Skyping with ORU

I just got off a Skype call with students at Oral Roberts University. I could see them in their classroom and they could see me in my office at The Helen Hayes Theatre, the smallest Broadway theatre. It was wonderful. What a bright bunch. When we were done I took them on a tour of the offices where Tony, Emmy and Oscar nominatees and winners work. They said it was very David Letterman.

Turns out that 15 of the students performed in A Christmas Snow, and 11 of those were actually in the Italian restaurant scene where I played Claud, the French chef. How cool is that!

I wish I could be at the premiere of that but I'll be performing in my fourth film that very day.

Like Dandelion Dust spreads out

Like Dandelion Dust is amazing! So powerful. Mira Sorvino deserves another Oscar and Barry Pepper should get one, too!

It's opening in more theatres this Friday. Vote with your tickets for more films like it.

Bev Holloway, who has been a master class instructor for the past three years at MasterWorks, was the casting director. Chad Gunderson, who was a producer on A Christmas Snow, in which I play Claud, a French chef in an Italian restaurant, was a producer on Like Dandelion Dust, and he also plays a police officer.

7 Emmys for Autism

I watched Temple Grandin, the story of a remarkable woman who not only overcame her autism but used it to literally change the world. The film was introduced by a gentleman who has lived with Asperger's Syndrome (the highest form of autism). After the amazing film was over the gentleman fielded questions about Asperger's and autism and how it was portrayed in the film. Temple's autism allowed her to see strong pictures and recall them at will. The gentleman who spoke to us was, from the time he was a child, able to listen to a piece of music once and play it perfectly on the piano.

The film, Temple Grandin, won 7 Emmy Awards, and I think it deserved every one of them. Temple Grandin, herself, was also honored by Time Magazine as one of the top 100 people who most affect our world.

My hat goes off to all who take the challenges of this fallen world and turn them into assets.

An ad from Korea

This video was prepared for my performance and workshop in Korea earlier this month. We now have Korean translation slides available for Big Fish Little Worm as well as Beyond the Chariots, which was translated for performances in China during the Beijing Olympics.

TAM is 10!

Here's another article (see also Good News! - The Salvation Army USA Eastern Territory) on the conservatory at which I taught and performed in August: TAM is 10!

Jordan and Israel

This is a shot of Joyce and me in Bethlahem in 1999.

We returned to the Holy Land, and helped lead a team of a Christians in Theatre Arts to perform and teach throughout Jordan and Israel May, 2011.

We posted stories and some photos here and more photos to CITAToTheNationsJordanAndIsrael.shutterfly.com.

Click here to see photos from our previous trips.

Connecting with the Cornetts

I got to perform at Bethel Baptist Temple in Cincinnati on Sunday. The church is pastored by the father of Danny Cornett and the father of Audrey Cornett, two actors who have been a part of the MasterWorks program for years. I got this shot with Audrey, where she works at a Christian bookstore.

I kept waiting to take a photo with both of them at once, but Danny had to take off before we could do it. Here's a shot with the rest of the Cornetts:

John Forbes' master class

I just came across this photo of our prayer for John Forbes after he shared his amazing testimony during one of his master classes at The MasterWorks Festival. He is an international and Off-Broadway producer, and he's performed on and Off-Broadway and around the world.

Photo by Kevin Hanse, staff photographer, The MasterWorks Festival.

Emmy's prayer for sight

This morning I performed at Bethel Baptist Church in Cincinnati. It's the church home to four MasterWorks alumni, including theatre students Danny Cornett and Audrey Cornett.

The little girl in this photo can only see what's right in front of her. Once her parents raise enough money they'll be able to afford a procedure which could give their daughter normal sight. If you're moved by this, as I was, I hope you'll visit their website to see how you can help bring sight in answer to Emmy's prayer: http://EmmysPrayerForSight.com

The Feast of Tabernacles

The church where I'll be sharing the story of Paul, who had defended the Jewish faith as Saul, is celebrating the Jewish Festival of Tents!

The rough edit is finished

We just got word that the rough edit is finished on For the Glory, the film in which I play soccer coach Sean Ryan: http://RichDrama.com/ForTheGlory.

Rehearsing for the premier

This Sunday I'll be performing Paul's story from The God of Hope (http://itinerary.richdrama.com).

En route to a surprise performance

I'm on my way to a performance that was set up this morning: 7 pm (yes that's 16 minutes ago), Victory Community Church at The Heritage Center, 428 Wolfcreek St., Brookville Ohio 45309.

MasterWorks students Danny Cornett, Audrey Cornett and her sister Ashley are along for the ride. Danny's father is driving us to the church his son Jeffery is pastoring.

In Cincinnati

I'm here through Sunday teaching and performing: http://itinerary.richdrama.com.

Project Dance at Broadway Blessing

Broadway Blessing

John Forbes and his nephew return from South Africa

Our friend, John Forbes' nephew Isaiah asked if he could go to Africa with him. John told him he was too young. He asked how old he'd need to be and John said 13. That was years ago. Isaiah is now 13. And so, John took him to Africa.

Here are John and Isaiahs' Blogs:

John:

http://www.john-forbes.blogspot.com/

Isaiah:

http://wwwisaiahforbes.blogspot.com/ (no dot after www)

Hosanna

The dance team at Faith Community Baptist Church danced to this amazing song when I performed Beyond the Chariots in their TOUCH Theatre and Singapore Expo services. Follow the link at http://blog.richdrama.com (Sept 5, 2010) to see their breathtaking performance.

