Rotarian Jim Smith introduced Rachel Lykins, a theater artist originally from Huntington, W.V., during a recent Rotary Club of Jamestown meeting. She recently graduated from the MFA Acting Program at UC Irvine, Calif. Currently, she serves as the Administrative Assistant at the Chautauqua Theater Company. In the fall, she will be traveling to the Milwaukee Theater as a Swing in Prelude to a Kiss: The Musical. She will be working at the theater and performing in the play as well. Lytkins is based in Southern California with her cat, Kiki.
As part of our dedication to improving the health and longevity of Chautauqua Lake and its surrounding watershed, Chautauqua Institution will empower property owners to implement best practices for fertilizer use that protect water quality and the health of the Chautauqua Lake aquatic ecosystem. We will attempt to accomplish this first by educating our community about the potentially negative impacts of lawn fertilizers and herbicide use in our waterfront community. This is essential to protect water quality and the health of the Chautauqua Lake aquatic ecosystem. If you are considering using lawn care products, such as fertilizers or herbicides, have...
Review by Anthony Chase Set in a modest kitchen, “Birthday Candles” by Noah Haidle is a beautiful and affecting play. We follow Ernestine Ashworth at various stages of her life from age 17 to 101, always on her birthday. Throughout these snapshots, we see her experience love, loss, and the passage of time, and Haidle explores themes of mortality, the meaning of life, and how small, everyday moments can shape our existence. The play owes its very existence to Chautauqua Theater Company, where it received essential development in the Chautauqua New Play Workshop of 2017. Under the direction of former...
THE BASICS: BIRTHDAY CANDLES, a play by Noah Haidle, presented by the Chautauqua Theater Company (CTC), in the Bratton Theater. Performance Dates Tue – Sun through July 21 all days at 2:30 except for Wednesday 7/17 at 4:00. For details, visit tickets.chq.org/landing.htmlNOTE: BIRTHDAY CANDLES may not be suitable for youth under 8. RUNTIME: 90 minutes without intermission THUMBNAIL SKETCH: On her 17th birthday, emo girl with a flair for the dramatic (she’s going to be “Queen Lear” in her high school production), Ernestine Ashworth declares in quick succession that her life is over (or at least cosmically insignificant) and also that she is...
The New Documentary, Airing in Early 2025, Celebrates One of the Nation’s First Centers of Lifelong Learning and Features Special Performances from the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis PASADENA, CA; July 15, 2024 — Today at the Television Critics Association Summer Press Tour, PBS and Chautauqua Institution announced the production of a new one-hour documentary film, CHAUTAUQUA AT 150: WYNTON MARSALIS’ ALL RISE, to air on PBS in early 2025. Produced by the award-winning production company Black Robin Media, CHAUTAUQUA AT 150: WYNTON MARSALIS’ ALL RISE will tell the institution’s story through the voices of its current patrons and partners, including those...
Today on the Chautauqua Amphitheater stage, Chautauqua Institution Senior Pastor, The Right Reverend Eugene Taylor Sutton spoke out against violence following the attack on President Donald Trump and his supporters. Sutton, the former Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland, emphasized the importance of fostering dialogue as an alternative to violence, which threatens the foundation of democracy. Bishop Sutton opened the morning worship service with a prayer for Former President Trump and all impacted by yesterday’s shooting. “My friends, we do gather this morning as we grieve over yet another spasm of political violence in our nation. Last night in butler, Pennsylvania,...
Chautauqua Institution launched a new safety campaign titled “Turn it Towards the Turtle” to remind both pedestrians and mobility device users to be extra cautious inside venues and in high traffic areas. We are hopeful that these visual reminders will help all members of our community navigate shared spaces safely and efficiently. An advance notice of this campaign was shared with the community via the CHQ Daily (see page 6, July 6 & 7, 2024 edition). As noted in that article, shared spaces are important to our community. Tips for pedestrians to enhance accessibility – Please be mindful of mobility device users by...
Chautauqua Institution today announced The Roe Green Foundation has made a transformational $4.5 million commitment to advance the completion of the new Roe Green Theater Center, a state-of-the-art, centralized facility for Chautauqua Theater Company (CTC). This gift, which consists of a $3 million outright contribution and a $1.5 million matching challenge gift, comes after a long history of supporting theater arts at Chautauqua, including the New Play Workshop series. The new Roe Green Theater Center will complement Chautauqua’s beloved Bratton Theater, adding a black box/flexible space, rehearsal studios, offices for CTC leadership and other support spaces to ensure that CTC...
At its May quarterly meeting, the Chautauqua Institution Board of Trustees approved a resolution to achieve a net zero carbon impact goal by the year 2050. The resolution empowers staff to develop a climate action plan for the Institution that: (1) achieves net-zero carbon emissions for Institution operations by no later than 2050; (2) ensures compliance with all applicable federal and state climate laws and policies; (3) sets annual benchmarks that progressively reduce the Institution’s greenhouse gas emissions; (4) funds measures to achieve these benchmarks through sustainable annual budgets; (5) advances measures to improve the long-term climate resilience of the...
2024 marks the third full season of programming for the Chautauqua Climate Change Initiative. While not as momentous as the Institution’s 150th anniversary, I think you will find much to love in our diverse exploration of nature, sustainability, environment and climate change. We kick off the season with the fourth annual Chautauqua Lake Water Quality Conference, Saturday, June 22 at the Chautauqua Golf Club. There you will learn from researchers at The Jefferson Project and State University of New York about the work of the Institution and our partners to address harmful algae blooms and ensure a healthful future for...
