Between 1838 and 1839, Cherokees were taken by force from their homes, herded into stockades and marched to a reservation in Oklahoma.

President Andrew Jackson, who had fought alongside Cherokees in the War of 1812 and once even had his life saved by a Cherokee, ordered all Native American tribes including the Cherokee to be removed from their lands east of Mississippi River.

About 4,000 of the 17,000 Cherokee men, women and children who took this long, treacherous march died along the way. Today, that tragic journey is known as the “Trail of Tears.”

Each summer, this story of the Cherokee people comes alive with the hugely successful outdoor drama “Unto These Hills,” which celebrates Cherokee culture and courage while recounting the events leading up to one of the darkest chapters in Cherokee history. Now into its 52nd season, “Unto These Hills” has been seen by more than 5 million people.

With a rich pageantry of costumes, dancing and music, “Unto These Hills” is a draw for both young and old.

The play opened earler this month with a cast and crew of about 130 children and adults. Some come from as far away as Alabama, Florida and California. For some actors and dancers, it’s an opportunity to pad the resumé. For others it’s a chance to hone new skills and be part of a growing theatre family.

And it is very much a family backstage. In fact, the play has brought together a good many marriages and romances over the years, including the marriage of former director William Hardy and longtime actress Martha Nell Hardy, who played the role of Mrs. Perkins.

In addition to their regular duties in the play, the cast and crew take turns in rotating shifts to clean up trash around the theatre, repair equipment and props, and maintain the facilities at the 2,800-seat amphitheatre. There are lights to change, dressing rooms to paint, floors to sweep and a myriad of duties to keep the show going.

The backstage area at “Unto These Hills” has the cozy feeling of a camp. Many of the cast and crew live in the summer houses and cabins that are within walking distance from the Mountainside Theatre where they perform. There’s a swimming pool, a dining hall and a canteen building where actors and performers in the show hold their own dance, music, skits and variety shows after their other work is done. Aerobics classes are taught three times a week and martial arts classes are taught Tuesdays and Thursdays. Since shows run Mondays through Saturdays, Sundays are the rest and relaxation days for the cast and crew to unwind or go off to a nearby town or tourist attraction.

The play opens every night at 8:30 p.m. and closes around 10 p.m., so many in the show are naturally night creatures who stay up late and get breakfast around noon. The canteen shows at night after the play offer an additional venue to showcase talents. It requires quick character studies and gives the actors extra improv training.

“Things don’t throw you after you’ve done a canteen show,” says Darren Marshall, who plays Drowning Bear in “Unto These Hills.”

Having been in the play for four years, Marshall has taken on a new role this season, a part that had been previously played by actor Jeff Call for 13 years. Stepping into a new role has been an exciting challenge, Marshall says, realizing he has some big shoes to fill.

Of course, after doing a show like “Unto These Hills” where one might perform in front of 1,000-plus people, big crowds don’t get you nervous.

A play like “Unto These Hills” instills a great deal of discipline, the cast members will tell you. You have to learn how to project your voice outdoors without screaming. And with 65 shows in a season, you have to stay focused over a long run of shows. After all, many in the community theatre business are used to rehearsing for a few weeks to a month and then performing maybe a half dozen shows. For the cast and crew of “Unto These Hills,” it takes about three weeks to set up, two and a half months of shows and then three days of packing up the set.

Veteran Emmett Furrow returns for his thirteenth year to portray the Cherokee leader Junaluska. Furrow has seen it all in his summers with the outdoor drama — snakes, cats, bats, owls and giant beetles. It’s especially entertaining when these creatures show up during the show. A flying squirrel once landed on the drapes of a White House scene, but the show had to go on.

“And it’s always fun in the rain,” says Laurie Beasley, who plays Wilani in her tenth season with the play.

When rain threatens to spoil the show,the actors go into rain pace, picking up cues and cutting some of the minor scenes to finish the play a little quicker. But in some cases, the rain comes and the show continues.

“We wear a concoction (of face make-up) called Texas dirt,” Beasley says, “and when it rains it’s not pretty.”

She too has seen plenty of amusing mishaps such as wigs and loincloths accidentally falling off during some scenes.

Some in the cast have additional duties as technicians, setting up lights and stage equipment, taking care of costumes, or putting on face and body paint during the show. Andrea Lynn Teesatuskie, a native Cherokee who plays Nundayeli in her fifth season of “Unto These Hills,” also works in the costume shop presetting costumes before the show.

Teesatuskie is one of many Cherokee actors who have performed in “Unto These Hills.” About half the members of the cast are Cherokee, although many of the main roles generally go to non-Cherokee actors. That’s not to say there aren’t any opportunities for the Cherokee, Teesatuskie explains, since the local newspaper announces an open call to try out for the play each year in January. The problem is that there aren’t any drama classes taught at Cherokee schools, she says, so many of the main roles go to other trained actors.

Nevertheless, the show does have a long legacy of Cherokee actors and performers. Some of the most famous include Samuel Owl, who played the chief for 22 years and Cherokee language scholar Robert Bushyhead who played Elias Boudinot for nine seasons. This year, the Eagle Dancer — the lead dancing role — will be played by Cherokee James Bradley, who previously performed as the first-ever Qualla Cherokee Eagle Dancer back in 1989. Each season, the play’s glossy program features a special page devoted to Cherokees who are in the show as well as historical profiles on famous Cherokee leaders of the past.

The script of the play itself, though based on historical events, dramatizes some figures for the sake of storytelling, and some of the dancing tends to look more like ballet than Native American.

“I know that everything can’t be authentic,” Teesatuskie concedes. But like many who have performed in the play over the last half century, she agrees it’s a fun summer job that pays well and helps tell the story of Cherokee people.

Tips for audience members

° Ticket reservations are held without payment until 6 p.m. on the night of the show. Paid reservations are held for late arrival. All tickets are held at the box office. You can pay with cash, check, Visa or Master Card.
° Tickets are on sale daily from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Mon. through Sat. The main office is located on U.S. 441 North across the street from the Museum of the Cherokee Indian.
° The “Unto These Hills” season runs from June 13 through Aug. 25 with all shows beginning at 8:30 p.m. The Mountainside Theatre opens at 7 p.m.
° For more information, call 828.497.2111 or toll free at 866.554.4557.
° You can reach the theatre online at www.untothesehills.com or email cheratt@dnet.net.
° No flash photography during the show. Some of the scenes require intricate dance moves and choreographed fight scenes involving combat and gun fire. Flashes that break the actor’s or dancer’s concentration could cause dangerous accidents.
° Keep children seated and quiet during the show. Distractions can cause actors to lose concentration and make it hard for other people in the audience to hear the show.
° Arrive early. You can beat the crowds, look through your program and get a chance to hear the pre-show music which generally starts at 7:45 p.m.
° There is no smoking in the seating area.

 

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The Smoky Mountain News