Crown of Success

I play Mr. Alphabet in this delightful children's story, The Crown of Success, an audio drama produced by Lamplighter Theatre. 

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I released “Pentecost: Beyond the Imagination,” a scene from my one-man play, The Acts, at www.RichDrama.com/Pentecost.

The Unlikely Wise Man

Also, this year our church will be performing it as a readers theatre piece on Christmas Eve at 7 p.m.: 

Westchester Chapel Church of the Nazarene
at The Sonesta Hotel
 66 Hale Ave
White Plains, NY 10601
(A $9 cab ride from the White Plains Metro North Station)

Here's how I first got involved with this delightful production...

One of the students from the Lamplighter Guild, Angelina SantaLucia (to the right of me, with Rachel Marley), wrote to me several weeks ago letting me know that she got a role in a radio show for a studio audience being produced by Lamplighter Theatre. I was thrilled for her!

I put it on my calendar and looked forward to hearing it. I also said a prayer that someday I'd get to perform in one of Lamplighter's live productions.

A few days later I was asked to audition for the same project! Woo hoo!

I was cast as a Scrooge-like character in this new radio show, adapted by Molly Mayo and Lamplighter president, Mark Hamby, from Bells Across the Snow by Fannie Eden. 

I play Robert Redfern, who is successful in business, but when it comes to family he says, "Love leads to loss and loneliness, and unless you’re strong enough to overcome it, it will ruin you...bankrupt you!" He develops this philosophy when his wife dies, and he blames God. He refuses invitations from his brother (played by David Sanborn, pictured here). He pushes his daughter away because she wants to marry someone who is "unable to give you the life that money can buy!"

But the Lord reaches Robert through a little girl, a lamb, a clever butler and some letters.

For the radio show, we performed it the way they did back in the '30s. We were dressed in period costumes and had minimal blocking around four mics. Foley artists created the sounds before the audience's eyes!

One of the foley artists, Oscar Corral (pictured here, adjusting the mic for his bride of three months in the booth where they met on Escape from the Eagle's Nest), also played a couple of roles, so when he "entered the house," I ran over to the foley corner and created his footsteps! It was SO MUCH FUN!!!

As we got closer to doing the radio show as a live production, the decision was made to record it as an audio drama in the sound booth to go out to radio stations around the world! This meant we skipped a rehearsal for the live version and spent time in the booth to get a studio quality sound. It was a very tight turn-around for sound designer Allen Hurley (Adventures in Audio and other Lamplighter Theatre projects) and composer John Campbell (Adventures in Audio and other Lamplighter Theatre projects). 

They finished Monday, and more than 400 radio stations have signed up to air it so far! 

Here's a preview featuring the voice of John Fornof, who has 
directed me in a number of audio dramas.

See the highlights of our year, which was actually quite full, at www.RichDrama.com/Christmas2020.

The Treasure of the Secret Cove

McKenzie (left) and Rachel on the
set of "Milk and Oranges."

McKenzie Harris and Rachel Marley were my students together at the Rocky Mountain Christian Filmmakers Camp (RMCFC) in 2016, where we produced the short film "Milk and Oranges."

This January, McKenzie was in charge of wardrobe on the set of "There," which was written, produced and directed by William and Morgan Willer, two other alumni of RMCFC (2015 and 2016). In the middle of production, McKenzie got a call-back for the lead in the Lamplighter Theatre production of The Treasure of the Secret Cove. As an alumna of RMCFC she received the casting call I sent out to all my former students. The Lamplighter production team listened to over 250 auditions without considering who the actors were. They were shocked to discover McKenzie was also an alumna of the Lamplighter Guild (2017), where I got to teach this summer, as well as Lamplighter Live, where I first worked with her.

Rachel and McKenzie in the
studio for The Treasure
of the Secret Cove.

McKenzie discovered that Rachel was cast as her character's best chum in the production. Our friend and colleague, Nato Jacobson, plays the husband of McKenzie's character. David Sanborn, a friend I've worked with on projects since 2001, plays a mysterious visitor. Nato and Rachel also played smaller roles.

Joyce and I just listened to it, and they all did splendid work! So many nice moments. So much truth spoken so eloquently. It's a wonderful story, based on the classic book of the same title by Amy Le Feuvre. It's about the power of the covenant of marriage, and it's set up in a very creative way! You can order it as a set of CDs or download it now.

I was honored to be a consultant on several elements of preproduction.

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We're about to announce that registration is open for the Rocky Mountain Christian Filmmakers Camp. Sign up for the announcement.

Rocky Mountain Christian Filmmakers Camp Deadline Extended

Rachel Marley (left) and McKenzie Harris experienced another blessing from their association with the Rocky Mountain Christian Filmmakers Camp.  They just performed in a God-honoring professional audio drama for Lamplighter Theatre that they learned about because they had been students at the Rocky Mountain Christian Filmmakers Camp.

Our camp is more than a fully immersive training experience. It begins before students arrive on campus with online tutorials we've put together, so that once they arrive we can immediately jump into production on a short film. All four years that I've taught at Film Camp I've been able to coach our students for an audition for a live film project. Several of our students have landed roles or been hired on crew because of that process.

But the benefits of Film Camp extend beyond our week together. Whenever I hear about film, stage and radio projects that are planning to honor the Lord I send out casting notices to all of our acting camp alumni.

