Big things are in store for the Canadian Badlands Passion Play in 2014.
The play has certainly had a number of big projects over the past several years, including the forum and expanding the main stage, but next year might be their biggest in recent years.
Starting next summer, the Passion Play is increasing its performance schedule to include three weekends in July.
“As far as getting all the volunteers and summer school in order, it’s a big project,” said Passion Play executive director Vance Neudorf. “With the ALTO Award and the American Bus Association Award, we think it’s the right year to do this.”
The decision was made as attendance continues to grow. To accommodate more visitors, making the move to three weekends was a natural step explained Neudorf.
“The weekends fill up and we’ve always tried to open up more weekday dates. Those aren’t what people are looking for. They want the Saturday and Sunday shows. You have to find dates that work for people,” said Neudorf.
To make it happen, the Passion Play first had to make sure the volunteers were on board.
“We surveyed our volunteers and they are gung ho about it. Some won’t be able to make all three weekends, but are still committed. We could never go ahead without them,” said Neudorf.
The Passion Play is also continuing to innovate with a new pilot project next summer. The Passion Play will be coordinating bus packages, in partnership with Brewsters, for church groups over the three weeks of the Passion Play.
“We’re saying to them to come for a two or three day visit. Brewster has the buses and we have places to stay. We’re working with the churches to put that all together. They could go to Rosebud, the Atlas, or the Tyrrell. We think it’s great for everybody,” said Neudorf.
Another project lined up for next summer is construction on Solomon’s Porch, an open building north of the Jerusalem Wall. Last year, a large tent was set up to provide shade for the actors and volunteers.
“Our experiment with the big tent this year was a huge success. As we start looking down the road, we thought we should bite the bullet and build Solomon’s Porch. It’s basically a shade structure with no walls,” said Neudorf.
“It could be used for so much. We could rehearse in it if the weather goes bad or we could rent it out for weddings for example.”
Tent rentals, explained Neudorf could be over $12,000 per year. A new building would cost roughly $200,000.
January will also mark the beginning of writing the new script. The process takes two years and will focus on the Gospel of Luke.
“We are starting to write the script in January. It’s a two year process and we’ve hired Barrett Hileman, our lead director. The hallmark of Luke is he starts right from the beginning. There are significant differences and it’ll be a great play,” said Neudorf.
The Passion Play continues to grow and so far it looks as though 2014 will be no exception.
“We’re going to eventually have to look at how we can keep things moving forward and stay on an even keel. We’re taking on a lot of big projects and as long as we have people behind us and supporting us, we can keep moving,” said Neudorf.
Tickets are already on sale for the 2014 Passion Play.
