The Passion of The Black Hills Passion Play in Spearfish, South Dakota
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Now that you have seen the emotional and temporal Passion Of The Christ produced by Mel Gibson, take a trip to the high plains for an even more emotional, positive, and enlightening live theatrical production about the last seven days of Christ — The Black Hills Passion Play.
June 1, 2004 marked the opening performance of the 65th anniversary season of the Black Hills Passion Play in Spearfish, South Dakota.
The play, which came to the U.S. from Germany, was first presented in the "Queen City" of the Black Hill's magnificent amphitheatre in 1939, and has been in performance ever since the founder, Josef Meier, became one of the tourism pioneers of the state, and who received much national and international recognition for his work in the outdoor drama.
The Passion Play also toured for over thirty years, playing indoors in theaters and civic auditoriums throughout the U.S. and Canada. It once had a winter home in Lake Wells, Florida, in the middle of an orange grove.
Well known as one of the oldest Passion Plays in the U.S., the production has been seen by over 10 million people. With performances three nights a week during June, July, and August, the Passion Play features a cast of professional actors who speak the oratory parts, along with nearly 100 extras from Spearfish churches, who all dramatize Christ's last days.
I grew up in Spearfish, and during the summer months I was a Passion Play extra, and what a thrill it was, even though we participated for donuts and drinks. I learned how to wrap a turban, picked the most colorful costumes, and fought over the best sandals with the other kids.
Once I was a camel tender, another time a Roman standard bearer, and then a Roman guard, and always in the mob scene up to Golgotha, the most stirring scene in the play — The Crucifixion. One night real lightning shot through the skies around the cross Josef Meier was hanging from, and the actors showed passionate fear running down the hill, many tripping, and it was as if transported back two millennium. The play came alive that evening.
In conjunction with the 65th Anniversary milestone, the Passion Play company is planning a number of special events, including museum and backstage tours of the USA's largest outdoor stage. A special visit to the animal pens is a great photo opportunity for the kids.
While 65 years is a long run for a drama like this, the production's root actually runs much deeper. Originally it was a German play first staged in Luenen, Germany, presented by the Monks of the Cappenberg Monastery. As early as 1242 they staged a reenactment of the Resurrection of Easter Sunday. The simple tableau was the foundation of most Passion Plays, evolving as other scenes from the Bible were added. Only a few of those Plays have survived the test of time and are presented to this day — the most notable is Oberammergau in Germany, which is held only once every ten years.
In 1932. the troupe's leader and portrayer of Christ, the late Josef Meier, and his wife, Claire Mume Meier, who played Mary, met with South Dakotans who proposed a Black Hills amphitheatre, following a Sioux Falls engagement in 1937.
Meier considered a number of sites for an outdoor stage and it was the prime importance that a locality be found that would, because of its climatic and natural background, ensure the success of the play. There was a natural amphitheater in Spearfish, without the need of extensive changes. And the weather was stable in the summer months.
The modern 6,000-seat Black Hills Passion Play amphitheater is the largest stage in the USA.
Outdoor performances began in Spearfish in 1939. Even today performances are every Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday at 8 p.m. during the summer months (Bring a jacket, the evenings are cool.). In its impressive size and arrangement, the stage is in keeping with the architecture of 2000 years ago. Some of the buildings are 40-50 feet high, but they do not dominate the setting.
In 1954, the citizens of Spearfish and Josef Meier were presented with the Freedoms Foundation Award for their achievement in community development. Soon the Passion Play of Spearfish became a pilgrammage site. Camels, horses, donkeys, sheep, and doves lend to the feeling of authenticity. You feel as if present at the events that took place two thousand years ago.
The theater evolved from rustic pine plank seating to one of the world's most comfortable venues with 6,000 stadium-style seats. Spearfish changed from a tiny isolated village to a community of 10,000 on the nation's longest transcontinental highway, Interstate 90.
But for all the progress in the past 65 years, the Passion Play would be recognizable to audiences who witnessed it in Germany long ago or in more than 600 U.S. and Canadian cities in recent decades. Twenty two scenes include Christ's triumphant entry into Jerusalem, the Last Supper, betrayal by Judas, trials before Pontius Pilate and King Herod, the Crucifixion, and the Resurrection.
Josef Meier's daughter, Johanna, a well known worldwide opera phenom, along with her husband Guido Della Vecchia, produce the Passion Play today.
While the Play's upcoming anniversary in Spearfish, overall longevity, and massive audience numbers intrigue people, Johanna Meier noted: "We can't allow ourselves to let those things overshadow the important story we are telling."
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Kriss Hammond, Jetsetters Magazine Correspondent – Read Jetsetters Magazine at www.jetsettersmagazine.com To book travel visit Jetstreams.com at www.jetstreams.com and for Beach Resorts visit Beach Booker at www.beachbooker.com
About the Author
Kriss Hammond, Jetsetters Magazine Correspondent. Join the Travel Writers Network in the logo at www.jetsettersmagazine.com Leave your email next to the logo for FREE e travel newsletter.