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.
Lynna Metrisin (Betty Ford)
Lynna Metrisin is a native of Cleveland, Ohio. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in theatre from Case Western Reserve University and a Master’s Degree in Social Work from the School of Applied Social Sciences at CWRU. After retiring from her forty year career in social work, working in the fields of child welfare, pediatric oncology and hospice, Lynna has concentrated on her first passion—theatre. Lynna has performed in a number of theatres throughout the Greater Cleveland area over the years, as well as portraying Mrs. Claus, along with her husband, “Santa Jim”. In 2019, she joined Women In History Ohio, a collective of female actors who portray a variety of significant women, most of whom have been overlooked in school history books. Members of Women In History do their own research, write their own scripts, and perform for community groups, libraries, schools, private clubs, and senior centers, as well as Chautauqua Festivals. Besides Betty Ford, Lynna also portrays Jane Addams, Carrie Chapman Catt, Bella Abzug, Judge Florence Allen, and Justice Sandra Day O’Connor.
Susan Marie has given over 850 presentations as Marie Curie, Mary Shelley, Irene Castle, Clara Barton, Erma Bombeck and Eleanor Roosevelt across 43 of the United States and abroad. She also works with both students and adults to develop their own Living History presentations, including authoring the Young Chautauqua handbooks for Colorado Humanities, and serving on the faculty for the nation-wide Chautauqua Training Institute hosted by Humanities North Dakota in 2022. Susan Marie says her biggest challenge with Mrs. Roosevelt is to choose which pieces of her immense life to include in any given presentation.
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.
Rose Gabriele is pleased to be performing Jackie Kennedy in the beautiful city of Boulder City. In addition to traveling to numerous venues for her performances, she is also a veteran of countless professional and community theatre productions. She has a diverse background in medicine and communications and worked as an EMMY award winning journalist for ten years in television and radio, covering medical, entertainment and breaking news. She has a BA in Communications, and she is a licensed, surgically trained Podiatric Physician.
Because of her television and communications backgrounds, Rose also coaches executives and corporate professionals worldwide in communications skills, helping them be at the top of their game when delivering high profile presentations.
Rose, who also does a second one woman show on Sally Ride, the first female American astronaut in space, lives in Northeast Ohio with her husband and has three grown children.
About the Chautauquans
About Boulder City Chautauqua
Education