The Great Passion Play — Attraction in Eureka Springs

I love the gospel message they share.  The motivation of the leadership to share their faith seems very authentic.  The set is built into a beautiful setting.

Sadly the positives above are very overshadowed by most of the rest.  The facilities are in very poor condition.  Parts of the amphitheater seating are literally crumbling.  The disrepair I saw didn't seem to be at the point of unsafe, but without some major attention it will be soon.

My biggest disappointment was the low quality of the production.  I know people can be moved to faith by the message alone, but it is disheartening when the vehicle of the message is a hurdle or distraction to the message.  The audio of the play is a pre-recorded voice over.  The quality of the voice over is so poorly done and low quality it sounds like a parody mocking how a voice over should not be done.  Very fake sounding emotions or just almost monotone readings in some parts. The musical score often did not make sense with the part of the play and was at times so loud compared to the voice over it was hard to hear what was said. The "actors" are rarely in sync with the audio.  Most of the "acting" is some form of the actors just making demonstrative arm and hand motions.  To steal my children's response to watching it, "Dad, that was done so bad it was cringy and Jesus sounded like a cowboy!"

Before the play the Executive director spent a huge amount of time asking for money and volunteers to come work the grounds.  He also had a lady come sing some songs.  She was so bad, our 5 year old was plugging his ears while saying, "She is making me sick."  Again it was so bad it could have been a parody.

This could be a great show.  The message, set and location are great.  But just because something has a great faith based message about Jesus, doesn't mean it can be done in very poor quality.  This is not your local church's 6th grade play.  Things portraying the message of the gospel and faith should be done with excellence or at least to a level where the poor quality doesn't distract from the message.  I love and have faith in Jesus and the Bible, but I was internally relieved when the 5 year old could take no more and we went to the car and watched Boss Baby on Netflix.

Please re-record the entire voice over.  The voice training and recording technology available will bring the show forwards by decades.  Or invest in wireless mics for all of the actors and have them act out the performace like most plays do.  Please have the actors become students of high level play acting so they know that stage acting takes way more than throwing their arms around.

And lastly the "buffet".  Please visit at least the Golden Corral and match that or just stop serving it.  My wife is the least picky eater I know.  But she was disgusted by the food.  Every desert was burned.  The ham was unrecognizable. The potatoes were the lowest quality boxed potatoes I have ever seen.  My garbage disposal of a son would only eat the canned pears and it was $15 a plate.  Also the clean up crew asked me no less than 10x if they could take my plate full of food I was trying to gag down.

With a major overhaul this can be a world renowned show spreading the gospel to millions.  It could fill the 4k seat theature vs the few hundred who attend now.  The setting is amazing.  But without major improvements, the vehicle of the message will be a major hurdle to the message for everyone except those who find a third world country cozy and the 3 stooges as the best theatrical creation ever.

I truly feel the leadership and actors want to spread the gospel.  But please make what ever financial investments are needed to bring this Passion Play from the original 3 Stooges era, into the current day and age while keeping true to the original message of...

There is so much to be said about this place that holds a special place in my heart. I came as a young child and was fortunate to get to bring my children now 25 years later!

The play: The play did not disappoint. It was much like I remembered it to be. My kids loved it. They were captivated the entire time. My 9yo daughter’s first words were “That was the best live movie ever!” My 11 yo son insisted that “this was the best part of the trip” and “he would make the drive just to see this again”. (That is a large compliment as he isn’t fond of drives and ours is a 9.5 hour drive there!) The play held true to the scripture (only adding a few changes to show more of the story in a smaller window of time) and was a wonderful way to try and imagine what it might have looked like to be present.

Other than the play we enjoyed the Holy land tour. The staff was very knowledgeable in the history of their biblical characters and they opened a view of what life may have looked like during the time.

We also visited the museum which has a vast collection of information and historical items or replicas to add to the whole picture.

We also visited the “Christ of the Ozarks” stature which we found out from a volunteer is the 4th most visited statue in the US.

Nearby the statue is a small garden with a large cedar cross that is sure to bring the whole experience to an emotional connection. Stand directly in front of the cross, looking up at it and speak. The sound of your voice echos back in a surreal way. This would be a great place to come to cry out and leave your burdens at the foot of the cross.

The best part of the place though is the multitude of people that volunteer there. Everyone really showed their love of Christ, and their great passion for carrying out His service in this area of ministry. It was an exemplary experience to be surrounded by them and feel their love as they dutifully fulfilled their different roles and responsibilities.

Whether you are a fellow believer or a nonbeliever, I would suggest this as a wonderful place to spend a peaceful day...

From a spectacle standpoint, it is worth seeing. The set is unbelievably large and impressive. The live animals on stage are also impressive, as is the actors' ability to navigate such a large playing space. But, unfortunately, that is where the "impressive" ends. The costumes are average at best. Lots of Tevas and Chacos on people's feet. Party America Roman soldiers. And the pre-recorded voice over is painful...or should I say it is dated. Probably the original from the 70's. By today's emotive standards, it's - well - to be kind, it isn't very emotive. And it sounds as if it was recorded in someones kitchen. At times the backing track is overwhelmingly louder than it should be but I'm sure there's nothing that they can do about it as I'm sure it's already baked in at this point. If one were sitting far enough away, one may not notice and may mistake it for the actual actors, but none of them are mic'ed up and given that I counted at least two different Jesus performers, the voices wouldn't line up. The "acting" amounts to large, unmotivated gestures to draw the audience's attention to the one speaking, and random ad libbing that only the closest of audience members would ever hear.

Also, be forewarned, you will be hit with "giving" at the beginning of the show. As well as with some preshow acts. One of them is an older gentleman who recites poetry and the other is an older lady who sings. One gets the impression that they are all members of the same rural Arkansas congregation and no one has ever dared tell Sister Susan she is a little flat. It's endearing, but not entertaining.

Lastly they are currently raising money to create a new exhibit called "The Resurrection Experience." The gentleman who pitched it claimed to have, in his possession, two pieces of the "Rolling Stone" which he claimed was the actual stone that covered Christ's tomb. I'm skeptical but that is my nature. Give or don't. Your call.

Like I said initially, it is worth seeing...but...