“Unto These Hills...a retelling” is preparing for its 58th season as one of the longest running outdoor dramas in the country. Opening night is scheduled for Friday, June 8, with performances held nightly at the Mountainside Theatre in Cherokee. The season will conclude on Saturday, August 18.

“We are very excited about our new season,” said John Tissue, executive director of the Cherokee Historical Association. “With the revisions we are making, we anticipate an even better adaptation of this remarkable drama.”

In 2007, the drama will feature a new script, new director, new score, new choreography, new set design, new costuming and new cast members – all aimed at conveying a more culturally authentic, historically accurate and Cherokee-centered experience.

The new director is Stephen Michael Ayers, director of Western Carolina University’s Professional Acting and Directing program. Ayers’ is the creator and artistic director of WCU’s Western Carolina Stage Company and has extensive acting and directing experience in film, television and theater.

“Unto These Hills” debuted on July 1, 1950 and was in instant hit. The drama has shown at the open-air Mountainside Theatre each summer since then when Kermit Hunter, a non-Native, wrote the original version as a student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. A new version that debuted last year adopted a Cherokee perspective of the Eastern Band’s own history and included authentic costumes, traditional dance and music and – for the first time ever – a majority of Cherokee actors. Attendance rose last season and audiences gave the revised show a standing ovation after each performance. Over the decades, more than five million people have experienced this memorable outdoor drama.

For information about “Unto These Hills ... a retelling” or any of the Cherokee Historical Association’s activities, call the CHA between 8 a.m. and 4:30p.m. Monday through Friday at 866.554.4557, or visit www.cherokee-nc.com.