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Acts of Faith at Christian Theaters

NarroWay Productions

Fort Mill, South Carolina

The most popular Christian dinner theater in the Carolinas is focused on producing New York-style shows hosted with Southern-quality charm.

“Our level of hospitality really sets us apart,” said Lora McCoy, theater manager at NarroWay Productions in Fort Mill, South Carolina. “An escort will jump right up onto your bus when you arrive, greet you with a smile and go out of their way to treat you right.” In fact, it’s the performing cast that greets, seats and serves dinner before the show. And no one gets rushed through the meal; guests can take their time to enjoy the food prepared to match the theme of the show.

Though it’s a small theater with only 334 seats ascending from the stage, NarroWay produces several full-blown original musicals, with as many as 125 actors onstage at a time. The company draws from 30 original scripts, original music and a cast of 400 actors. It performs musicals, holiday shows, mystery theater and children’s shows on a rotating schedule that runs year-round.

“Our storylines and scripts are always getting better,” McCoy said. “We’re constantly adding new shows and bringing back old favorites by request.” The newest production is “Samson: The Last Judge,” which tells the biblical story of Samson in both a historical setting and a modern-day setting.

www.narroway.net

Great Passion Play

Eureka Springs, Arkansas

This summer marks 50 years under the stars for the Great Passion Play in the Ozark Mountains of Eureka Springs, Arkansas, where crowds have packed the amphitheater since the summer of 1968. Organizers are celebrating their semicentennial with bigger special effects, stronger scenes and several throwback costumes.

“We’ve really focused on the last quarter of the play, the climactic scenes from the Crucifixion to the Ascension,” said Kent Butler, marketing director for the Great Passion Play. “We’re using new special effects to bring the miraculous parts of the story to life.” Storms will roll in, clouds will appear, and a mist will spread through the Garden of Gethsemane.

The cast of more than 150, several of whom grew up watching the play, will be fitted in costumes that pay tribute to wardrobes from years past.

Still, the best part of the Passion Play remains unchanged.

“It’s not the 500-foot stage or the elaborate sets,” Butler said. “It’s the backdrop of the sun setting in the middle of summer and the stars shining at night.”

The show opens the first weekend in May and runs through the last weekend in October, with a special commemorative show July 14, the exact date of the inaugural performance.

www.greatpassionplay.org