Touchdown Chicago...

..where everyone has a snow plow!

Last prayer request of the day: that my luggage catch up to me.

Safe flight to Philly

I had a safe flight from Portland, OR, to Philadelphia, PA. Now I'm on board my flight to Chicago, and we seem on target for an on-time departure. They're reporting light snow, but don't seem concerned.

The flight attendant was taking classes at the Charlotte, NC, campus of my seminary, Gordon-Conwell.

The guy I sat next to may hire Graceworks: http://GraceworksInc.com

Marvelous Divine Appointments that came through such great prayer coverage! Thanks so much!

Best in the US

Besides being one of the most beautiful places on earth, Oregon boasts PDX, voted the best airport in the US.

My flight is still posting an on-time departure...and, on the 4 hour, 38 minute flight, "Beverages available for purchase." Thanks again, Joyce and Lord, for swinging the free upgrade to first class!

Keep praying for the flights! Thanks to the award-assisting free Wi-Fi (take a hint, airports that charge!) I see that the winter storm advisory is still in effect for Philadelphia & Chicago.

Off to a good start

So far this flight is on time, and Joyce's AMAZING move to get me the free upgrade to first class (see post on 12/19) has already saved me buku time at check-in.

Requesting prayer for Friday flights

My flight tomorrow was canceled, and there were NO flights from PDX or any nearby airports to Chicago, but my AMAZING bride got them to put me in first class on a flight via Philly. I'm totally doing a happy dance over that, and now praying (quite earnestly) that they don't cancel that flight as there are weather advisories in all three cities!

The Cube Gallery

Today I'm working out of The Cube Gallery: http://theCubeGallery.com

My brother and his wife run it as a sideline and as a place to sell their fine art. Right now my brother's photography is on display.

The little building used to be the dentistry office for the father of Doc Severenson, thus the bandleader's nickname.

Checking out the winter wonderland

My brother and one of his Weimaraners watch the snow fall.

The fruit of cancellation

Though I'm still bummed tonight and tomorrow have been my first two cancellations due to weather that I can remember in 13 years of doing this full-time, I did have a great time reconnecting with Ben Crisman (MWF '05) and Brandon Langeland (MWF '0?-'08).

Ben's sister, Katie, met with me to plan a retreat in January on the Oregon Coast, where I'll be performing A Clear Leading, among other things. Also, Ben and I are going to perform a piece I wrote in college in the late '80s.

Ben was there for a read through of our script and Brandon met us there.

As always it was an amazing MasterWorks reunion.

The Java Log

Another innovative idea: my brother and his wife use logs made of coffee bean husks. They burn for hours with a very nice aroma.

Okay, so my award-winning brother takes better pictures:

My brother WORKing out

My brother and sister-in-law run an award-winning company called Lightbourne that creates book and CD covers and interiors as well as doing web site and ad design.

To get more exercise they bought a stationary bike with handles that could be adjusted to hold their laptop and a keyboard. They switch back and forth and each ride about two hours a day at an easy pace as they're prepping for the Mickey Marathon in Orlando next month.

The next step: wire it to generate electricity!

Camas and Newberg performances canceled

Performance of Views of the Manger have been canceled for tonight and tomorrow night due to snow falling on ice. I heard from a friend that there are only about five snow plows in the whole Portland metro area!

The good news is that we've already rescheduled performances for January: RichDrama.com/Itinerary.

Mt. Hood

We're beginning our descent into Portland.

I've been blessed to visit 24 nations and 49 states, and I still think this Oregon, where I started, is among the most beautiful places on earth.

Our former capitol

Annapolis was only 8 miles from where we performed, so we had lunch there. There was a group of Singles on Sailboats that packed out the largest room of our restaurant, so it makes you wonder how many people sail in total!

Annapolis was our nation's capitol (and remains the capitol of MD). Their State House used to serve as the US Capitol Building.

Sailboats

Here you can see the masts of the sailboats in the distance.

Daughter of an Olympic Champion

After tonight's performance, Julie Gallimore (pictured here) bought a copy of Running the Race (available at http://RichDrama.com/BookStore). Her father, Richard E. Howell, won the gold medal in swimming for the 4x200m freestyle relay at the Paris Olympics in 1924. He died before Chariots of Fire, which covers those Games from the viewpoint of several British runners, including Eric Liddell. I tell about the rest of Liddell's story in my play Beyond the Chariots (http://RichDrama.com/BeyondtheChariots). Gallimore said her father did get a biography about Eric Liddell by DP Thomson in the early '70's. John Keddie, the author of Running the Race, helped compile Liddell's track record for that book.

