live show – Smokies Guide

Kermit Hunter

Kermit Hunter is a well known American playwright. But, he is also known in the history of the Smokies due to the fact that he wrote Unto These Hills, the second longest running outdoor drama in the US and one of the highlights to any visit to Cherokee, NC. He also wrote the outdoor drama, Horn in the West which is performed each season in Boone, NC.

Kermit Hunter was born in West Virginia. After a time in the US Army in World War II, he went on to manage the North Carolina Symphony. Over time, working with various theatrical companies, Hunter went on to his graduate studies program in Dramatic Arts at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. While he was there several of his plays would be produced by the Carolina Playmaker’s. At this same time, the city of Cherokee started to look for someone to write a dramatic interpretation of the Cherokee people to be performed at an outdoor site in Cherokee.

Hunter jumped on this project and began to transform the information and the vision of the Cherokee Historical Association into a script and then into a production. Hunters draft won the submission contest and his most famous play, Unto These Hills was first performed in 1950. Though the play has been changed over the years and the current version has little resemblance to the original Kermit Hunter play it is still his vision that put this outdoor drama on the map. Hunter parlayed the success with Unto These Hills into scripting the play that would be performed by the Cherokee nation in Oklahoma until the mid-90s – The Trail of Tears.

Hunter’s other legacy is the play Horn in the West which is performed in Boone, NC during season each year. This play tells the story of the people that founded the city of Boone and the Western north Carolina mountains. Horn of the West features such American heroes as Daniel Boone and the story of a very dramatic and at times tragic time in American history. This outdoor drama, while not as long running as Unto These Hills is still a part of the history and cultural scene in the Smokies.

In all, Kermit Hunter wrote more then 40 historical plays. He is still known for his work in the Smokies and the people that are performing those works today in the same theaters and venues owe the tales the tell to Kermit Hunter.

Highlands Playhouse

Highlands, NC has one of the best repertory theaters in Western North Carolina. The Highlands Playhouse puts on countless shows throughout the year, using both professional and amateur actors. They stage productions that range from one man shows to full stage productions to the delight of both the local and the tourist alike.

In 1938 a group of dedicated Highlanders presented a version of Kaufman and Connelly’s Dulcy. They put the show on in the local school auditorium. Thus, the Highland Playhouse was born. Over the years they have been under many different artistic directors and have seen many different actors on the stage. They have performed everything from comedies to drams and everything in between. This quaint theater has moved several times over the years but it is now in its own theater, near downtown and within easy walking distance for all of those tourists that enjoy Highlands throughout the year.

The Highlands Playhouse – whose legal name is the Highland Community Theater – is a non-profit organization that is funded by the people of Highlands, by companies in the area and of course by ticket sales to the shows they put on each year. The monies they collect go to pay for the professional actors and actresses they bring in and of course to maintain the theater that they perform in.

Visit the Highlands Playhouse website and see what they have to offer the next time you are in town. Plan your visit around taking in a show. Sit down in an audience with towns people and tourists alike. Especially, if you are in Highlands for a romantic getaway, there i snothing better for a night out with that special someone then to take in a play or live show.

Highlands Playhouse
362 Oak Street
Highlands, NC
828-526-2695
http://www.highlandsplayhouse.org

Unto These Hills

If you only have time to take in one attraction while you are in Cherokee, NC, that one attraction needs to be Unto These Hills. This show has been part of the attraction scene in Cherokee for more then sixty years and it is the second oldest running outdoor drama in the US. Combining the story of the Cherokee people, the music and sounds of the mountains and of course all of it under the stars in the Smoky Mountains, this action packed presentation has been bringing the people back year after year.

Unto These Hills opened to a crowd in Cherokee, NC on July 1, 1950. Since that time, the show has run at the Mountainside Theater from June through August each year. And though the script and the information has changed some over the years, the power of this drama has not changed at all. Focusing on the people that called the Smokies home, Kermit Hunter, the original author was hoping to capture the spirit of these noble people that refused to be forced out of their land and stayed, even though they were told to walk the Trail of Tears to Oklahoma.

The story starts with the people that lived in the Smokies before the European setters came. It tells a story of a cultured, civilized people that embraced their new neighbors from across the ocean. They helped the settlers that came to the area and though some of the leaders realized that the Europeans were not going to reciprocate the good feelings, they still helped the white man establish their towns. Over time, as the Cherokee lost land and were forced higher into the mountains, Andrew Jackson – President of the United States – decreed that they would be removed to a reservation in Oklahoma. Some of the Cherokee decided that they would not leave. They stayed, hidden in the mountains until a time when they could be embraced by a different attitude and government. All of this history and the culture of the Cherokee is contained inside this wonderful outdoor drama.

Since 1950, Unto These Hills has been performed in the same theater – the Mountainside Theater above Cherokee. It is located in the same place as the Oconaluftee Indian Village, in fact they share a parking lot. This 2800 seat amphitheater is all outdoors but the temperate weather in the Smokies and the elevation make it pleasant outside for all of the performances.

Next time you are in Cherokee, NC, or just on the North Carolina side of the Smokies, call ahead and make reservations. Take the whole family to Unto These Hills, let them learn some American history, let them get a better appreciation for the people that lived in the Smokies before Europeans settlers came to the area and of course, remember that you are seeing a show that has been running since the middle of the 20th century.

Unto These Hills
688 Drama Road
Cherokee, NC
866-554-4557
http://www.cherokeesmokies.com/unto_these_hills.html