Horn in the West to hold auditions Feb. 25, new artistic director for summer season announced

BOONE — Horn in the West, Boone’s oldest attraction and summer outdoor drama, is preparing for its 71st season by holding local auditions for actors, singers, dancers, technicians and crowd scene “villagers.”

The auditions will be held on Feb. 25 at 10 a.m. at the Grace Lutheran Church of Boone, located downtown at the intersection of East King Street and Blowing Rock Road.

Those interested in auditioning can go to www.horninthewest.com for information and registration.

Horn in the West, produced since 1952 by the Southern Appalachian Historical Association, brings to life the famous frontiersman Daniel Boone and the hardy mountain settlers of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The audience can witness the characters struggle to preserve their freedom during the years before and during the American Revolution.

The drama highlights those settlers who came to the region seeking escape from British tyranny. The story is told through exciting dancing, beautiful music and thrilling action and fight scenes.

The Southern Appalachian Historical Association has selected a new Artistic Director for the 71st season of Horn in the West. Taking the reins as Director for 2023 is Darrell King, a professional storyteller, magician and actor from Lincolnton, North Carolina.

Darrell has been with the ‘Horn’ since 1988, including 26 years playing the role of Rev. Isaiah Sims. In addition, he has also worked with the historic dramas Liberty Mountain in King’s Mountain, North Carolina and Thunder Over Carolina in Lincolnton.

He has served as director for several theatrical productions including Treasure Island, The Hound of the Baskervilles, Dearly Departed, MacBeth, At the Mountains of Madness and four productions of Dracula written for and performed on the Horn in the West main stage.

In addition to his traditional theatrical work, King appeared for 11 years as roving magician Simon St. Clair at the Carolina Renaissance Festival in Huntersville, North Carolina. His performing repertoire also includes the magical performances Darrell King: Wizard of the High Country and The Magick of Simon St. Clair, as well as Haunted, an original one-man production using principles of magic and stage illusion to illustrate a collection of old Southern ghost stories.

He has worked in a variety of capacities with the Hickory Ridge Living History Museum, a further project of SAHA. Directing Horn in the West has been a long-time dream for Darrell, who says his love for the show has never diminished during his association with the ‘Horn,’ and has, in fact steadily increased over the past 30-odd years.

King says he is thrilled to have both the challenge and the opportunity to help lead the show into a bright future, to help rebuild the audience following the interruption caused by the COVID pandemic, to bring his dramatic vision to Kermit Hunter’s classic script and to continue SAHA’s mission of “preserving the past for the future.”

The SAHA Board stated in a press release that it pleased to have a director who will continue the traditions of the Horn.