Rich & Joyce Swingle: July 2008

Our new night light

I was at MasterWorks when Joyce moved us (along with friends and a moving company) into Manhattan Plaza. One night she said, "We have a new night light." Now, we check with each other whenever we make purchases of over $100, so I was thinking, "What kind of night light did she buy?" Then she said, "It's New York City."

If you've missed how miraculous this view is, click "June 2008" under "Archives" in the right column. Scroll down to June 1.

Good morning New York!

JBH on youtube

I just received the following note from the producers of Judah Ben Hur. I played about five minor roles in the Singapore production, including Pontius Pilate and Simonides.

Now they're hoping to bring it to Broadway.

It has such a phenomenal message!

Please help us increase our hit rate on YouTube...

Rich

Begin forwarded message:

From: Art & Ellen Sanborn

Date: July 28, 2008 3:11:22 PM EDT

Dear All,

Our musical, Judah Ben-Hur is definitely on the move. We had a preview a few days ago in Manhattan and are very encouraged. It was the first time our corporate team (Lawyer, Marketing, GM, Press, Producers, etc.) were all together in one place as well as possible investors. We will have more news soon. For now we wanted to follow up on a suggestion from our Press consultant. We have clips of Judah Ben-Hur on Youtube .

There is the 3-minute version...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZMQwiPzT24

There are also two music videos (both are love songs from the show). Those are.....

"I believe in Love" -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiRva3bd1mw

"I Remember You"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbre7ZWRSsY

By going and viewing these videos, you are helping us out a ton. We can then show possible investors the number of hits we've had to our videos to prove that the public is interested in this. Also, if you'd like to forward this on to everyone else you know (or think would be interested in it), that would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks so much!
Art, Ellen & David

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Rich Swingle

@ The Helen Hayes Theatre

240 W 44th St Ste 7

New York, NY 10036

http://RichDrama.com

Rich@RichDrama.com

That's just like the Lord

Early in the week Timothy Bentch came to me and asked if I could develop a dramatic piece on the theme of embracing the Lord's discipline. Later in the week Pat Kavanaugh, director of the festival called to see if the theatre department had an offering. I had so many details on my mind I'd forgotten to give Timothy's message any real thought, so I asked the students if anyone had anything. Kaelen Zirbel said she did, so I handed my phone to her to give him the details and I went back to the rehearsal. Later I coached Kaelen's piece, which brought in Anna Sewell and Jessica Long. It wasn't until Timothy was well into his sermon that I saw how perfectly their piece fit Timothy's sermon. He thought I'd planned it all along. Of course I gave credit where it was due.

Two great conductors

I was blessed to see these two world-class conductors, David Bowden and Andrew Sewell, praying together at the last meal of MasterWorks.

It epitomized the theme I've seen this year as artists have shared the spotlight. John Kirby was willing to let me direct our play before he got there. We double cast the women's roles, and they helped each other develop the characters.

I don't know if the other departments were sharing so unselfishly, but if Andrew and David's prayer is any indication, I'd say the theme was broader than theatre.

Celebrating a fabulous dress rehearsal!

#1 version

John Kirby and his assistant Nathan Nesbitt are here at MasterWorks now. Nathan said Word of Promise, on which John coached the actors, is now the best selling version of the Bible! John has directed the youth version of the New Testament and acted in the adult version of the Old Testament.