After attending the summer meeting of the Arkansas Press Association at Eureka Springs, I wrote a column about the little tourist town where there never seems to be a shortage of good stories. I noted how Eureka Springs continues to be a fun place to visit for those of us who love history, art and architecture. That tends to be an older audience, though. To attract younger, affluent visitors, the city also must focus on outdoor activities--mountain biking, hiking, floating the Kings River, fly-fishing for trout on the White River and more. Since then, I've written about the world-class mountain biking trails being built at the city's Lake Leatherwood and on the grounds of The Great Passion Play.
Eureka Springs is, in essence, two towns within a town. There's the downtown area with its historic buildings, old hotels, restaurants, landscaped spring sites and Victorian homes. Then there are the motels, restaurants and other businesses that were built along U.S. 62 following the advent of The Great Passion Play in 1968. These two parts of the town's economy often have been at odds with each other.
I wrote in a July column: "As one drives west from Berryville into Eureka Springs these days, the sight of empty motels, service stations, restaurants and tourist attractions make it abundantly clear that The Great Passion Play's heyday is over."
I soon heard from Kent Butler, who heads marketing efforts for The Great Passion Play. He wrote: "Despite attendance being down from what it was in the early 1990s, the play continues to draw people from all 50 states each year as well as 12 countries last year. The more than 1,000 volunteers we've had on the grounds since 2013 would call your attention to the more than 400 gallons of paint that have been used on the property as well as the many other projects we've tackled."
I also heard from Mike Nichols at the Ozark Mountain Hoe-Down Music Theater on U.S. 62. I had attended The Great Passion Play several times through the decades, but I had never been through the doors of Nichols' theater.
"The theater has been here since 1981 and has entertained thousands of people through the years," Nichols wrote. "My business partner Don Newberry and I operated this theater during the 1990s. We entertained an average of 100,000 tourists per year. We still bring many tourists to town along with The Great Passion Play. By the end of this season, we will have brought several dozen buses filled with thousands of tourists who come to see our show. Our cast is made up of entertainment business veterans, all of whom have worked with major artists."
So it is that I'm standing in the rain on a Wednesday morning, knocking on the front door of the Ozark Mountain Hoe-Down Music Theater and hoping someone will answer. I finally give up and call Nichols' cell phone. He admits that it has been a busy week and that he has forgotten our appointment.
"Don't leave," he says. "I'll be right there."
I'm soon greeted by a large, gregarious man who invites me in while turning on the lights in the 650-seat theater. It's Nichols. He talks about the history of this place--how it was started by Jay and Judy Potter in 1981 and later sold to Kenny Sexton; how Nichols, who was raised at Kansas City but moved to Clarksville in the 1980s, purchased the theater along with his business partner in 1991; how they sold the business in 2001; how it shut down several years ago as tourism numbers in the city fell.
"We're averaging 150 people per show," Nichols says. "In the 1990s, we were averaging 450 a night. It takes time to bring things back."
After selling the theater, Nichols moved to Branson to perform with the likes of Moe Bandy and Ray Stevens. When an Oklahoma businessman bought the theater out of foreclosure, he called Nichols and urged him to return to Arkansas along with the character he plays in the show, Tater Patches. Nichols purchased the theater along with two partners from Oregon in 2016.
"I never dreamed I would wind up back here, but I'm glad I did," he says. "Last year was our first full season back. We put on the same show that we would perform if every seat were filled. You only get one chance to make a first impression. It saddened me when I saw what had happened along this stretch of the highway. We attracted more than 1 million people in the 11 seasons we had the theater the first time. Crowds are slowly increasing for us due to word of mouth. After seeing the show, people realize that our musicians have been in the business for years. They tell their friends about it."
Nichols visited with motel owners along the highway to tell them of his plans. He put money into renovations, hired a talented cast, and now has shows five nights a week from May through October. There are weekend shows in April, and Nichols will be adding weekend shows in November this fall. His show gives people a reason to stay another night in Eureka Springs.
"They can go to the Passion Play one night and come here the next night," he says. "I remember in the 1990s when there were four theaters in town. We even did matinee shows. Eureka Springs might not get back to that point, but I welcome additional shows. It creates critical mass."
A second theater just down the road, the Pine Mountain Jamboree, closed in November 2015. Nichols appears sincere when he says he will give advice to anyone interested in reopening that theater and adding to the renaissance of Eureka Springs.
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Senior Editor Rex Nelson's column appears regularly in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. He's also the author of the Southern Fried blog at rexnelsonsouthernfried.com.
Editorial on 09/19/2018