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Show Spectacular Outdoor Pageant Revives Early California Lore 600 Residents of i Two Towns Unite In Staging Drama WtSU Features. All the romance and adventure ad-venture of early California, ' along with the pathos and ! tragedy of the Indian people, are revived in the historic , Ramona pageant, long heralded her-alded as one of the nation's most spectacular outdoor presentations, which will open in Ramona Bowl near Hemet, Calif., April 19. Immortalized by Helen Hunt Jackson Jack-son in her best-selling novel, "Ramona," "Ra-mona," the tragic experiences of an Indian ceuple living in San Jacinto valley form the general theme of the pageant-drama. The spectacle, now in its 20th season, is staged In ( its own amphitheater situated at the foot of towering snow-capped Mt. San Jacinto. Revives Early Days. The authentic atmosphere of early California history pervades the pageant It is replete with colorful color-ful fiestas, Indian ceremonials and dancing typical of that period. In one of the most spectacular scenes, a mounted posse thunders across 'he 50-acre mountainside stage. I JBlaBwJK Jsw flr TRAGIC LOVERS . . . Juanita Encell and Henry Brandon play the leading roles of Ramona and Alessandro, whose tragic romance forms the theme of the Ramona pageant, spectacular outdoor production staged annually in the mountain-swept Ramona Bowl near Hemet, Calif. Ramona Is the result of the work and talents of more than 600 residents of the towns of Hemet and San Jacinto, neighboring neigh-boring communities nestled In the foothills of the majestic San Jacinto mountain range in southern California. Combining their efforts, the townspeople stage the pageant as a "labor of love" to record an outstanding I example of cooperative community commu-nity spirit. Aside from one or two profession-I profession-I als in the title roles, every member of the cast is a citizen of either Hemet or San Jacinto. All production produc-tion details, including costumes, settings, set-tings, maintenance, box office and even parking of cars, are performed per-formed by townspeople. Studied in School. "Ramona," as written by Mrs. j Jackson, is on the curriculums in the I schools of both Hemet and San Ja-' Ja-' cinto. Youngsters who study the dramatic pages of the novel appear in the play as children. Many, as they grow up, graduate to more important im-portant roles. During the three weekends in I which the pageant is staged, business busi-ness in the two sponsoring commu-j commu-j nities is virtually at a standstill, i Men and women in all walks of life j move en masse to Ramona Bowl, some as performers, some as stage hands, some as service attendants j and still others just to view again the stirring story of early days in their valley. The general theme of Ramona is the tragedy of the Indian people. In ! 1883 Mrs. Jackson came to Los Angeles An-geles on a government mission to i gather material pertaining to the Indians. From her pen emerged the pages of the novel which continues to thrill adventure-seeking children. Based on History. Most of the important incidents in the book actually occurred in San Jacinto valley, the home of the characters in the story. Mrs. Jackson Jack-son conceived the idea for "Ramona" "Ra-mona" after learning of the tragic experiences of an Indian couple, Juan Diego and Ramona, who lived in the valley. Tattered records of San Jacinto justice court, as written by Justice Samuel V. Tripp, contain the story of the shooting of an Indian, Juan Diego, by a white man, Sam Temple. Diego, the records reveal, owned a plot of land containing water, wa-ter, a site which was cherished by certain white men. A trip into San Jacinto one day brought disaster to Diego. He made the trip on horseback, horse-back, tying his mount in front of the general store. In town, Diego had a "couple of drinks" and became confused, con-fused, with the result that he rode away on another horse. Although he rode directly home, Diego was branded as a horse thief in the eyes of Sam Temple. It is recounted re-counted that Temple borrowed a shotgun, formed a posse and rode away in the direction of Diego's land. He returned with the story of having recovered a stolen horse and having killed an Indian in the process. proc-ess. True to Life Climax. This incident gave Mrs. Jackson the climax for her story, and she transposed it into her novel after changing the names to Alessandro and Jim Farrar. In the picturesque setting of Ramona Bowl, with its 50 acres of natural mountainside studded with trails, this climax and the love story of Ramona and Alessandro Ales-sandro is brought to life in the spectacular pageant. Abandoned during the war years, since it is almost imperative to visit the play by automobile, the Ramona pageant has been seen by more than 350,000 spectators during its 19 i seasons. Last year the play was viewed by more than 50,000 specta-! specta-! tors in its eight performances. With the exception of last season, Ramona always has been presented on three consecutive weekends, i playing in the afternoons of each Saturday and Sunday. This year the schedule calls for performances on April 19-20, April 26-27 and May 3-4. Gains Laurels Rapidly. The Ramona pageant originally was started as a publicity enterprise enter-prise by the joint chamber of commerce com-merce organizations of Hemet and San Jacinto. From this pioneer start, it has become one of the recognized rec-ognized outdoor spectacles of the nation. Taking over last season and continuing con-tinuing this year as the play's production pro-duction executive Is Adrian Awan, prominent for many years in pro- ducing outdoor pageants. For sev-I sev-I eral seasons he was connected with ! California state fairs. He also siagea tne xamea rugnmage flay in Hollywood and, since its inception, incep-tion, has been connected with Civic Light Opera in both Los Angeles and San Francisco. Currently he is producing the revival of the famous Mission Play, another early California Califor-nia historical pageant, which is seen annually in the Mission Playhouse Play-house in San Gabriel, Calif. At THLNTIC ATMOSPHERE . . . California's colorful and romantic past is recreated in the Ramona historical pageant. Here a posse thundera across the 50-acre mountainside stage, where Helen Hunt Jackson's best-selling novel, "Ramona," is presented by residents of Hemet and San Jacinto, Calif. |