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"Ramona"
The oldest continuing outdoor drama in the United States
and the Official Outdoor Play of the State of California

27400 Ramona Bowl Road, Hemet, CA 92544
Tel: 800-645-4465 ~ Fax: (951)658-2695
For more information please visit the Ramona Bowl website
 

Join us in celebrating the 85th Jubilee season of "Ramona"
2008 Theatrical Season
April 19-20 April 26-27 May 3
Please call 800-645-4465 or visit the Ramona Bowl website for ticket information.

Since 1923 "Ramona" has delighted audiences of all ages. Entering the Ramona Bowl Amphitheatre for a performance of "Ramona" is like taking a journey back through time.

The natural landscape of the Ramona Bowl remains almost as it was during that first performance, April 13, 1923. The romance and the tragedy of Ramona & Alessandro transfixes the crowd as they watch it unfold, offering a glimpse, though fictional, of the history of southern California.

In 2005, author Dydia DeLyser concluded in her study of Ramona titled: Ramona Memories:Tourism and the Shaping of Southern California that: "The most important woman in the history of southern California never lived. Nor has she yet died. She is Ramona, the fictional heroine of Helen Hun Jackson's 1884 novel of the same name. " In an interview with the San Diego Union Tribune, June 26, 2005 she was quoted as saying; "Ramona is a typical regional historical novel based on accurate geographic descriptions and inspired in many cases by real people and events."

Helen Hunt Jackson was born Helen Maria Fiske in Amherst, Massachusetts on October 15, 1830. Already a successful travel writer, novelist and poet, a lecture in Boston in 1879 about the plight of the Ponca Indians excited the interest of Mrs. Jackson. Although she continued other writings, the plight of the American Indian became her primary concern. She wrote A Century of Dishonor in 1881 and sent a copy of it to each member of Congress.

Helen Hunt Jackson  

Mrs. Jackson and Abbott Kinney were appointed Special Commissioners to investigate the condition of the Mission Indians of California. Their report was published in 1883.

When her report failed to ignite the conscience of Congress, the novel Ramona was written in 1884 to try to stimulate greater concern for the Indians in the American public.

According to an article in The Journal of San Diego History - The Killing of Juan Diego, From Murder to Mythology by Phil Brigandi and John W. Robinson Ramona was modeled after the killing of of Juan Diego, presumed to be a Cahuilla Indian by Sam Temple, a San Jacinto teamster.
     
Helen Hunt Jackson's novel Ramona sold more than 15,000 copies before her death in 1885, ten months after it was published . The influence of the two works (A Century of Dishonor and Ramona) is easily seen today in Riverside and San Diego counties..
 
Even though Ramona never truly existed beyond the imagination of the author, the novel's popularity has resulted in a permanent influence on the geography of southern California. Inland from San Diego, it is impossible to drive far without encountering the name Ramona or Alessandro on streets and major highways.
     
Since its publication in 1884, Helen Hunt Jackson's novel, Ramona, has never been out of print. It has inspired popular songs, four motion pictures and the play in Hemet, founded in 1920 by the Hemet-San Jacinto Chamber of Commerce and dramatized by Garnet Holme. The play's final performance of opening season in 1923 drew a crowd of nearly 2,000 and since then Ramona has been performed annually at the Ramona Bowl with only brief interruptions during the Depression (1933) and World War Il (1942). Ramona is the longest running outdoor drama in the United States and named the Offical Outdoor Play of the State of California in 1993.

Some notable actresses who have portrayed Ramona are Mary Pickford 1910 (silent movie), Delores Del Rio 1928 (movie), Loretta Young 1936 (movie), Raquel Welch (Raquel Tejada) Ramona Pageant 1959.
     
Ramona Program
13th Season of the "Ramona Pageant" 1935 (.pdf)


For more information on Ramona or other performances at the
Ramona Bowl please visit the Ramona Bowl website.
 
 
 

 

City of Hemet
Hours:  Monday thru Friday 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. except holidays

City of Hemet - 445 E. Florida Ave. Hemet, CA 92543

Phone: (951) 765-2300
Fax: (951) 765-3785
Contact via E-mail

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"The appearance of hyperlinks to other websites on the City of Hemet Website does not constitute endorsement by the City of Hemet of the content, material or information provided by such Websites. The City of Hemet does not exercise any editorial control over, and have not verified the accuracy of any materials or information you may find at these site locations. The City assumes not responsibility or liability for use of the hyperlinks or any external website."
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