Passion Play - United States

United States

Arkansas

• In Eureka Springs, Arkansas, The Great Passion Play is regularly performed. Since its first performance in 1968, The Great Passion Play in Eureka Springs has been seen by over 7.5 million people making it the largest attended outdoor drama in America. Also on the grounds of The Great Passion Play is the Christ of the Ozarks statue (the largest Christ statue in the North America), the New Holy Land Tour, a full-scale re-creation of the Tabernacle in the Wilderness, a section of the Berlin Wall, a Museum of Earth History, and Bible Museum. From time to time popular artists visit The Great Passion Play to perform in the 4,100-seat amphitheater where the play is performed. The Great Passion Play of Eureka Springs can be seen from the last weekend of April to the last weekend of October with performances four and five nights a week.

Arizona

• The Mesa Arizona Easter Pageant Jesus the Christ began in 1928 as a small sunrise Easter presentation. The pageant is now the "largest annual outdoor Easter pageant in the world." With a 450-member cast, the 65-minute pageant depicts the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ using song and dance.

California

• The Glory Of Easter at the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, California is an extremely popular passion play and family tradition to Southern Californians. It boasts a cast of hundreds, live animals, and flying angels, among other unique aspects.

Connecticut

• For 32 years and counting, The St. Thomas Church of Southington, Connecticut has performed a Passion Play.

Florida

• Florida's passion play is held annually in Wauchula at the Cattleman's Arena, beginning Good Friday and for the next several following weekends. It has a cast of over 200 people and 150 animals.

Georgia

• Atlanta's Passion Play has been produced by the First Baptist Church of Atlanta since 1977.

Illinois

• In Zion, Illinois, the Zion Passion Play has been performed at Christ Community Church since 1935.
• Central Christian Church in Mount Vernon, Illinois portrayed "The Gospel of Christ" in an Easter Drama, using members of the church and church staff, choir, and children's groups. It was directed by drummer and church member Jimmy Bass. Although the play was a huge success, it has not been restaged, and is instead copied onto DVDs available at the church.
• Inverness, Illinois - Holy Family Parish teens put on a performance on Good Friday every year.

Michigan

• Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Michigan has been performing an annual indoor and outdoor walk-through passion play since 2003. The play's outdoor scenes include a marketplace, and a Roman encampment.

Minnesota

• The North Heights Passion Play was a popular indoor musical stage production sponsored by North Heights Lutheran Church of Arden Hills, Minnesota, a suburb of the Twin Cities. The Minneapolis Star-Tribune says, "With 700 participants, dozens of live animals, flames, rain and 'lightning', North Heights Lutheran Church's annual Passion Play is spectacular." More than 400,000 attended the performances over 19 years before the production was discontinued. Over 20,000 attended the final season, including more than 150 tour buses and groups. Performances began April 1989 and ended April 22, 2007.

Missouri

• The New Melle Community Passion Play is presented by an all volunteer ecumenical group in a "theater in the round" indoor setting. The story of the last days in the life of Christ is told using a script and music, based loosely on the cantata "Then Came Sunday", by Rodger Strader. It has grown in size and popularity over the past 32 years.

Mississippi

• The First United Methodist Church in Kosciusko, Mississippi has been performing their Passion Play for approximately 25 years. It has been a mainstay in the community as well as the state. Members of the Church and community come together to share in fellowship and learn about the last days of Jesus Christ. This is an original script of the Passion, written by a former minister of the church.

New Jersey

• The longest running passion play in the United States has been performed in North Hudson, New Jersey since 1915, and at the Park Performing Arts Center since 1931. In 1997, there was a minor controversy when an African-American actor was cast as Jesus.
• The Jesus Story, presented by Bible Baptist Church in Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey, has been running for 20 years. First starting out as a small representation of the passion of Jesus, this production has developed into a full-time musical performance. Over the years, the play's format has changed focusing on the point of view of several different people including Mary the mother of Jesus, the Roman Soldiers, the Thieves on the Cross, and many others. The show is performed at Felician College in Lodi, New Jersey, and runs for approximately 7 shows per year. Every year it is general admission and there is no cost to view the play.

