Larry_BoundsLARRY BOUNDS (Winston Churchill)  Chautauqua audiences will remember Larry for his mesmerising appearances as Albert Einstein, Houdini, Ambrose Bierce, and Gen Wade Hampton III. His earliest work bringing history to life was his recreation of an authentic Civil War area magic show for the Museum of East Tennessee History in the '90s. Subsequently he has also produced reenactments of colonial American and Renaissance English conjurers. Larry is a member of Mensa and the International Brotherhood of Magicians. Since the early 70's Larry has also appeared on stages across the country as professional magician Larry Crystal. For 8 years he was a featured performer for Ripley's Believe It or Not! He has also managed magic shops in Gatlinburg, Myrtle Beach and Atlanta.

Larry has served as a public school educator of 23 years. He is National Board certified and currently teaches advanced English courses at Wade Hampton High School in Greenville, SC. In 2003 he was selected as the school's Teacher of the Year and has also served as president of the Greenville Council of Teachers of English. When teaching in Tennessee, he was the president of the University of Tennessee's 500 member Phi Delta Kappa educational association.  He has a BA in speech and theatre and an MS in education, both from the University of Tennessee, and holds special endorsements in speech/drama and gifted and talented education. Larry has been married for 30 years, and though his children are grown, he is still in the loving care of his wife Carole and their 2 puppies, Sweet P an Giget.  Larry's Blog on Becoming Churchill


George_FreinGEORGE FREIN, PhD (Carl Jung) George Frein, Ph.D. taught in the Philosophy and Religion Department at the University of North Dakota from 1968 until he retired in 1997. While at the University of North Dakota, George studied Carl Jung's ideas and taught courses on his psychology of religion.  George served as a scholar/performer and director for the Great Plains Chautauqua Society from 1986 to 1997, portraying the Jesuit missionary to Native Americans, Father De Smet; the historian and author Henry Adams; the author Herman Melville, and the humorist and writer Mark Twain.  In 1998 he organized the National Chautauqua Tour which has taken the tent Chautauqua to communities around the country.

When George moved to South Carolina in 1998, he helped re-establish Chautauqua in Greenville. He also helped take Chautauqua to Asheville beginning in 2000, and to Spartanburg beginning in 2009. In the Carolinas, George's characters have come to include two Presidents, John Adams and Abraham Lincoln, one Governor, John Winthrop, two painters, John James Audubon and Charles Wilson Peale; and then his most recent character, Dr. Seuss, who has been described as "the man who killed Dick and Jane."

With all these voices talking to him and to one another in his head, George has, from time to time, consulted the psychologist Carl Jung to help him keep his sanity and to maintain his pleasant, well balanced personality. Jung has willingly helped with this task until recently when he decided that all those characters were having too much fun and he would prefer to be one of them rather than a mere consultant. George reluctantly agreed to present Jung in the 2012 Chautauqua only after Jung threatened to tell everyone that George has, for years, suffered from a debilitating case of multiple historical personality disorder.  Video of George Frein as Herman Melville


Joan_WolfbergJOAN WOLFBERG (Golda Meir)  For two decades Joan has performed throughout the US and Canada as a Chautauqua Scholar and professional actress, delighting audiences with her compelling portrayals of strong, dedicated women. Her success as an actress, motivational speaker and fundraiser has earned her a place on the National Speakers Bureau of Jewish Federations of North America and the national Speakers Bureau of Israel bonds.  Joan takes you on an adventure, weaving a tapestry of drama and history into entertaining, educational and inspirational shows.  Her transformation through the magic of make-up is just the first step on the journey.  From the moment Joan appears on the stage, the audience is convinced that they are, in fact in the presence of Golda Meir. 

Joan’s theater credits include Burt Reynolds Royal Palm, Golden Apple Dinner Theaters and Actors Repertory Company in Florida as well as regional theaters throughout the Southwest and Northwest.  She has appeared in feature films, such as "Little Gloria - Happy at Last" with Bette Davis, Angela Lansbury and Christopher Plummer, and "Mad Love" with Drew Barrymore.  Television sitcom veteran, Dill Daly ("I Dream of Jeanie" and the "Bob Newhart Show") described Joan as “… one of the finest actresses I have ever worked with..."  In 1992, Joan joined the New Mexico Endowment for the Humanities as a Chautauqua scholar. (Here she once portrayed Golda Meir in a mountain community, in the dead of winter, that was so small their library was in an unheated abandoned railroad car.)  In 1998, she was asked to join the Florida Humanities Council and create the roles of Eleanor Roosevelt and Marjorie Stoneman Douglas, author of the definitive book about the Florida Everglades, "River of Grass".  Since 2007 she has been associated with Humanities Washington.  Joan has her own company, “One Woman Productions.”  www.joanwolfberg.com 
 

Ben_Goldman

BEN GOLDMAN (Le Marquis Lafayette)  nationally acclaimed historical interpreter from Washington DC has portrayed Lafayette since 2007. Ben's uncanny resemblance to the youthful Lafayette, his ease with the French language and the spot-on French accent, as well as his quick wit and intelligence coverge to bring alive the dashing young Lafayette - everyone wants to get to know.  After Ben preformed as Lafayette for presidents George W. Bush and Nicholas Sarkozy at the White House, Sarkozy (who prides hiemself on knowing who is French and who is not) laughed heartily at his error when he discovered that Ben was not French.  

Born into a theatrical family, Ben started as a child actor and has acted professionally ever since.  Ben, a long-time storyteller with Historic Philadelphia, Inc. writes and interprets stories into French.  He holds a B.A. in French and Dramatic Literature from NYU and a Master of City Planning degree from the University of Pennyslvania.

Oba_KingOBA WILLIAM KING
(Denmark Vesey)  Oba King shares more than a surname with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Like the revered civil rights leader, Oba has a dream and is on a mission to make a difference in the world. Drawing on the teachings and philosophies of Dr. King and others, Oba uses his gifts as an actor, musician and storyteller to share his celebration of heritage and diversity and to bring a message of hope and inspiration.  His performance as Denmark Vesey demonstrates the long history of those who had the advantage of education and position who challenged the establishment to extend those privileges to all. 

King is the founder and director of JUSTUS Arts Education Program for Youth, a Chicago based organization that uses arts to help students and others appreciate their own abilities to make positive contributions to society. King believes that “cultural enlightenment is the key to sharing freedom in the human experience”. He says, “the arts save lives – allowing avenues for expression of thought and emotion.” Oba King utilizes the arts as a bridge to positive community development. In amazing performances, such as "The Poetic Storyteller", "We Speak in Rhythm", "Word Jazz", and "The Courtroom", Oba holds the attention of even the youngest member of the audience.  www.justusarts.org

He is a member of the Illinois Arts Council, ARTSTOUR Roster, National Association of Black Storytellers, and National Storytellers Network. He is an Illinois Arts Council Fellowship Award Recipient in Traditional Folk Arts and a Gwendolyn Brooks Hands on Stanza’s award recipient, the 1999 Hidden Jewel of the Neighborhood Award presented by Jewel/Osco, Inc., the 2001 Illinois Arts Council Fellowship Award, and the Gwendolyn Brooks – Hands on Stanzas Poetry Award for 2002.  He has been a featured artist on WTTW television, WBEZ, and at the DuSable Museum of African American History. Theatrical credits include his one man show, Breaking Chains, at Beatrice Community College, Nebraska; Sound of a Voice, Halsted Theatre, Chicago; and his award-winning performance in Louie and Ophelia, eta Theatre, Chicago.

Born in Greenville, SC while his father served in the armed forces, Oba moved away as an infant. This June 2012 will be his first return to his birth city.