News Release

Editors: For dates, contact information and photos, see end of release.

By L.J. TOLER
UNC News Services

CHAPEL HILL — "Unto These Hills," the nation’s second oldest outdoor drama, will sound a lot better this year.

It will look better, too.

That’s because, for the first time, the main actors in this tale of the Cherokee will wear wireless microphones. Their voices will carry strongly through the 2,800-seat theater in Cherokee, N.C., one of the nation’s largest for outdoor drama. Actors, therefore, will no longer need to face the audience and belt out every line so as to be heard in the last row.

Instead, they can talk to each other. The play will look more realistic, said Scott Parker, director of the Institute of Outdoor Drama at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

"The microphones will make the play much more believable," he said. "It’s hard for an actor playing a love scene to say, ‘Honey, I love you" if he has to belt it out to the back of the theater. This will make a big difference for them."

Taking a page out of the pop music industry’s book -- even Broadway’s, in some cases – numerous U.S. outdoor drama troupes have added wireless mikes in recent years.

Among the 172 outdoor dramas that will open nationwide in the coming weeks, "Unto These Hills" will not be the only one with new developments this year. Examples in North Carolina include:

· "Blackbeard: Knight of the Black Flag," in Bath, will be staged for the first time since 1987, for the tricentennial of the state’s oldest town, Bath, on the Pamlico River near the coast, was the home port of the notorious pirate of the early 1700s.

· "Horn in the West" in Boone will add a pre-play concert on opening night June 17, by Grammy-winning guitarist/vocalist Doc Watson and his eight-member band. On Aug. 6, the contemporary Christian pop band of Eric Horner will perform before the play. And for the first time, the theater will offer a second play: "Godspell," Aug. 16-28.

North Carolina is the birthplace of outdoor drama, which brings history to life for audiences of all ages. Theaters are on or near sites where the events that are portrayed took place.

The nation’s first such play was "The Lost Colony" in Manteo, which opened in 1937 and has played every year since except for four during World War II. "Unto These Hills" (1950) was second; "Horn in the West" was third, in 1952.

Today, outdoor drama has spread to 113 theater companies in 37 states – as far away from its origin as Fairbanks, Alaska. The genre also includes Shakespeare festivals and religious dramas.

The UNC institute lends expertise in management, marketing, financing, staging and numerous other areas The institute also advises historical associations and budding companies that plan to start new dramas.

Special focus is given to North Carolina, this summer with 10 historical dramas at nine theaters and two Shakespeare festivals producing three plays.

"The Lost Colony" was the first in the state to use wireless mikes, in 1998. This year funds from the Cherokee Preservation Foundation allowed "Unto These Hills" to follow suit.

"Actors today are not as prone to project their voices as they once were," said Margie Douthit of "Unto These Hills." "Our theater is so large that at times people have difficulty hearing -- especially when the theater is completely filled."

The actors also must wear battery packs hidden in their costumes. Thankfully, Douthit said, none of the loincloth-clad eagle dancers in "Unto These Hills" has a speaking part.

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Note: For lists of all outdoor dramas nationwide this summer, visit the institute’s home page, http://www.unc.edu/depts/outdoor. Click "Media Info" for downloadable photos of the dramas. Dates and contact information for North Carolina’s outdoor dramas this year are listed in a companion news release at http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/may05/odd052705.html.

Institute of Outdoor Drama contact: Scott Parker, (919) 962-1328, parkers@email.unc.edu

News Services contacts: Print, L.J. Toler, (919) 962-8589; broadcast, Karen Moon, (919) 962-8595