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CHAPEL HILL -- More than 160 years since federal troops marched the Cherokee Indians from their Smoky Mountains home on the tragic trail of tears, today’s families flock every summer to experience their story.

The 50th anniversary of "Unto These Hills" -- the tale of the Cherokee from 1540 to forced removal to Oklahoma in the 1830s -- will be just one highlight of this summer’s outdoor drama season, with more than 114 shows nationwide opening next month.

The Mountainside Theatre staff in Cherokee, N.C., has invited former cast and crew --including Oscar winner Louise Fletcher (1975’s "One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest"), Polly Holiday ("Home Improvement," "Flo") and Ben Jones ("Dukes of Hazard," "Primary Colors") -- to a 50th birthday bash July 17. Members of the public may catch only a glimpse of star alumni, but those with tickets to that night’s 8:45 p.m. show may attend a 7:30 p.m. ceremony featuring Cherokee Chief Joyce Dugan and Kermit Hunter, the play’s author.

Meanwhile, across the country, hundreds of thousands of visitors will experience history, comedy, fireworks, dancing, singing and pathos in 42 history plays, 12 religious dramas and 59 Shakespeare festivals, staged in 38 states and the District of Columbia.

Scott Parker, director of the Institute of Outdoor Drama at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, said affordable ticket prices are only one reason the outdoor drama movement has continued to grow since the first play, "The Lost Colony" in Manteo, N.C., debuted in 1937.

Other reasons include history brought vividly to life for audiences of all ages; the dramas’ proximity to resorts and sites where events portrayed actually occurred; and the support of new generations of parents, who recall being educated and delighted by the plays as children and now bring their own youngsters.

"Unto These Hills," the nation’s second-oldest historical outdoor drama , is among North Carolina’s best-attended, drawing up to 100,000 people annually. In 50 years, it has staged more than 3,000 shows and entertained more than 6 million people. Parker, whose institute is the nation's only advisory and research organization for outdoor dramas, said its success endures because it dramatizes a compelling emotional story.

"When we see this play, we empathize with the Cherokee people," he said. "We see their dignity, their vitality and their ability to overcome tremendous hardships. It is a very inspirational play, staged right where the events occurred and produced by the Cherokee people themselves. It gives us all a deeper understanding of the human condition, of ourselves."

Elsewhere in North Carolina, the birthplace of American outdoor drama, highlights this year will include two free Shakespeare Festivals: Cape Fear Shakespeare, performing "A Midsummer Night’s Dream" June 4-July 27 in Wilmington and the Montford Park Players, with "King Lear" and "A Winter’s Tale" May 28-Aug. 8 in Asheville.

Each weekend from mid-June to mid-September, on the North Carolina coast in Swansboro, "Worthy is the Lamb" dramatizes the life of Jesus Christ. In Snow Camp, in central North Carolina, "Pathway to Freedom" will again alternate nights with "The Sword of Peace." "Pathway," the nation’s only predominantly black outdoor drama, tells the story of hundreds who helped escaped slaves flee north before the Civil War. "Sword" profiles peaceful Quakers during the Revolutionary War.

For a 1999 Directory of Outdoor Drama in America, send $5 to the Institute of Outdoor Drama, UNC-Chapel Hill, CB 3240, Chapel Hill, N.C. 27599-3240. The directory includes a locator map for 114 theaters nationwide, plot summaries, performance dates, theater addresses and phone numbers.

Below is a list of North Carolina outdoor dramas, plots, places and dates, also available on the institute's World Wide Web site, www.unc.edu/depts/outdoor/  or from the institute at 919-962-1328.

Cape Fear Shakespeare, Greenfield Lake Amphitheatre, Wilmington. "A Midsummer Night’s Dream," 8 p.m. Fridays-Sundays, June 4-July 27. Free. P.O. Box 908, Wilmington, NC 28402. 910-251-9457.

"First for Freedom," Joseph Montford Amphitheatre, Halifax. Max Williams, playwright. Celebrates events leading to the signing on April 12, 1776, of the Halifax Resolves, the first formal declaration of independence from Great Britain by an American colony. Thursdays - Saturdays, June 24-July 17. Eastern Stage Inc., P.O. Box 21, Halifax, NC 27839. 252-583-3011.

"From This Day Forward," Old Colony Amphitheatre, Valdese. Fred Cranford, playwright. Story of the Waldenses, a religious sect that arose in southeast France in the 1100s, their struggle to survive persecution in their homeland and their eventual arrival in North Carolina to establish a colony in 1893 at Valdese. Includes music and dance. Fridays - Sundays July 16-Aug. 20. Old Colony Players, P.O. Box 112, Valdese, NC 28690. 1-800-743-8398 (box office), 828-874-0176 (management).

