Events bring the roaring '20s to life

Actors portray pivotal people from the swing decade.
By DENISE DICK
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- Theater, music and art combine for five days of education and entertainment in the city.
The city was selected as one of five cities for Ohio Chautauqua 2004: The Roaring Twenties, with events ranging from lectures to music to theater.
Programs run Tuesday through Saturday with actors portraying car maker Henry Ford, magician Harry Houdini, writer and humorist H. L. Mencken, author and anthropologist Zora Neale Hurston and Zelda Fitzgerald, wife of writer F. Scott Fitzgerald.
A large red-and-white striped, 5,000-seat tent set up next to the Kinsman House will provide the stage for many of the performances with other events planned at the Warren-Trumbull County Public Library and other locations.
Anticipation
"When we first learned of Warren being selected for Ohio Chautauqua, I thought, 'What a great opportunity,'" said Bobbie Brown, director of the Fine Arts Council of Trumbull County.
That was before programming for the Warren Community Amphitheater came together. That venue features music and dance productions Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday evenings throughout the summer.
"Even if all of the other activities hadn't come together, I still think we would have had a very full summer and a very special summer with just Chautauqua," she said.
All of the activities planned for the summer will make for many opportunities for residents to enjoy the arts.
"The community is in for a real treat," Brown said.
Activities cater to both children and adults.
"It's very educational and historical in nature," Brown said.
Learning our history
In the application, Brown said, emphasis was given to the proximity of Clarence Darrow's hometown. The famed lawyer's boyhood home is in Kinsman. Mencken wrote about the Scopes trial, for which Darrow was one of the lawyers (the trial debated the teaching of evolution to school children).
Other local history, such as the women's suffrage movement and the history of the Packard car, also were highlighted.
Ohio Chautauqua is presented by the Ohio Humanities Council with local funding from Forum Health; the Martini Martin Arts Trust, which is administered by Second National Bank; Warren Area Chamber of Commerce-Educational, Cultural and Civic Foundation; Warren Library Association and Friends of the Warren Library.
Many people in the area are familiar with the Chautauqua experience in Chautauqua, N.Y., which offers educational and arts programs, but the travel and attendance may be cost prohibitive for the general population, Brown said.
Warren is one of the larger communities chosen for this year's programs. Xenia, Marion, Fostoria and Greenfield comprise the other host cities.
All events are free and open to the public.
denise_dick@vindy.com