If you or someone you know is interested in acting now is the best time to register for the Rocky Mountain Christian Filmmakers Camp.

Due to some logistics issues we were not able to get the word out in a timely manner about our early bird special to some of our potential acting camp students. In order to be fair with all who are interested in attending either the acting or filmmaking camps we have decided to extend the $150 early bird discount until the end of the month.

The registration website has already been updated to the full price since the early bird discount expired on January 15th. However, we have created a special discount coupon code that you can use to get the same discount. Here’s how it works. Register for either the 2018 Rocky Mountain Christian Acting camp or the Filmmakers camp from our regular camp registration page and enter the following coupon code on the payment screen to receive the discount.

Coupon Code: EB2018
Acting Camp Registration SiteFilmmaking Camp Registration Site

The discount coupon is only good through January 31st and only while we still have space available. Once the camp is full registration will be closed so register now to assure your spot and to take advantage of this extended discount.

If you choose the 3 payment option the $150 discount will be applied to your initial payment. So the first payment will only be $150, the second and third payments will be $300 each.

Hope to see you in the Rockies!

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Join us for the 2018 Rocky Mountain Christian Filmmakers Camp.

Lamplighter Theatre

Crystal Van Artsdalen, Rebekah Stought,
Rachel Marley and Morgan Fairbanks
have been my students at MasterWorks
 and The Rocky Mountain Christian
Filmmakers Camp.

I played several roles and served as Afghan accent coach in the audio dramas Escape from the Eagle's Nest and The Giant Killer for Lamplighter Theatre, part of Lamplighter Ministries (www.Lamplighter.net).

Both shows were broadcast on over 1600 radio stations in 30 nations.

The Giant Killer is now available, and on that page you can hear my voice in the Behind the Scenes Recordings at 19 seconds and 1:23.

Escape from the Eagle's Nest is also available. You can see and hear my contributions in the video below...

Both stories are based on books by A.L.O.E., which stands for A Lady of England. It was the pseudonym she used to get those and many other books published in the 1800s.

In the booth with Israel Oyelumade,
Rachel Marley and David Sanborn.

After I was cast as a cook (to perform the role, not to actually prepare food), I was asked to recommend someone who could play an Afghan who grows from a little girl into a married woman. I recommended some of my students, and they chose Rachel Marley. Besides being my student numerous times she was on our performing arts team in Sochi during the 2014 Olympics. What a delight to work with her and have several scenes together.

A few weeks after they cast Rachel, producer John Fornof told me there were visa issues. They used to record in London, so that's where all their contacts are. John’s US contacts are union actors. He asked if I could get the word out to my nonunion contacts in case the visas did not come through since just about everyone besides Rachel and I were coming from the UK. This was the first time they invited people to watch the process, so dozens of observers were signed up, coming to Mt. Morris, NY, from as far as North Dakota.

Nathan "Nato" Jacobson and I have
been a part of four films together.

I sent out about 350 emails to students and colleagues who turned in 189 auditions. John and executive producer Mark Hamby said they had perfect peace about the situation and were sure the visas would come through but if not, God would provide. When the final word came that the visas were denied John and team went through all the auditions in two days, normally a two-week process! The casts were announced on Friday and Saturday and we began recording on Monday!

Garry Nation and I (who share three
film credits) got to play giant brothers:
He was Sloth, and I was Selfishness.

The only one from the UK was Israel Oyelumade, who volunteered his time to bypass the need for a visa! Before I performed Beyond the Chariots for the community he shared how the Lord had led him to play Jesus in a massive Passion play. It was done outdoors with 300 actors.

I was delighted that Lamplighter Theatre cast four of my students, and that I got to perform with colleagues from numerous films. My friend David Sanborn was cast in twelve of the 17 roles for which he auditioned, and then he picked up others along the way.

Working with so many great friends in and of itself made it one of my favorite weeks, but the highlight came through a new friend, Akmal. Patrick Powell the director of Escape from the Eagle's Nest found him on an internet search. Akmal lived his first twelve years in Southern Afghanistan, where the story takes place! He translated passages from The Sermon on the Mount, Revelation and Isaiah into Pashto, and then he came up with a tune inspired by music from his homeland and recorded himself singing the Scripture while he played keyboards underneath it.

John Fornof and I in London where
he directed me in The Dragon and
the Raven.

Our director for Escape from
the Eagle's Nest, Patrick Powell,

is one of a very small number

of actors who have performed

St. John in Exile by Dean Jones.

David Sanborn sang the Scriptures with our friend's tune, then he led the rest of the cast humming the tune. We were portraying the Afghanis who began by shouting down the foreigner. Then, as they were hearing words of life in their heart language, sung with a familiar tune they quieted down, and slowly started to join, humming the tune. I got to direct small groups who joined as the Scripture moved along. Once all of them had joined in, something extraordinary occurred. As had happened when he was singing the Pashto translation, David became overwhelmed with what was happening. We were all touched at a very deep level, so much so that everyone observing, including the director, were weeping. Executive Producer Mark Hamby compared it to the tongues of fire that fell on the disciples at Pentecost (Acts 2)!

I'm so thrilled with how it turned out!

Throughout production there were Lamplighter Live students observing the process and jumping into the group scenes!

Here's the story of how it all came together:

Below you can hear my voice at :02, 1:03, where I'm performing with two former students, and see my "sword fight" at 1:05.


Below you can hear me at :25.