NEWS

Photo note: To download photos and maps, see end of release.

New Web site streamlines planning for attending outdoor dramas

CHAPEL HILL -- This year, summer vacation planning is just a click away, thanks to an online "Directory of Outdoor Drama in America" covering shows at 118 theaters in 37 states – including 10 theaters in the birthplace of outdoor drama, North Carolina.

The easily searchable Web site, enhanced for 2003 with new art and updated schedules and information, is located at http://www.unc.edu/depts/outdoor/dir/.

From the Fairbanks Shakespeare Theatre in Alaska to the nation’s oldest outdoor historical drama, "The Lost Colony" in Manteo, the site offers theater locator maps, plot summaries, performance dates and times, telephone numbers, ticket prices and purchasing options, local tourism information numbers and links to the theaters’ own Web sites.

Users can search the site by location, clicking on a state on a U.S. map, or by one of the three types of drama: historical plays performed on or near sites where the events occurred; Shakespeare festivals; and religious or passion plays. Most open for the summer within weeks, beginning, in North Carolina, with "The Lost Colony" on June 2.

"The Web site is a tremendous resource for the traveling public" said Scott Parker, director of the Institute of Outdoor Drama, which created the directory. The institute, a public service of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, seeks to foster artistic and managerial excellence in outdoor drama and expand the genre through training, research and advice.

The institute also seeks to serve the public by providing information about the dramas, and it gauges the performance and economic impact of the outdoor drama movement.

Taking just one of the 37 states as an example, nearly 200,000 people attended North Carolina’s outdoor dramas last year, Parker said. The dramas employed about 1,600 actors, technicians, designers and others and added more than $60 million to the state’s tourism industry.

With other states realizing similar benefits, the institute, at any given time, works with 30 to 40 communities interested in starting new dramas, Parker said. That work soon will result in two new dramas in Texas – one based on the book and movie "Lonesome Dove" and one about the Texas Rangers – and one in Ohio about Johnny Appleseed. Citizens in Lake George, N.Y., are seeking institute advice in their quest to start a drama based on the book and movie "Last of the Mohicans,"

Besides economic benefit, the outdoor drama movement seeks to enhance education. Often, teachers send the institute kudos about the history their students have learned through the dramas. Plots and dialogues are generally suitable for children, and most kids are captivated by the brilliant costumes, action, animals and/or music and dance in most of the shows.

 “Texas Legacies,” the nation’s newest outdoor drama, provides one example. It replaces the tale "Texas" previously staged in Palo Duro Canyon near Amarillo.

"This 100-mile-long canyon is the second largest in the country, and it’s quite magnificent," Parker said. "The theater is in front of a 600-foot canyon wall, and the canyon is used to great advantage. It’s almost a character in the play."

Special effects technicians use the setting to simulate a thunderstorm, Parker said. There are a Civil War battle, galloping horses and fireworks, too, all likely to maintain audience attention to the history of the Texas Panhandle in the 1880s. Colorful characters include Quannah Parker, the last Comanche chief; Col. Ranald "Bad Hand" Mackenzie; and buffalo hunter Billy Dixon.

"We anticipate that attendance will be strong this summer, as families on vacation continue to show renewed interest in the nation’s heritage," Parker said. "After all, these outdoor historical dramas bear witness to the great things we’ve accomplished as a people."

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Editors: Besides its resources for the public, the new Web site contains pages helpful to media representatives including:

Color production photographs ready for downloading: North Carolina media: http://www.unc.edu/depts/outdoor/ncpress/ncpress/index.html; National media and media in other states: http://www.unc.edu/depts/outdoor/media/media/photos.html

North Carolina media also will find a downloadable locator map of theaters in the state. Attached is a list of North Carolina outdoor dramas. Three stories by the institute staff, available for reprinting, on historical dramas, Shakespeare festivals and religious productions.

A list of outdoor drama facts: http://www.unc.edu/depts/outdoor/media/media/facts.html.  A list of now-famous actors and actresses who once appeared in outdoor dramas: http://www.unc.edu/depts/outdoor/news/1995/alumni.html

Contact: Scott Parker, 919-962-1328, parkers@email.unc.edu