Lotta Crabtree
Diamond
in the Gold Rush 
Following tradition, this year the Friends of the
Big Bear Valley Library are sponsoring the 2018 Old
Miners Days Chautauqua, featuring Lotta Crabtree, Saturday, July 21st,
at the Big Bear Lake Library.
Lotta’s father came to the Goldmines
from New York, seeking his fortune. In
1853, when Lotta was 6 years old, he sent for his family and moved to Grass
Valley. A few doors away lived the
Countess Landsfeldt, who began teaching Lotta to sing and dance and Lotta soon
became a child performer in the gold fields.
The Crabtree Family moved to San
Francisco when she was 9 and by 12 she was known as Miss Lotta, the San
Francisco Favorite. She invested her
earnings and at age 22 purchased San Francisco real estate to begin a fortune
valued at $4 million at the time of her death in 1924.
The part of Lotta will be portrayed
by Judith Helton, famous for her one-woman shows, each relating to an actual
historic figure. Her performances number in the thousands for both adult and
student audiences. In 1996 she won a Lifetime Achievement Award from the
Professional Artists in Schools. Her
programs are currently on the rosters of the Los Angeles Music Center and the
Orange County Performing Arts Center.
Helton’s portrayal of Lotta
Crabtree, Diamond in the Gold Rush
is among her best known performances. This program has been performed at the
first theater in Monterey, California and in the town of Rough and Ready,
Nevada County, California; where Lotta began her career at age 6.
Helton has also performed at the
Wells Fargo History Museums in San Francisco, San Diego and Los Angeles.
Visit:
http://www.bigbearlake.net/EPIC-Entertainment for more information about the community event.