Another successful Chautauqua
The presenters from this year’s Bonne Terre Chautauqua. Larry Bounds, Albert Einstein; Marie Frontczak, Marie Curie; and Jeremy Meier, Steve Jobs. Photo by Dan Schunks
This year’s Chautauqua, annually held in Bonne Terre, was another rousing success. The three-evening event was themed Great Minds and featured presentations by Steve Jobs, Marie Curie, and Albert Einstein. Now presented in the comfortable Bonne Terre City Auditorium, the air-conditioned venue is a far cry from the presentations in the big tent that required the audience to endure the summer weather. The event enjoyed excellent attendance every evening.
One aspect of preparation that the audience may overlook is the need to stay current. If a new biography is published or news about a character is released, it may contain new information on the character or characters. Sometimes, new information can influence the audience’s or presenter’s perception of a character or shade an audience’s attitude before the presenter can begin. The question-and-answer portion of the program makes it essential that the presenters are up to date on the background of their characters.
Of course, Albert Einstein, Marie Curie, and Steve Jobs weren’t actually there, but the performers who portray them provide a glimpse into the personalities, quirks, and period of the lives of their characters. Preparing takes considerable time and research, as each performer is related.
The presenters travel throughout the summer to various locales and perform as different characters. For example, Susan Frontczak, who portrayed Marie Curie, was Eleanor Roosevelt just the week before in Ohio. Larry Bounds, Einstein, was to present as Walt Disney in Colorado, and Jeremy Meier was to present John F. Kennedy, for the first time, the week following the Bonne Terre Chautauqua, in Colorado. In September, Frontczak will be presenting Irma Bombeck several times and Eleanor Roosevelt on two different occasions in her life.
Carol Coulter, a member of the Bonne Terre Chautauqua Committee, said that they ask performers what characters they are developing and then look for a good mixture of characters to attract an audience. “We traditionally ask each one of the characters, what are you going to be doing, what’s next year? And then in October, we meet and choose what our theme’s going to be.”
Marie Frontczak agreed, saying, “That’s pretty much what’s done all around the country at each individual Chautauqua. There may be eight active. There used to be more. Some of them have lost funding over time, or the people who were running them have passed away or lost interest. So, some Chautauquas that used to be fairly prominent have sort of faded.”
At one time, there was a Missouri Chautauqua that toured throughout the state. But now, Bonne Terre is the only Chautauqua in Missouri. To its credit and the conscientious work of the committee that plans the event, Bonne Terre is the longest-running, self-funded Chautauqua west of the Mississippi River.
One feature of the Bonne Terre Chautauqua that is unique to the local event and was praised for the intimacy that it lends to the event is the Chautauqua Choir, directed by Linda Sowers. Each year, the choir performs selections that fit the time period and subject of the evening presentations. The presenters said, “Nobody else at any of the other Chautauquas around the country has something like the Chautauqua Chorus. The chorus is fabulous. It’s awesome!”
Their impressions of the Bonne Terre event were, “It’s excellent, well managed, and has wonderful volunteers that keep everything going!” It represents another unique event to be found in the Parkland.
About the performers
Susan Marie Frontczak portrayed Marie Curie, the first woman to win the Nobel prize, the only person to win a Nobel prize in two scientific fields, and who was renowned for her work in radioactivity. Frontczak has portrayed Marie Curie over 480 times to over 60,000 people in 34 states and countries. In addition to Curie, she has also presented Eleanor Roosevelt, Mary Shelley, the author of Frankenstein, dancer Irene Castle, American Red Cross founder Clara Barton, and humorist Erma Bombeck. Her background is in engineering with a B.S. in Engineering and a master’s in software engineering. She also worked at Hewlett-Packard for 14 years before turning to writing and performing full-time.
Jeremy Meier portrayed Steve Jobs, the co-founder of Apple. After leaving Apple in 1985, Jobs acquired the computer graphics division of Lucasfilm, which evolved into Pixar Animation Studios. He returned to Apple in 1997 and continued to lead in the pursuit of innovation, helping to create iconic products such as iMac, iPod, and iPad. Meier has a background in theater and serves as the Chair of Creative Arts and Media at Owens Community College in Ohio. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in theater from Central Michigan University and a Master of Fine Arts in Acting from Ohio State University. He also portrayed Robert F. Kennedy at the Chautauqua in 2022, presented Charlie Chaplin, and will be presenting John F. Kennedy for the first time on August 2 in Colorado.
Larry Bounds portrayed Albert Einstein, one of the most influential physicists in history. Einstein’s name is well known, but actual facts about his life are less familiar than his accomplishments. Born in Germany in 1879, Einstein published four groundbreaking papers in 1905 and won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1921, before immigrating to the United States in 1933. Bounds has presented at the Big River Chautauqua 5 times as Winston Churchill, Walter Cronkite, Houdini, Dr. Wernher von Braun, and this year as Albert Einstein. He has a BA in theater and a Master’s degree in English Education with 35 years of classroom experience.
Dan Schunks is a staff writer for the Daily Journal and Farmington Press. He can be reached at dschunks@dailyjournalonline.com.
