Horn' to celebrate 60th year
by Staff Reports
A High Country tradition makes its return, and this time for its 60th season: "Horn in the West," Boone's own out door drama.
One-hundred
and twenty-five actors, technicians and volunteers, a scenic stage and
hundreds of tourists add up to a show you won't soon forget.
"There are people who live here who haven't seen it," spokeswoman Virginia Roseman said. "That's just unacceptable."
This, she said, could be your year to catch a show that has captivated generations.
You
know the story, about Daniel Boone and the Revolutionary War, but when
you add in fire dances, battle scenes and heart-wrenching drama, it's a
story too real for a textbook.
The play, written by Kermit
Hunter, details the lives of pioneers braving the wilderness to settle
in the Blue Ridge Mountains and away from British tyranny. It's that
narrative that captivates director Julie Richardson. "It's the story of
freedom," she said, and it's larger than a textbook summary.
Think music, choreography and drama, the makings of an epic tradition.
For
Richardson, "Horn" is more than a job. It's an addiction. "I grew up
watching 'Horn In The West' as a kid at the top of the hill while my
mother worked at the gift shop," she said.
And she's had her
hand in it all: Props, production, stage management and more. And, when
she moved on to the "real world" to become a professional stage manager,
she couldn't shake the "Horn."
When an opportunity presented itself to come home and direct, she said yes. This year's show isn't what you saw last year.
"We're
working on tightening the script up a little bit," she said. "I've
tried to tighten up scenes and make them live a little faster."
And,
thanks to ASU dance instructor Susan Lutz's choreography and
inspiration from the "Unto These Hills" Cherokee dancers, dance this
year will be different than ever before.
It's all an attempt to emphasize the story.
"I
think it's an important history lesson for us to remember in this day
of technological advancement," Richardson said. "Sometimes we forget to
look at our history."
The show itself is a personal history to
several local families, including retired Watauga High School band
director, Billy Ralph Winkler. Winkler, who met his wife at Horn in
1975, is one of the five William Ralph Winklers to have taken the "Horn"
stage. "It's something we've always done," he said.
And this
year Winkler, the 2010 Mark R. Sumner Award winner (presented at the
National Conference on Outdoor Drama) can't wait to get started.
"We
want to use the 60th as a vehicle to remind people of how long this has
been going on and what a wonderful treasure it is for the community and
state," he said.
"Horn in the West" happens at the Daniel Boone
Amphitheatre and premieres June 17, with shows running Tuesday through
Sunday. Gates open at 7:30 p.m. and show time's at 8 p.m. Tickets are
$18 for adults and $9 for children. Discounts are available.