Boulder City Chautauqua
Larry Bounds has been a Chautauqua performer since 2002 presenting an assortment of historical figures including Churchill, Einstein, Houdini, and Disney for festivals from Florida to Colorado. Chautauqua pioneer George Frein was his mentor. In 2019 he retired as a nationally certified teacher after 35 years in the classroom, but he still regularly performs as a professional magician as he has since 1973 when he performed for 8 years for Ripley's Believe It or Not! He earned his B.A. in theatre and an M.S. in education from The University of Tennessee. He lives in Greer, South Carolina, with his wife Carole, is active in Mensa, and serves on several community boards.
EducationWith a PhD in History and years of theatrical training, as well as 20 years teaching history and 15 years directing and acting, Doug is nationally renowned for bringing history to vibrant life! Since 1993 when he accidentally became P. T. Barnum, he has toured the country bringing “history to life” with a rogue’s gallery of characters. This year he gets to live out his childhood dream of becoming the tommy gun toting Big Al Capone! Doug’s characters are diverse and include Nikita Khrushchev, Theodore Roosevelt, Ernie Pyle, and even Pablo Picasso. Doug has made over 800 presentations including Henry Ford, Jackson Pollock, and recently added Sir Ernest Shackleton, Chuck Yeager, Gene Roddenberry, and Earl Warren. Yes, you’re correct, Doug hears voices, but only 30 of them are actually historical characters—the others we don’t talk about. He is also the founder & Managing Artistic Director of Restless Artists’ Theatre in Reno and taught American Cultural history for over 23 years. And no, he does not have a real job!
Chautauqua began as an educational gathering, originating as an American movement in the late 1800s, providing public lectures, religious programs and concerts during the summer months. It was an adult education movement in the United States, highly popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Chautauqua assemblies expanded and spread throughout rural America until the mid-1920s. The Chautauqua brought entertainment and culture for the whole community, with speakers, teachers, musicians, showmen, preachers, and specialists of the day. Former U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt was quoted as saying that Chautauqua is "the most American thing in America."
Chautauqua in Boulder City, Nevada, began in 1992, and continues today as an exploration and enrichment of life through three pillars of programming: education, cultural arts, and recreation.
Boulder City Chautauqua is a Non-Profit 501 (c)(3) Organization. All donations are tax deductible to the extent permissible under law.
Joey Madia (Samuel Bellamy)
In addition to being a veteran Chautauqua scholar, Joey Madia is an Escape Room and immersive experience designer, actor, screenwriter, podcaster, playwright, novelist, and director. Joey is a veteran Chautauquan, performing as Samuel Bellamy, Che Guevara, Allen Ginsberg, and others. He is preparing Cyrus Avery, the “Father of Route 66” for a 2026 tour to celebrate the highway’s centennial. He has written and performed pieces about Civil War Captain Louis Emilio, and since 2016 he has portrayed six different Golden Age pirates and a Royal Navy lieutenant. He is also the author of five novels, a short story anthology, and seven nonfiction books, including Every Day Is a Story All Its Own, a handbook on storytelling for the writer, actor, and director. He has appeared in, directed, and written well over 100 plays and a dozen projects on camera. His poetry, essays, and short stories have been widely published and have earned him several awards. As a teaching-artist he has taught and mentored thousands of students in theatre and creative writing and has spoken at many schools and national conferences.
Doug Mishler (P. T. Barnum)
About the Chautauquans
Karen Vuranch weaves together a love of history, a passion for stories and a sense of community. She has toured throughout the U.S. with her traditional storytelling and living history performances and has completed five performance tours of Wales and England with Coal Camp Memories. She also participated in a storytelling exchange in China in 2002. Karen brings history to life with interpretations of women from America's past, including Pearl Buck, Mother Jones, Mary Draper Ingles, Emma Edmonds, Clara Barton, Belle Starr, Louella Parsons, Julia Child, and her most recent character, Mama Cass. Karen also writes and produces audience participation murder mysteries, often working with community groups, creating a production in just two or three days using members of the community. She has been honored by many organizations, receiving in 2017 the Mountain Lion Award from the President of Concord University, where she is a faculty member. Other awards include the Tamarack Artisan Fellowship for Lifetime Achievement in the Arts, Performing Artist of the Year for Tamarack, the Robert C. Byrd Community Service Award, and others too numerous to mention here. In 1994, Karen and her husband Gene Worthington performed together at the White House.