MOUNT VERNON — Those old enough to remember the Walt Disney version of Davy Crockett would have been a little surprised when Col. Crockett appeared at the February Chautauqua at ThePlace@TheWoodward on Thursday evening. Crockett (aka Col. Larry Brenneman of Mansfield) was presented as something more than a sanitized Disney character. Crockett had a varied and active career and was, perhaps, America’s first super hero.
Crockett was a frontiersman, congressman and bear hunter. Brenneman’s portrayal is set at the Alamo just before the big battle in which Crockett and 188 other men were wiped out by the Mexican army. Crockett tells of his life leading up to that point, his growing up under an alcoholic father who hired his son out to pay off his debts. He recounts his first near marriage where he was left at the altar and his subsequent marriage to his beloved Polly.
Brenneman also told of Crockett’s trials and tribulations as a congressman. One of Crockett’s biggest hurdles in Washington was the derision he faced for being, as he puts it, a backwoodsman.
Crockett eventually left Congress and headed to Texas to look for land. He wound up in San Antonio, inside the Alamo and the rest is history.
After the talk, Brenneman answered questions, first in character and then stepped out of character. In character, Brenneman, as Crockett, would only answer questions about himself up to the point in time he was speaking in. After stepping out of character he answered more general questions concerning the whole life of Crockett and of the legends and portrayals that had been done of him.
The show opened with several numbers by Elixir — Re-inventing Americana. The groups did songs of the period when Crockett lived and debuted a new song by Mike Petee called “Alamo My Alamo.”
The chautauqua was a popular, American religious and educational movement started in the late 1800s and continued through the 1920s when its popularity waned. Some chautauquas were religious in nature resembling church camps. The movement rapidly became popular and spread throughout the country in many forms. There were independent chautauquas that had permanent headquarters and were more religious in nature. Then there were the mobile chautauquas which traveled the country and in many cases were as much entertainment as religious or educational.
Although some chautauquas remain today, the movement began to die out when newer forms of entertainment such as movies and radio, moved into the small rural towns of America.
Upcoming chautauquas at ThePlace@TheWoodward will feature Oscar Schindler, Dwight Eisenhower, Mozart and Martha Washington. The chautauquas are held the last Thursday of every month at ThePlace@TheWoodward in the Woodward Opera House complex, next to The Pink Cupcake.
