Post by Sir Black Fox on Apr 7, 2006 16:47:50 GMT -5
The Link is: www.hometownannapolis.com/cgi-bin/read/2006/04_07-27/CBN
Below is the story:
Mary Ann Jung is an actress, a comedian, a writer and a historian all rolled into a one-woman business: History Alive.
Ms. Jung, 45, has made a career out of bringing women of the past to the present through her energetic and fact-packed performances.
History Alive is her corporate name, but when she's on the job she could be Queen Elizabeth I of England, Civil War nurse Clara Barton, Rosalie Calvert from the War of 1812, or Margaret Brent from Colonial Maryland. For the younger crowd there's even a pee-wee pirate show.
When she's in character, Ms. Jung's accent, dialect, attitude and elaborate costumes make the transformation complete.
Spring is her busiest season. She estimates that she gives 14 to 25 shows during this season, frequently at schools and libraries and for senior citizens. She has also taken her acts on CNN, "Good Morning America" and "CBS Good Morning."
Her performances are carefully scripted, but her conversational tone and character development make it easy to forget that she's reciting lines from her own script.
"I am a ham. I just love people," said Ms. Jung. "The one thing that people always tell me about my shows is that I am just so energetic, and that's the point! People aren't going to learn history if they're falling asleep."
The county Commission for Women hosted Ms. Jung, as Clara Barton, at the West County Library recently as a part of a celebration for Women's History month.
In her interactive monologue, she playfully poked fun at audience members, frequently quizzed the crowd and managed to live out Clara's life in just 45 minutes.
The audience took part, shouting out lines when Ms. Jung gave the signal.
The designated "nay-sayers" were cued each time Clara challenged gender roles - for instance, when she became the first woman to work for the federal government.
"That's no place for a woman!" the crowed yelled when she pointed to them.
She also had four people put on costumes and act out scenes from the Battle of Antietam.
"People get it visually - don't tell me, show me. That's the point of acting," Ms. Jung said.
When the audience was shy to volunteer she mischievously threatened, "Hey, President Lincoln used a draft, and I will too if I have to."
That got her lots of laughs and four participants.
Ms. Jung's show-don't-tell philosophy paid off with Elena Del Campillo of Edgewater.
"This is a great way to learn history, to bring important people to life and to remember what they did," Ms. Del Campillo said.
"If professors had been more like (Ms. Jung), and made history come to life, maybe we all would have paid more attention in school," said Rita Brooks of Crownsville, a member of the Women's Commission.
Ms. Jung will spend anywhere from six months to a year in research, writing and practice before performing a new role.
"I am a historian before I am an actress," she said.
She gets into the field, too, traveling from the Arnold home she shares with her husband Tom Plott. She visits significant landmarks in her character's life and even interviews the person's descendants.
"I'm the one looking for the funny and surprising facts about that person," she said, "because you have to have those moments in the show where you can still shock the audience."
Ms. Jung researches everything from personality traits and hair styles to what kind of undergarments the women wore.
In addition to History Alive, she's also a director for the Maryland Renaissance Festival and the Florida Renaissance Festival.
The Maryland Arts Council awarded Ms. Jung the Top Solo Theatrical Performance for her Clara Barton show in 2002.
The University of Maryland graduate got the acting itch while she was in college, when a young man asked her to perform with him at the Maryland Renaissance Festival in 1980.
"I still think he just wanted to date me, but when he asked me to go he had no idea that I was crazy about Shakespeare and language," she said.
It didn't work out with the date, but she's been back to the festival every year since. She even met her husband there, in 1987. Mr. Plott is a performer too, but his specialty is sword fighting.
Ms. Jung earned a degree in British history and planned to be a teacher. Instead, she was a front desk manager for Marriott right out of college. She still pursued acting on the weekends and eventually took the plunge to go full-time.
History Alive currently consists of five shows and will debut one about the aviatrix Amelia Earhart this month.
