Ramona Returns
One of California’s most unique outdoor entertainment offerings takes place each Spring at the Ramona Bowl in Hemet. California’s Official Outdoor Play, RAMONA, began 94 years ago and returns in 2017 for its run from April 22 to May 7. Like Marilyn Monroe’s early stint at the Artichoke Queen at Castroville Artichoke Festival in Monterey, actresses Raquel Welch, Loretta Young and Mary Pickford played Ramona in the pageant not far Hollywood where they all ended up working in film careers.
What is Ramona? It’s a play adapted from an 1884 novel written by Helen Hunt Jackson. The story revolves around a mixed-race Scots-Native American orphan girl, Ramona, who is taken in by a Mexican American woman who never loves her adopted child because of Ramona’s mixed blood. The drama is brought to life in an amphitheater overlooking rocky hills and trails where actors enter the scene, often on horseback. It’s quite dramatic — a real must-see!
Check out the hundreds of things to do this weekend ranging from a Tamale Festival in Riverside to free National Parks admission, Earth Day celebrations, concerts, festivals, parades, flowers, picnics, whitewater races and so much more!
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