jackie Robinson brought great personal dignity and professionalism to major league baseball when he broke the color line in 1947; leading the way for the many other great African American players.

Join us at Chautauqua this summer to learn more about these all-American historic figures, the times in which they lived, and how their legacy continues today. Check out the calendar for a complete listing of dates, times, and locations.