"My shows are fun and interactive because I get the audience up and involved," said Ms. Jung. "I'm not re-enacting, I'm an actress. And there's a big difference."
Below is the story:
Mary Ann Jung is an actress, a comedian, a writer and a historian all rolled into a one-woman business: History Alive.
Ms. Jung, 45, has made a career out of bringing women of the past to the present through her energetic and fact-packed performances.
History Alive is her corporate name, but when she's on the job she could be Queen Elizabeth I of England, Civil War nurse Clara Barton, Rosalie Calvert from the War of 1812, or Margaret Brent from Colonial Maryland. For the younger crowd there's even a pee-wee pirate show.
When she's in character, Ms. Jung's accent, dialect, attitude and elaborate costumes make the transformation complete.
Spring is her busiest season. She estimates that she gives 14 to 25 shows during this season, frequently at schools and libraries and for senior citizens. She has also taken her acts on CNN, "Good Morning America" and "CBS Good Morning."
Her performances are carefully scripted, but her conversational tone and character development make it easy to forget that she's reciting lines from her own script.
"I am a ham. I just love people," said Ms. Jung. "The one thing that people always tell me about my shows is that I am just so energetic, and that's the point! People aren't going to learn history if they're falling asleep."
The county Commission for Women hosted Ms. Jung, as Clara Barton, at the West County Library recently as a part of a celebration for Women's History month.
In her interactive monologue, she playfully poked fun at audience members, frequently quizzed the crowd and managed to live out Clara's life in just 45 minutes.
The audience took part, shouting out lines when Ms. Jung gave the signal.
The designated "nay-sayers" were cued each time Clara challenged gender roles - for instance, when she became the first woman to work for the federal government.
"That's no place for a woman!" the crowed yelled when she pointed to them.
She also had four people put on costumes and act out scenes from the Battle of Antietam.
"People get it visually - don't tell me, show me. That's the point of acting," Ms. Jung said.
When the audience was shy to volunteer she mischievously threatened, "Hey, President Lincoln used a draft, and I will too if I have to."
That got her lots of laughs and four participants.
Ms. Jung's show-don't-tell philosophy paid off with Elena Del Campillo of Edgewater.
"This is a great way to learn history, to bring important people to life and to remember what they did," Ms. Del Campillo said.
"If professors had been more like (Ms. Jung), and made history come to life, maybe we all would have paid more attention in school," said Rita Brooks of Crownsville, a member of the Women's Commission.
Ms. Jung will spend anywhere from six months to a year in research, writing and practice before performing a new role.
"I am a historian before I am an actress," she said.
She gets into the field, too, traveling from the Arnold home she shares with her husband Tom Plott. She visits significant landmarks in her character's life and even interviews the person's descendants.
"I'm the one looking for the funny and surprising facts about that person," she said, "because you have to have those moments in the show where you can still shock the audience."
Ms. Jung researches everything from personality traits and hair styles to what kind of undergarments the women wore.
In addition to History Alive, she's also a director for the Maryland Renaissance Festival and the Florida Renaissance Festival.
The Maryland Arts Council awarded Ms. Jung the Top Solo Theatrical Performance for her Clara Barton show in 2002.
The University of Maryland graduate got the acting itch while she was in college, when a young man asked her to perform with him at the Maryland Renaissance Festival in 1980.
"I still think he just wanted to date me, but when he asked me to go he had no idea that I was crazy about Shakespeare and language," she said.
It didn't work out with the date, but she's been back to the festival every year since. She even met her husband there, in 1987. Mr. Plott is a performer too, but his specialty is sword fighting.
Ms. Jung earned a degree in British history and planned to be a teacher. Instead, she was a front desk manager for Marriott right out of college. She still pursued acting on the weekends and eventually took the plunge to go full-time.
History Alive currently consists of five shows and will debut one about the aviatrix Amelia Earhart this month.
"My shows are fun and interactive because I get the audience up and involved," said Ms. Jung. "I'm not re-enacting, I'm an actress. And there's a big difference."