Admin says:

“Ramona Outdoor Play” – Core Cast and Spanish Dancers

Dennis Anderson: Dennis started acting at the age of 10 when he appeared in “All My Sons.” Now in his 18th year as Artistic Director of Ramona, Dennis is a long time resident of the San Jacinto Valley where his family has been partof the Ramona production since the 1950s. A former Felipe and long time professor of theatre at Mt. San Jacinto College, he holds a B.A. in Theater from UC Riverside, an M.A. in Drama from the University of Southern California, and a Doctorate in Education from Pepperdine University. He recently retired as the Vice President of Instruction for the Mt. San Jacinto Community College District.

He is the recipient of numerous awards including the 2004 Mark R. Sumner award from the national Institute of Outdoor Drama at the University of North Carolina for Distinguished Achievement in the Outdoor Drama Movement. He has directed over one hundred productions from many different genres including musical theatre, Shakespeare, and contemporary drama with many awards in directing from the Inland Theatre League.

Kathi Anderson: Kathi has been part of the Ramona Pageant for 28 years. This is Kathi’s 5th consecutive season as the matriarch of the Rancho, the Senora Moreno. An accomplished actress, Kathi has performed in a wide range of theatrical productions from children’s theatre to Shakespeare, Chekhov and Neil Simon. In addition to the stage, she has also appeared in film and television. Kathi has appeared as “Ramona” in the 1985 and 1989 productions, played the “Settler’s Wife” in 1986, understudied Ramona, Margarita, Marda and the Senora along with appearing numerous times through the years as a Spanish Dancer. Since 1996, she has also been Assistant Director, alongside her husband of over 23 years, Dennis Anderson.

Jehnean Washington (Ramona): A multi talented artist, Jehnean is a graduate of the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York city. She has performed professionally for over 20 years as an actress, singer, storyteller, dancer, voice over artist, musician and song writer within the venues of film, television , radio, and live theater. She is a member of the American Federation of Musicians. She is the current musical director, assistant artistic director and is an acting coach as well as the voice, speech & movement for actors instructor for the legendary American Indian Theater Company and Mahenwahdose Productions (national touring company & production house). Jehnean is a recognized and archived actress, musician and storytelling artist with the Smithsonian’s National Museum of The American Indian in Washington D.C. and was the first to perform there along with the Mahenwahdose troop. Jehnean holds the honor of being the first American Indian Woman to be inducted into the Oklahoma Historical Society’s American Indian Comedy Hall of Fame. In 2004 she released a storytelling C D entitled, “Oniyah! The Tellers of Tales.” Her arrangement and rendition of the “Trail Of Tears Song” can be heard of the Grammy nominated album ,”Song Of America” produced by Split Rock Records and Grammy award winning producer David Macias. Jehnean is a is a board member of Oklahoma Performing Arts and is a rostered artist on twenty seven different arts councils across the nation.

Frank Jaramillo (Alessandro): Frank Jaramillo has been involved with the Ramona Outdoor Play the past six seasons. He came on board as a sheepshearer and has held the role of Ysidro the past five seasons and understudy to Alessandro the past four. Frank took up actiing while attending Riverside City College. He recently appeared as Diego de la Vega (aka Zorro) in the Ramona Bowl’s 2013 production of Zorro, appeared as working man and was the featured dancer at Ramona Bowl’s 2011 production of Anasazi. The has represented the Ramona Bowl Association the past four years at Soboba’s Annual Lip Sync Contest. Frank lives in Hemet with his beautiful wife Suzanne and their two children Sarah and Kayla Jaramillo.

Paco Suarez and the Ramona Spanish Dancers: Paco Suarez has been the choreographer for the Spanish Dancers in the Ramona Pageant for 21 seasons. Paco has performed as a professional dancer for nearly fifty years in Mexico, Central America, South America, the Caribbean and the U.S., and had an extensive career in films, TV, theater and night clubs. Now retired, he works for Golden Era Productions.

Performances of traditional dance by the Spanish Dancers are one of the highlights of the annual pageant. Members of the Spanish Dancers troupe appearing at Ramona Days include: Bonnie Del Rico, Barbara Jean Del Rico, Reynaldo Del Rico, Herencia Del Rico, Michael Milton, Caitlin Milton, Emily Milton, Carmen Nunes, and photographer, Michelle Milton.