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Show y x J !'- ; r ' 1 1 - ' - I Vf'l ' 1 HJj i p ? T: ' ; i A . m- VY v f Kevin Peterson, portraying Harry Tracey, is led Main Street. These three arc part of the recently off by lawmen following his staged robbery on arrived River Canyon Road Agents. Local Kainpage Staged By Becky Cantwell Sunday afternoon Main Street was splattered with blood, strewn with corpses and filled with smiling bystanders. by-standers. The Motherlode was the scene of a vicious brawl, robbers dashed from Iron Hollow with a cash bag and a body swung from the Claim-jumper. Claim-jumper. The Chamber of Commerce Com-merce is responsible for the rampage; a group of Utah stunt men named the River Canyon Road Agents won Chamber approval and minimal min-imal funds last week to conduct their brand of street theatre in Park City on weekends. Depending on how Main Street business picks up, the agents will stage about six different on-location jobs Saturdays and Sundays. Shady Incidents Characters and plots for the old west encounters are based on actual crimes. Shady incidents from Park City's history will be re- enacted to help "let people know there's more to Park City than just a ski resort, and help boost the economy," econ-omy," according to Kevin Peterson, who was lynched Sunday. Peterson, portraying the super bandit Harry Tracey was overpowered by lawmen after robbing the jewelers. Soon after, an angry mob of gunmen stormed the old sheriff's office and jail where the bad guy was held. Kid Curry, Butch Cassidy, the Sundance K i d, Emmer Place, and a Mexican bandito killed the lawmen and were successful at stringing up Tracey. They claimed "he'd escaped so many times he's a legend." A sizeable crowd followed the enthusiastic crew as they exploded blood bags in each other's chests and performed acrobatic struggles in the street. Plan To Get Rich The River Canyon Road Agents organized about six months ago, performed stunt routines at Bridal Veil Falls this summer, and number about ten. Most of them originated in Utah County and one quipped, . "We're outpatients from the State Hospital. We plan to get rich and famous by crashing parties and raising hell." In reality, they put a lot of energy into developing a show. Roger Clark is the president of the organization and usually conceives basic plots which he and the others then work into shows. Kevin said it takes a lot of teamwork to get stunts, timing, distance, effects, and positions accurate. Ten people spend about three hours to prepare a ten minute show. Members of the group report that they try to imbue historical characters and events with authenticity, while adding creations of their own imagination. The major training most have in their unusual work is "growing up playing cowboys cow-boys and Indians," and they believe this type of play important to their theatrical concept. Carlos Merleh who plays, among other roles the Mexican bandit Joachim Murieta, who once terrorized this part of the country, said "We number from sign painters to truck drivers to waitresses." Other talents help, such as Roger's stagehand and acting act-ing work and Kevin's mountain moun-tain climbing experience which allows him to harness himself so he won't really ha"g- Play Dead Kevin said that if provoked by any angry citizen "our policy is to let him hit us, fall down and play dead." The River Canyon Road Agents, who are currently receiving only expenses in remuneration, report "all of us find Park City a wonderful place to work and we hope we can help the town." Additional agents include Lee Carroll, Jim Elbert, Cher Jenkins, Craig Pace, Carl Robbs, Bob Little Joe, and Roger. |