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Show t I 7iu ; u' s; I ' i 3 ?. ,' , iiiiicricifk o(h mv Vv. ASwaw.'- Y ijr?" V u' ' , - y Ai; ... v.e-- to jr V- ''.Is - i&JSt , ' r - .Mr Aft sf.i'- - . iiWx . A3KA A ? ssv: I.,;--- . - j irs-- J..A J v-s!- ONCE AGAIN this year the oxcarts and Indians, explorers and railroaders, missionaries and Mormons will gather in the giant Spectrum at Utah State University in Logan for "The West: America's Odyssey." The pageant, part of USU's Festival in song of the American West, and dance, live action and slides, the settling of the American West. Like the festival itself, the paReant is in its third year, running Monday through Saturday night on the USU campus. It embraces a cast of about 150, a collection of nearly 2.000 slides projected singly or in groups on a series of five panels, Burch Manns Americana Dance Theatre, a Festival Chorus, taped narration by actor Chill Wills and live narration by actor James Drury. The festival of which the pageant is a part opens at 10 a m. Monday with The Old West Parade bands, horsemen, animal-draw- n vehicles, Indian dancers and a special collection from the Ronald V. Jensen Historical Farm snaking through the streets of downtown Logan. THE PARADE will be followed Monday afternoon by the opening of the Groat West Fair at 3 p.m. on the Spectrum field This exhibition of pioneer and Indian arts and crafts will run through the entire week. So will Windows West, an exhibition of pioneer photographs, drawings and engravings, plus a mural and art by Glen Edwards, on the grass near the Spectrum. The photos have been drawn from the work of F.A. Rhinchart in the late 19th century, and include K12 portraits taken for the hi S O. ys 'l ' ' ' Frontier pageant settling of 4 at USU t v'' 4 ' 1 ' v-- t V. ' live actors with mixes the American slides, Cast includes about frontier. of the United told on a vast carpet-maStates, which is gradually filled in by succeeding waves of explorers and settlers. Its basically an overview of important events in the settling of the West, up 'til the time it ceases to be a frontier, That script is still in use, says Mr. Perkes. hut I'm doing quite a hit of restaging. Im not pantomiming the words as much Im retelling it with movement. Ill say the same thing but in my own way. "The West; Americas Odyssey is A p s f- - $ 1' .. A ? - ' V . V '.5.. ' c .;'! V ?' i' JMff xv f 0 .v-- J kr i V, '!o- i-- St - JLU v S ' A - ' T il-,,.?- ?' song and narration the persons, mostly from Logan. depicting 150 ... in all the way from says Mr. Perkes the earliest people in the West, such as Coronado, up to the fight for womens rights in Wyoming before its statehood. Its really about the West as the frontier, the opening up of the West. It ends with the driving of the Golden Spike connecting the transcontinental railroad at Promontory Point in 1809. yyfq t INCLUDING dancers and singers and bands, and not including the technical crew, the cast numbers some 150. A majority of them are townspeople, says Mr. Perkes, who credits the musical director, Eugene Tueller of Logan High School, with bringing in many of the participants from the choruses he directs. Colin Johnson is technical director and William Cottle media director it was he who put together the slides. Glen Edwards did the set and display art. James Drury, who starred on televiwill be the sions The Virginian, narrator, replacing Peter Strauss, who filled the role the first two years of the pageant. The pageant, a lengthy one in the past, is being trimmed slightly this year. Were hoping to get it down to two hours, says Mr. Perkes "Were cutting out a few things, trying to on-sta- ? U 5 Another scripl x. The songs are folk songs from the period being depicted, says the director, and the dances, although theyre not original, carry on the subject that is being narrated at the time. y: - ,v- s Yt World Exposition; among the subjects who sat for Rhinchart are Sitting Bull. Red Cloud and Geronimo. daily event duringl the Old West Cookout. lestival is an preceding the pageant The pageant itself will hegtn nightly at p ni It is being directed this year bv Sidney lYrkcs, who designed the costumes tins year and for the two preceding years, and who is an assistant professor in the USU Theater Department THE PAGEANT was originally suggested by university President Glen L Taggart, whose assistant. Gerald R. Shcrratl. took on ttie project, did the research and created the original Jv.. Vv s v Trans-Mississip- The exhibition was put together bv Bit Kieski of Salt Lake City, from Rhinchart's glass negatives. r -r1'- Sk 1 4 iiVl v Igi A Uf , . ' 1 '4YU4 r,' v: 1; v r' s.k'V. I . V v ' 1 .; v' .A v I' , ..''V - x'i 'v, 4 v. I v:j s V 1 I ' V-- ' i V v v ' ,, 4 ? , y , I ;x - . ... tighten it up. t y, " 7 j t v: vt r Burch Manns Americana Dance Theatre plays an integral part in USl pageant. Songs in the show are folk tunes from the period. The show 9 tor vails iAmvrieams Odyssey9 an tncr- yiew of important eyents in Use settl ing of the ViesL |