"Horn in the West," Hickory Ridge Homestead, Boone. Kermit Hunter, playwright; Peter MacBeth, composer. In North Carolina's southern Appalachians during the American Revolution, frontiersman Daniel Boone and his settlers struggle against the British militia. Museum and homestead on site. Tuesdays - Sundays, June 18-Aug. 14. Southern Appalachian Historical Association, P.O. Box 295, Boone, NC 28607. Box office, 1-888-825-6747; management, 828-264-2120.

"Listen and Remember," Waxhaw Amphitheatre, Waxhaw. Belva Dare Steele, playwright; Eleanor Niven McLaughlin, composer. Celebrates Waxhaw's early pioneers, including the family of Andrew Jackson, who learns from adversity and builds character to help him serve as president. Fridays, Saturdays, June 4-July 3. Waxhaw Historical Festival and Drama Association, P.O. Box 1776, Waxhaw, NC 28173. Box office 704-843-2300; management 704-764-7159.

"The Lost Colony," Newly renovated Waterside Theatre, Manteo. Paul Green, playwright. Original symphonic drama, in its 62nd year, on the mysterious disappearance of the first English colony to settle in America after its arrival on Roanoke Island in 1587. Sundays - Fridays, June 4-Aug. 27. Roanoke Island Historical Association Inc., 1409 Hwy 64/264, Manteo, NC 27954. Box office 800-488-5012, management 252-473-2127.

"Micajah," Vinson Memorial Amphitheatre, Autryville. Fred Burgess, playwright. A town celebrates the bravery of its local hero, Micajah Autry, born in 1793 on a Tar Heel farm. He traveled to Tennessee, then Texas, where he died at 42 in the Battle of the Alamo. Thursdays-Saturdays July 15-31. Micajah Autry Society, P.O. Box 146, Autryville, NC 28318. 910-525-5305.

Montford Park Players, Asheville: "King Lear" and "A Winter’s Tale," Fridays and Sundays, May 28-Aug.8. Call or write for specific dates: Montford Park Players, 246 Cumberland Ave., Asheville, NC 28801. Box office 828-254-5146; management 828-254-4540.

"Mountain Memory," Otto. Set in the Appalachians, the play profiles an early settler family trying to hold onto its land through changing times. With original local music. Saturdays June 18-Oct. 2. Appalachian Cultural Center at Cope Crest, 471 Andy’s Trout Farm Road, Otto, NC 28763. Box office, 800-711-0828; management, 706-746-2134.

"Ripple in the River," Helen Goodman Amphitheatre, Polkton. The Anson County Writers' Club's story of Snedysborough, N.C., a small, bustling port at the headwaters of the Pee Dee River, which thrived from the late 1790s until just before the Civil War. Thursdays-Saturdays, June 3-12. "Ripple in the River," c/o Anson Community College, P.O. Box 126, Polkton, NC 28135. Box office, 800-766-0319; management, 704-694-4181.

"The Sword of Peace," "Pathway to Freedom," Snow Camp Historic Amphitheatre, Snow Camp. On alternating nights Wednesdays-Saturdays June 16-Aug. 14, beginning with "Pathway." For schedule, call or write Snow Camp Outdoor Theatre, P.O. Box 535, Snow Camp, NC 27349-0535. Box office, 800-726-5115; management, 336-376-6948.

"Sword" William Hardy, playwright: During the Revolution, Cane Creek Society of Friends defends belief in non-violence; "Pathway," Mark Sumner, playwright: Slavery opponents and free blacks help hundreds of escaped slaves flee north before the Civil War.

"Unto These Hills," Mountainside Theatre, Cherokee. Kermit Hunter, playwright; Jack F. Kilpatrick and McCrae Hardy, composers. The Eastern Band of the Cherokee from arrival of Spanish explorer Hernando DeSoto in 1540 to removal to Oklahoma on the tragic trail of tears. Cherokee leaders Junaluska, Tsali and Sequoyah fight for the tribe's survival. Mondays-Saturdays, June 11-Aug. 21. Cherokee Historical Association, P.O. Box 398, Cherokee, NC 28719. 828-497-2111.

"Worthy is the Lamb," Crystal Coast Amphitheatre, Swansboro. J.T. Adams, playwright. The White Oak River is the backdrop for this passion play beginning with John the Baptist's arrival in Jerusalem. The recorded soundtrack features more than 150 Shakespearean actors in speaking roles and a symphony orchestra. Thursdays-Saturdays June 18-Aug. 28 and Fridays, Saturdays, Aug. 29-Sept.

18. Passion Play Productions, P.O. Box 1004, Swansboro, NC 28584. Box office, 800-662-5960; management, 252-393-8373.

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Photos: To download photos from any of eight North Carolina outdoor dramas, visit http://www.unc.edu/depts/outdoor/ncpress/

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