The Great Passion Play opened with record crowds Easter weekend to start its 56th season.
Featuring a cast of more than 125 actors and actresses, the play is performed amid a 550-foot historically accurate stage and brings to life the drama surrounding Christ’s last days on earth, including his life, death, resurrection and ascension.
The Great Passion Play runs one hour and 45 minutes, featuring an original musical score composed by Phil Perkins and performed by the world-renowned National Philharmonic Orchestra of London.
“It’s the best attended Easter Weekend performances we have ever had, and it’s the best opening weekend we’ve had in twenty- two years,” Passion Play executive director Randall Christy said in a news release. “When I came to the Passion Play, I knew that we had to focus on the quality of the show as well as the nonprofit’s crippling debt.
“I am thankful to report that in 10 years, we have taken the debt from $2.4 million to just under $290,000 with the help of many donors both big and small. In the past couple of years, we have also installed a lighting system that makes ours one of the largest and newest lighting rigs in the entire Midwest. When you add the special effects and sound upgrades on top of that, it is truly an awe-inspiring performance.”
Kent Butler has been part of the play’s cast since he was 16. Eighteen years later, he now serves as the Passion Play’s director of operations while still performing in the show.
“In 2012 when the Passion Play was on the brink of foreclosure, there were a few of us who got together and brainstormed ideas of what we would do if the Passion Play was given a lifeline,” Butler said in the news release. “We identified three basic needs early on: Better connect to our local community through a trail system; Start mission trips and create volunteer opportunities to make much needed improvements and maintain the 667-acre property; and dramatically improve the quality of the actual Passion Play presentation. It’s amazing to see our dreams come true.
“In the past 10 years, we have been able to do all those things with the support of volunteers, missions, benefactors, and partners.”
In 2015 and 2016, the Passion Play started by adding 2.5 miles of hiking and nature trails built by youth groups on mission to the Passion Play through a mission’s program, Team Effort. This attracted the attention of the Carroll County Off-Road Cyclists organization which in turn led to a partnership with NWA Trailblazers and the Walton Family Foundation.
“I remember getting a call and being like, ‘we don’t have money, but we do have land. We need trails,’ ” Butler said.
Tony Boone created a master trail plan for the property, and work started on the “Genesis” trail in December 2017. Boone, through a team of trail builders, laid the groundwork for what would become a system of 18 miles of trails on The Great Passion Play’s 667-acre property with an additional six miles across from the Passion Play called Marble Flats.
“Tony connected us with Alex and Kelsie Scott of Jagged Axe Trails, and while Alex was building trails, Kelsie ran our mission trip program at the Passion Play which assisted early on with trail maintenance,” Butler said.
Not only has the trail system now hosted the State National Interscholastic Cycling Association (NICA) championship, the trail system has been also a part of the Arkansas Enduro Series, the Southern Enduro Tour, the North American Continental Enduro Series, the Dirt Surferz Onewheel Enduro series, and numerous other race series.
“Trails have built bridges and created touch-points in ways that none of us could have imagined possible,” Butler said. “We’ve had everything from a regular trail user donating a car to the Passion Play to an entire church come on mission and bring stuff to ride the trails. Susie, our executive director’s wife, is a regular trail user, and I am thankful she has been a key advocate for trails on the Passion Play property.”
The Great Passion Play’s 2023 season continues Memorial Day Weekend on most Tuesday, Friday, and Saturday nights through the last weekend of October. Trails are open from sunrise to an hour after sunset every day of the year, free of charge.
For reservations, performance schedules, volunteer opportunities, or special event information, visit GreatPassionPlay.org or call toll free 800-882-7529.