Ohio

• In Duncan Falls, Ohio, Cornerstone Full Gospel Church has put on the drama "Worthy Is The Lamb" for over 15 years. The drama features a cast of over 150+, is free to the public, and is presented on Good Friday and Easter Sunday of each year.
• The Living Word Outdoor Drama in Cambridge, Ohio has been offered every summer since 1975.

Oklahoma

• One of the U.S.'s longest running passion plays is held at the Holy City of the Wichitas located within the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma. The Holy City started as an Easter Passion Play in the Wichita Mountains in 1926. The impetus behind both the pageant and city was the Reverend Anthony Mark Wallock. He was born in 1890 in Austria. In 1926, he took his Sunday school class up a mountain where a tableau of the Resurrection was presented. The popularity of this service led it to become an annual event. In 1927, the service became nonsectarian, and was referred to by the Lawton Constitution as Oklahoma's Oberammergau.

Pennsylvania

• In Downingtown, Pennsylvania, the Hopewell United Methodist Church has performed a version of the play in a 1,000 seat outdoor amphitheater each year since 1963. The original version of The Passion Play, initiated in 1963, is based in the King James Version of the Bible, but a newer version, entitled The Power and The Glory was launched in 2005, based in several modern-language translations of the Bible. The church offers both versions on successive weekends in June each year as a free offering to their audience.

South Dakota

• The Black Hills Passion Play was performed every summer for almost seventy years in Spearfish, South Dakota; this production was an American version of the Lünen Passion Play that was brought over in 1932 by immigrants who claimed that it had been produced since 1242. The production was Americanized by seventh-generation Passion Player Josef Meier, who toured it around the country before bringing it to Spearfish in the 1930s; until its last performance on August 31, 2008, the show was produced under the auspices of Meier's daughter Johanna, a world-famous opera singer who had her debut in the play at the age of five weeks. During the winter months from 1953 through 1998, the same cast also performed the play in Lake Wales, Florida.

Tennessee

• East Tennessee has hosted many passion plays among them now in production is The Passion Play in Townsend, Tennessee. Past productions include The Smokey Mountain Passion Play in Townsend, Tennessee from 1974 to 1992, The Great Passion Play at Pigeon Forge, Tennessee in 1988, and The Gatlinburg, Tennessee Musical Passion Play which closed in 1996.

Texas

• The Passion is performed annually in downtown San Antonio, Texas, with a procession leading from Milan Park to San Fernando Cathedral.
• One of the most widely viewed Passion Plays in the United States is The Promise, performed near Glen Rose, Texas. Between Glen Rose, and its sister production in Branson, Missouri, over one million people have seen The Promise.
• The Play has also been performed in Hughes Springs, Texas as The Passion Play.

Utah

• The Mormon Miracle Pageant is performed every summer in Manti, Utah by members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and includes a visitation by Jesus Christ, shortly after His resurrection, to inhabitants of ancient America, as recorded in The Book of Mormon.

Virginia

• The American version of the Oberammergau Passion Play was performed in Strasburg, Virginia, each summer from 1973 to 1986. This version was originally written by Val Balfour. Locals volunteered as extras, and church groups came from all over Virginia, Maryland, etc. to see the play. The same play toured all over the country in the fall and winter months.
• The Loudoun Passion Play is an outdoor re-enactment of the Easter story that has the audience walk between scenes to follow the story. It has been performed every year since 1986 on Palm Sunday weekend in parks and other outdoor locations in and around Purcellville, Virginia.

Washington

• The Passion Play is also played at St. Joseph's School in Seattle, Washington. A large group of 8th Graders perform on Palm Sunday and Good Friday. Their piece involves several songs from "Jesus Christ Superstar" including "Heaven on their minds" and "Trials and Tribulations". This story also involves some minor parts including the Women with Perfume, Mary Mother of Jesus, Peter denying knowing Jesus and The Prayer in Gethsemane. This has been tradition at St. Joseph's for over 30 years.