Trail of Tears drama to open earlier this year

(Tahlequah-AP) -- The Cherokee Heritage Center at Tahlequah will open its Trail of Tears production earlier this year because of last year's success with the drama.

Organizers of the show say about 12-thousand people watched the live drama that depicts the Cherokee Nation's forced walk in the 1830s from the eastern U-S to Indian Territory.

The show is also benefitting from publicity of fans such as former President Carter and Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg. The American Bus Association has named the play one of the top 100 events in North America for 2002.

The play runs through Labor Day weekend. Ticket prices are 15-dollars for adults and seven-fifty for children and students.