The photo is by Dr. Timothy Beal, the pastor of Woods Memorial Presbyterian Church, where I performed Views of the Manger: http://RichDrama.com/ViewsoftheManger. We attended one of their worship services this morning and I was so moved that if I weren't already a Christian I'm sure I would have given my life to the Lord today! One of the reasons I was so touched was that Dr. Beal's message was on Joseph, who's story is at the middle of the five-character play. So many of the points Dr. Beal made paralleled things in Views of the Manger that I knew would reinforce his message. The Lord set it up!

How about that moon last night?

In DC

We're going to hang out with Joyce's family down here before our performance near Annapolis on Sunday: http://RichDrama.com/Itinerary

The tree is lit

Tree lighting

We're experiencing another perk at Manhattan Plaza ( http://RichDrama.com/MP ): The tree lighting cereony. We're singing Christmas carols with The Manhattan Brass Quintent. They've been doing this for the past 15 years.

We were delighted that they focused on carols proclaiming the birth of Christ.

The Jingle Bell Jog

I went out for a morning run to find people warming up for The Jingle Bell Jog right outside my hotel. So I ran it. I've been training to play Eric Liddell in the spring for the dramatizations we'll add to our documentary: http://RichDrama.com/OlympicHeroinChina

But I over-estimated what kind of shape I was in and let the leader drain me in that first km, but I managed to stay in 8th place and brought home a 2nd place medal for my age group. My time for the 5k course was 19:55, way off my college times, but I haven't raced at this distance since then, so I guess it wasn't too bad. Most of the run was on the Austin Peay State University campus. Their banners proudly encourage: "Go Peay!"

Clarksville

From Clarksville, TN

What an amazing place I found Clarksville to be. I often create albums separate from this blog when I visit foreign cities because I find myself taking so many photos. This is the first US city for which I've created a separate album. It's that picturesque. A lot of the photos are from their extensive Christmas lights: Clarksville, TN.

Clarksville by way of Nashville

From Clarksville, TN

I had performances in Clarksville, TN, but I got to fly into Nashville, so I drove through Downtown to reminisce.

For my first visit I parked in this parking lot before hitting the town. It was on one of my first nation-wide tours and we'd driven a long way that day. My friend, Steve Prusko, and I took a nap so we'd be fresh for the sites. When we woke up everything was closed! We had to leave for a performance the next day, but I was able to return for a Compassion artists retreat at Michael W. Smith's ranch and to teach DJs a class called Theatre of the Mind at the Gospel Music Association.

You've read the book, now see the film!

James, the Movie!  My wife, Joyce, has been leading a Bible study on the Book of James over the last few months.  We're closing with a review of the book, including James the Movie, which I performed when I was a student at George Fox College ( http://GeorgeFox.edu ).

It will all happen this coming Sunday, November 30, in our 9:30 a.m. Bible Study.    

Come prepared to participate (if you want to) in this entertaining and incisive look at The Book of James.  You'll be encouraged and edified.

For directions visit http://WestchesterChapel.org

Happy Thanksgiving!

It's like Grand Central Station on Thanksgiving Day

Actually it is!

You're Pulling My Leg!

For Thanksgiving I'm bringing Truth or Fib, which is now marketed as You're Pulling My Leg! The award-winning game was developed by Allen Wolf, who used to attend Inter-Mission, when it had a NYC chapter. He created the game to help finance his upcoming movie, In My Sleep, which is now in post-production.

Fasting coffee

An alumna of MasterWorks ( http://MasterWorksFestival.org ), who is
now working for Compassion ( http://RichDrama.com/Compassion ) just
featured on Compassion's blog: http://blog.compassion.com/fast-for-food/#comment-4105

She and her colleagues are fasting coffee for a month and donating the
money they would have spent to The Global Food Crisis fund: https://www.compassion.com/contribution/giving/global-food-crisis.htm?referer=51090

I donated, and now I'm joining them in their coffee fast...until
Thanksgiving.

Views of the Manger in Five States

From Views of the Manger

I'll be bringing Views of the Manger to five states this Season. Hope to see you there.

Olympic Hero in China

We finished our documentary Olympic Hero in China: The Eric Liddell Story in time for the Beijing Olympics. I interviewed Mary Previte, Hudson Taylor's great-granddaughter, and provided questions for most of the interviews.

I had opportunities to share before and after screenings in Hong Kong and Macao during the Games.