Best Picture

A Christmas Snow, in which I played Claud, a French chef in an Italian resaurant in Tulsa, OK, was awarded best featured film at the XP Media International Film Festival: A Christmas Snow wins Best Feature Film.

A Christmas Snow will be available in stores on online October 8.

Back in NYC

A very short night

Sunrise came four-and-a-half hours after sunset.

A very long day

We left Tokyo at 4:35 pm on September 9, and it's estimated that we'll land at Newark Airport 5 minutes before we left.

We actually landed a full half-hour before we left.

What a way to go away

Our last morning in Korea was spent at a monthly Bible study for the Steering Committee for Far East Broadcasting Company, the radio station that interviewed me last week. Billy Kim (photo above), who oversees the FEBC, was the translator for Billy Graham during his 1973 crusade. Since then, Billy Kim has become a prominent evangelist and humanitarian in Korea.

After the Bible study I performed excerpts from Big Fish/Little Worm at their chapel. I was followed by a congressman. He shared that at the time Korea was divided there was only one Christian in congress. Now about 30% are Christian.

FEBC has started a new radio station in an area that has kept them out for 25 years. Whenever they put in a new station Christianity grows, so they're quite excited about this breakthrough.

Crosses over Seoul

My camera phone doesn't capture them, but we can see 10 red crosses of churches from one window in the Seoul Tower.

Broadcast throughout Asia

This morning I was interviewed on the Far East Broadcasting Company, and the interview will go out to the regions indicated on this map.

After the interview I got to perform Big Fish/Little Worm for Billy Kim and his staff at Far East Broadcasting Company. Dr. Kim is the grandfather of my former theatre student, Aaron Kim, and has worked with Billy Graham, Jimmy Carter, Rick Warren, and many others.

For more photos from FEBC and our current tour of Asia, visit the Asia 2010 photo albums at Facebook.com/RichDrama.

Beyond the Chariots for beyond 5,000

One of the pastors at Faith Community Baptist Church estimated that there were about 5,600 people at last week's Sunday morning service at the Singapore Expo, where I performed Beyond the Chariots just a few days after the Youth Olympics closing ceremonies.

5 hours

Students spend five hours studying here and only sleep that same amount.

A rooster crowed

A rooster crowed just as I snapped this shot of Suwon, Korea, at sunrise. We're off to perform Big Fish Little Worm and Beyond the Chariots for the US Army 8th Command, stationed in Seoul.

Earlier on this trip we performed Beyond the Chariots with Korean translations at Wonchon Baptist Church, here in Suwon.

Photo courtesy of Jeong-Rae Lee, who worked with Ellen Stewart and La MaMa in New York and to bring their production of Trojan Women to a festival in Seoul.

These performances along with performances and workshops at local high schools and a university were set up by Rev. Joseph Kim, who is the headmaster of Central Christian Academy, and the father of Aaron Kim, who was a theatre student of mine.

For stories from our Korean travels, including our trip to the DMZ, visit RichDrama.com/Korea, and for more photos visit Facebook.com/RichDrama and the photo albums Asia 2010 Part 3 and Asia 2010 Part 4.

Farmers dance

This is a traditional Korean farmers' dance. I can't imagine they work in the fields dressed in white!

Standing in North Korea

This table marks the border between North and South Korea.  Standing in North Korea we prayed for their nation and for the two to be restored.  All of the South Koreans that we've spoken to seem to want this.  Many families have been separated by the division.  The only way to visit them is to cross the bridge of no return.  We posted a photo of that earlier.

Praying Korea back together

Joyce and I are in the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea. One half of this sphere is missing North Korea. The other half is missing South Korea. This sculpture is a sort of enacted prayer for the reunification of Korea.

You can see photos of the inside of each half of the sphere under the photo album Asia 2010 Part 3 at Facebook.com/RichDrama.

Up from the depths

We just surfaced after walking down into one of four tunnels that the North Koreans created in a plan to launch a surprise attack South Korea in the 70's. This one was revealed by a gentleman who defected to South Korea.

We were unable to take photos in the tunnel itself, but the walls were painted black because when it was discovered the North Koreans said it was a coal mine. There's no coal in the area.

We slept through a typhoon!

Joyce and I woke in the night to the sound of a storm. This morning we discovered that it was a typhoon that destroyed dozens of trees on the campus where we're staying. Many schools were closed throughout Korea, but we're thanking the Lord that the school where I taught today stayed open. Yay!

Freedom House

This building was created for families separated by the division to meet in the DMZ, but North Korea has never allowed citizens to leave so the building only welcomes tourists.

Clasped Hands

This design indicates the clasped hands of unification.

Hopeful building

This train station was built in hopes of unification. Once there is only one Korea we will be allowed to travel all the way to London. It is currently the northern terminus.

The photo line

Joyce is standing on the other side of the photo line. The crossed out camera on the top of the pole indicates that once you cross the yellow line you cannot take photos.

Propaganda Village

This village in North Korea is not really inhabited. It was designed to lure South Koreans to defect. They used to send propaganda over the border through blaring loudspeakers. The flag is one of the tallest in the world at 160m, which beats the one in Kuala Lumpur by 60m.

Bridge of No Return

At a certain point some Koreans were allowed to choose sides. They could cross this bridge, but once they did they could never return.

The most dangerous golf course on earth

This 1-hole, par 3 course in the DMZ is surrounded by land mines.