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The outdoor amphitheater site was chosen in 1947. It was a quiet location, sheltered from traffic noise. It provided a natural bowl with excellent acoustics. It was protected from the wind, the surrounding vegetation was lush, and the orientation was such that the sun would set behind the audience and the rising moon could provide a backdrop for the play. It was large enough for 2,800 seats and minimal earthmoving would be necessary since there was already a primitive road leading to the site. The first performance on the 40- by 160-foot sand stage was on July 1, 1950.
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A pre-show leads off the presentation.
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One song was fooling around with various biblical stories, beginning, of course, with Adam and Eve.
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Samson and Delilah also had a part to play.
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A soloist for a waltz-like song.
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Scene 1: A Cherokee Village, 1540. (The rest of the captions are quotations—very minor paraphrasing in a few cases—from the scene descriptions found in the 2004 souvenir booklet.)
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In the beginning was the land. The Cherokee possessed it lovingly.
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But out of the great sea came a seething tide of explorers and settlers.
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In 1540, the Cherokees encountered their first white men, Spaniards under the leadership of Hernando DeSoto, searching for gold.
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Scene 2: Council of Chiefs, 1811.
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Some 250 years later, the Cherokee were approached by a fiery warrior from the north, Tecumseh, who urged them to join in war against the white men.
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