While I was there I got to do the English narration. We screened it in the fall of 2008, November 14 in New York City and November 20 in White Plains, NY.

Altogether we were in Asia for five weeks surrounding the Olympics. You can see updates in the August and September archives on my blog. I also posted some things long after returning in the October archive.

Article on Views of the Manger

The Clarksville Leaf Chronicle just ran an article on my upcoming performances of Views of the Manger: 

Dinner theater spotlights Christmas theme

The only thing they got wrong was that they speak of The Lamb's Repertoire Theatre as if it's still happening.  She looked at an old bio.  The current one is at http://RichDrama.com/Bio.

Schools

These are schools or student organizations where I have taught, performed and/or directed:

Colleges and Universities

Arts Programs and Conferences

High Schools

Elementaries

Colleges and Universities

PRINCETON UNIVERSITY, NJ

Graceworks workshop for the School of Architecture (annually since 2008)

COLLEGE FOR OFFICER TRAINING, CUBA
Workshop on Drama in Ministry

AFRICA NAZARENE UNIVERSITY
Seven chapels on two campuses, including
Shepherds Reflect on the 23rd Psalm and several short pieces

NAMSEOUL UNIVERSITY, KOREA
Performance of Beyond the Chariots
Workshop

ASIA-PACIFIC NAZARENE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, THE PHILIPPINES
Chapel
Lectures

SINGAPORE BIBLE COLLEGE, SINGAPORE

Workshop

SCHOOL FOR OFFICER TRAINING, MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA
Enacted Prayer Workshop

INTERNATIONAL COLLEGE OF OFFICERS, LONDON
Enacted Prayer Workshop, performance of Beyond the Chariots

GEORGE FOX UNIVERSITY, OR (Has been rated the number one Christian college in America by Forbes and US News and World Report)
Chapel – Big Fish Little Worm multiple times

Introduction to Acting – Developing Characters

Introduction to Sociology – Sociodrama

Systems of Social Work – Sociodrama

Introduction to Social Work – Sociodrama

Playwriting – Writing for stage and screen

Oral Interpretation of Lit. – Cartoon Voices (2 sessions)

Technical Theatre – Theories on Technical and DirectingTies

GEORGE FOX SEMINARY, OR

Using Drama in Ministry (workshop and later a one-credit course)

SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY

Graceworks workshop

BIOLA UNIVERSITY
Beyond the Chariots
Journey to the Garden for their Easter Chapel

FULLER THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY
Spoke on a panel with Patricia Mauceri, Lauren Yarger and Retta Blaney

COOPER UNION, NYC
Performance for Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship

UNIVERSITY OF MEMPHIS, TN
Graceworks Workshop for the School of Music

PRATT INSTITUTE, NY
Annual Graceworks workshop

REGENT UNIVERSITY, VA

Workshop for students visiting NYC

ASBURY UNIVERSITY
Addressed students visiting NYC on two visits

CITY COLLEGE, CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK
A Clear Leading as a part of the Price of Life

FURMAN UNIVERSITY, SC

Performance

BELHAVEN UNIVERSITY, MS
Beyond the Chariots
Workshops

PATRICK HENRY COLLEGE, VA
Panel after a screening of The Screenwriters

COLLEGE FOR OFFICER TRAINING, NY
Led a chapel in enacted prayer

ORAL ROBERTS UNIVERSITY, OK
Video conference lecture

LAMPLIGHTER MASTERS GUILD FOR THE ARTS, LEADERSHIP, AND THEOLOGY

Coached accents and performed The Unlikely Wise Man with students

Performed excerpts from my one-man play Views of the Manger

NEW YORK CITY COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY, CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK
Public presentation workshop for staff and students
Public presentation workshop for student leadership retreat in the Poconos.

WILLIAM CAREY INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY, CA

Performance, Beyond the Chariots

MISSOURI BAPTIST UNIVERSITY, MO
Workshops

SPRING ARBOR UNIVERSITY, MI
Performance, Big Fish Little Worm

FREED-HARDEMAN UNIVERSITY, TN
Video conference lecture

GRACE COLLEGE, IN
Performances in Rodeheaver Auditorium

BETHEL COLLEGE, IN
Big Fish Little Worm for Chapel
Acting workshop
Two enacted prayer workshops

EARLHAM COLLEGE, IN

Open Forum – Reaching Others Through Art

Humanities – Tragedy

Earlham Young Friends – Performing Arts

Human Existence – Theatre Ministry and Christian Faith

Counseling and Psychotherapy – Sociodrama

Introduction to Theatre – Theatre as Ministry

Quakerism – John Woolman and 17th c. Quakerism

WILMINGTON COLLEGE, OH

Quaker Lecture for students and community – John Woolman

Introduction to the Bible – Jonah, Gideon, The Vine and theBranches

Introduction to Acting – Christian Theatre Trends

Prison Campus Extensions – Sociodrama

(three visits)

CONCORDIA COLLEGE, MN

Drama workshops

Performance

WHITWORTH COLLEGE, WA

Chapel

Workshops

CRICHTON COLLEGE, TN

Performance

Workshop

MONTREAT COLLEGE, NC

Performance

Workshops

CLEARWATER CHRISTIAN COLLEGE, FL

Performances

Workshops

ANDERSON UNIVERSITY, SC

Chapel

Drama workshop

NORTH GREENVILLE COLLEGE, SC

Sociodrama and drama workshops

Performances

LIMESTONE COLLEGE, SC

Drama workshops

Performances

TABOR COLLEGE, KS

Drama workshops

Performance

STERLING COLLEGE, KS

Performance

Workshop

GENEVA COLLEGE, PA

Performance

Theatre workshop

SOUTHERN ADVENTIST UNIVERSITY, TN

Chapel

Performance

Workshop

FRIENDS UNIVERSITY, KS

Chapel

Drama workshops

FONTBONNE COLLEGE, MO

Performance

Drama workshop

NYACK COLLEGE, Nyack and Manhattan, NY, campuses

Sociodrama workshops

ALLIANCE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, NY

Chapel

Sociodrama workshop

(two visits)

GUILFORD COLLEGE, NC

Chapel

Workshops

TULSA COMMUNITY COLLEGE, OK
Guest lecturer

Arts Programs and Conferences

IVY LEAGUE CONGRESS ON FAITH AND ACTION, Hosted by Harvard University, MA
Presented on the panel for Arts and Entertainment
Students from all eight Ivy League schools attended the congress

CHRISTIAN WORLDVIEW FILM FESTIVAL

Four years

Performed short one-man dramas about Jonah, Gideon, and Eric Liddell

Taught various workshops on acting for film

HOLLYWOOD DIVINE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

Two years

Spoke on panels

Performed short dramas on Gideon and Lazarus

GREAT LAKES CHRISTIAN FILM FESTIVAL

Spoke on a panel of actors

Performed Five Bells for 9/11

Honorary Actor of the Year, 2022

ROCKY MOUNTAIN CHRISTIAN FILMMAKERS CAMP, CO
Teaching film acting and auditions
coaching and writing short films
(2014-2021)

NATIONAL COUNCIL OF CHURCHES, CUBA
Workshop on Drama in Ministry

MÜVÉSZETI TÁBOR (ARTS CAMP), ROMANIA
Beyond the Chariots
Acting
Enacted Prayer
Presentation Skills

ENGAGE SOCHI, RUSSIA

Wrote and directed “Who is the Fish” in ten languages for a team to perform in the Olympic Plaza, Downtown Sochi and Krosnaya-Polyana at the Roza Khutor Alpine Resort during the 2014 Olympics: www.RichDrama.com/WhoistheFish.

CHRISTIAN MUSIC ASSOCIATION, TN
Theatre for the Mind

FAITH-BASED ACTORS GROUP, CA
Guest Director
Performed "Lazarus"

SALVATION ARMY DRAMA WORKSHOP, CUBA
Facilitated the creation and preparation of a sketch through bibliodrama and sociodrama

LAMPLIGHTER GUILD FOR CREATIVE DISCIPLINES, NY
Facilitated the creation and preparation of four sketches (2018)

Taught voice acting and directed audio dramas and commercials (2021)

LAMPLIGHTER LIVE, NY
Led warm-ups and taught the Pashto (Iraq) accent

FILIPINO SUNDAY SCHOOL, HONG KONG
Helped class develop a sketch in Tagalog and perform it on the streets of Hong Kong

EASTERN TERRITORIAL ARTS MINISTRIES CONSERVATORY, NY

Performances

Directing

Workshops

(since 2001)

NORTH DAKOTA HOME SCHOOL ASSOCIATION HOME EDUCATORS CONVENTION, ND
The Acts
Acting workshops

APPLIED THEATRE CONFERENCE, SC
Facilitated the creation and preparation of a sketch through sociodrama

MASTERWORKS FESTIVAL, IN

Theatre Program Director (ten years, directing and/or producing ten plays)
   Anne of Green Gables (produced)
   A Midsummer Night's Dream (produced)
   The Crucible (produced)
   Tartuffe (produced and co-directed with John Kirby)
   Our Town by Thornton Wilder (produced and co-directed with John Kirby)
   The Miracle Worker (produced and directed)
   Cyrano de Bergerac (produced and directed)
   The Jeweler's Shop (produced and directed)
   Twelve Angry Jurors (produced and directed)
   Much Ado About Nothing (produced and directed)

Theatre faculty or master class instructor (16 years)

CREATIVE ARTS SERVICE TEAM (CAST), A MINISTRY TEAM OF EASTERN TERRITORIAL ARTS MINISTRIES

Directing

Teaching

(three years)

CANADA/BERMUDA TERRITORIAL SCHOOL OF MUSIC AND GOSPEL ARTS, ONTARIO, CANADA

Performances

Directing

Workshops

(three years)

SOUTHERN TERRITORIAL MUSIC INSTITUTE, OK

Performance

Guest directing
Creating a drama through Sociodrama
(two years)

ONTARIO DIVISIONAL SCHOOL OF MUSIC AND GOSPEL ARTS, ONTARIO, CANADA

Performances

Directing

Workshops

YOUTH QUAKE, SC AND WA

National Quaker Youth Retreat

Performances

Workshops, including one on Conflict Resolution

CAMP TACONIC JUNIOR HIGH CAMPS, NY
Performed numerous sketches
Taught drama workshops
(two years)

NAZARENE YOUTH INTERNATIONAL MIDWINTER RETREAT, NY

Performances

Theatre for Conflict Resolution

NORTHWEST YOUTHLEADERS TRAINING CONFERENCE
Using Drama in Youth Ministry

CHRISTIANS IN THEATRE ARTS
Various workshops, performances in various states and nations, including
Beyond the Chariots
I Dreamed I Was Free
Big Fish Little Worm
Sociodrama for Actors and Directors
Sociodrama for Scriptwriters
in Los Angeles, Toronto, Houston, Boston, Chicago and more

High Schools

SEOUL FOREIGN SCHOOL, KOREA
Assembly
Performances and workshops

CENTRAL CHRISTIAN ACADEMY, KOREA
Chapel performances
Sociodrama for faculty
Evening performance for the community

GYEONGGI SUWON INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL, KOREA

Acting workshops

Chapel presentations

GYEONGGI ACADEMY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES, KOREA
Chapel performance with Q/A

TAEJON CHRISTIAN INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL, KOREA
Workshop
Assembly

INTERNATIONAL CHRISTIAN SCHOOL OF UIJONGBU, KOREA
Workshop
Assembly Performance

MORRISON ACADEMY, TAICHUNG, TAIWAN
Spiritual Life Week with my bride, Joyce Swingle

MORRISON ACADEMY, TAIPEI, TAIWAN
Big Fish Little Worm for Assembly
Guest teacher for six classes

MORRISON ACADEMY, KAOSIUNG, TAIWAN
Big Fish Little Worm for Assembly

AMMAN BAPTIST SCHOOL, JORDAN
Led a team of teachers and performing artists to present two evenings of drama and three days of performing arts classes
Evening performances for the community

KING'S COLLEGE, NEW ZEALAND
Chapel

ST PHILIP'S CHRISTIAN COLLEGE, AUSTRALIA
Workshops on Shakespeare and Discernment in Media

CONCORDIA INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL, SHANGHAI

Acting workshop

Chapel presentations

YEW CHUNG INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL, SHANGHAI

Acting workshop

Chapel presentation

SHANGHAI HOMESCHOOL FELLOWSHIP
Acting workshop

INTERNATIONAL CHRISTIAN SCHOOL, HONG KONG

Drama workshops

Chapel presentation

(three separate trips)

FAITH ACADEMY, THE PHILIPPINES

Drama workshops

Chapels

(two separate trips)

TRAFALGAR CASTLE SCHOOL, WHITBY, ONTARIO, CANADA
Beyond the Chariots
Acting workshop

WESLEYAN SCHOOL, ATLANTA, GA
Beyond the Chariots
Warmups for a speech class
American movie class lecture
Sociodrama as guest director for Our Town

CHRISTIAN CULTURAL CENTER
Performed in Henry Box Brown
Fielded questions from students representing over a dozen schools

DAYSPRING SCHOOL OF THE ARTS
Big Fish Little Worm with talkback

CLARKSVILLE ACADEMY, TN

Spoke to an acting class

THE WOODHALL SCHOOL, CT
Guest directed Everyman using Sociodrama

SOUTH PARK HIGH SCHOOL, PA

Theatre workshop

ANNONDALE HIGH SCHOOL, VA

Various workshops and performances

(multiple visits)

BRIAR WOODS HIGH SCHOOL, VA

Performances

Acting coaching
(multiple visits)

STONE BRIDGE HIGH SCHOOL, VA

Performances

Drama workshops
(multiple visits)

LOUDEN COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL, VA

English/Drama – Cartoon voices
English/Drama – Big Fish Little Worm

German I -- Sociodrama/Cartoon voices

German II and III – Sociodrama/Cartoon voices
(multiple visits)

IMMACULATE CONCEPTION DARDENNE, MO
Big Fish Little Worm

Middle and Elementary Schools

CENTRAL CHRISTIAN ACADEMY, KOREA
Chapel performances

SINGAPORE YOUTH DAY
Performed Beyond the Chariots at Joyden Theatre for children from around Singapore

NORWEGIAN INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL, HONG KONG
Performance

COMPASSION INTERNATIONAL AFTERSCHOOL PROGRAM, BOLIVIA
"La Gente Que Jesús Conocia"

DURHAM NATIVITY SCHOOL, NC

Helped develop a drama about the school's history and performed in it with the students

JAMAICA CENTER, NY
Fielded questions from students representing several schools
Performed in Henry Box Brown

WESTFIELD FRIENDS SCHOOL, NJ
Spoke as John Woolman in classrooms
I Dreamed I Was Free

FRIENDS CHILDREN’S SCHOOL, IN

K-2nd Grade – Miming

STEPHEN GAYNOR SCHOOL, NYC
4-6th grade – Performed in Henry Box Brown

EVANGEL SCHOOL, NY

Third Grade – Sociodrama

Sixth Grade – Sociodrama
Chapel – Big Fish Little Worm

ST. ANN’S CATHOLIC SCHOOL, VA

Performance

MEMORIAL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, PA

Guest director

ABUNDANT WATERS AFTER SCHOOL PROGRAM, NY

1st-8th – Sociodrama and acting workshops (2 years)

SAY Yes AFTER SCHOOL PROGRAMS, The Lamb’s Church

K-6 – Sociodrama and reading series (2 years)

PUBLIC SCHOOL #76, QUEENS, NY

Grades 3-5 – Operation Return: Big Fish Little Worm and Sociodrama

For quotes by people who have studied under Rich, visit RichDrama.com/Workshops and RichDrama.com/TheySaid.

MWF Theatre: Past, Present and Future

Last night at the world premiere of my voice over for our documentary, Olympic Hero in China: The Eric Liddell Story, we had four people from MasterWorks ( http://MasterWorksFestival.org ). Patricia Mauceri, of One Life to Live, and I are part of the current theatre faculty. Keri Taylor is an alumna of the theatre program. She's now living in New York and helped found the Haberdasher Theatre company ( http://www.HaberdasherTheatre.com ). And this summer Mac Nelson will be a master class instructor. His book Memoirs of a Hollywood Adventure is set for publishing just before the Festival begins.

A nice walk home

I took this shot as I returned from My Vaudeville Man!, a delightful two-person musical in production at St. Peter's Theatre. And I was humming its tunes all the way home.

It was a great mix of song and dance, humor and heartbreak.

It's based on Jack Donahue's "Letters of a Hoofer to his Ma," and it shows the relationship of Donahue with his "mudder" before he became a star. The confessions of "Mud" to Father Dennis contained various careers she'd told people that her son was pursuing...since they were only in her imagination.

One of the things I liked most about it was the laudable job they did of portraying sin in such a way that it isn't the least bit attractive.

Zipcar

Zipcar has been such a huge blessing to us here in NYC! The price includes insurance and gas. They have a gas card right in there. We've consistently found them cheaper than rentals and so much more convenient. You just hop online, find the car you'd like for as little as half an hour at a time, and away you go. They're all over the US now and also in Toronto and London. Click the button below and we'll both get a $25 driving credit!

Kingdom Coming

One of our MasterWorks Festival theatre students is now working with Compassion in Australia.  She sent me a link to a free download by Shaun Groves. It's a great song, and quite inspiring. Shaun is a Compassion artist, and I've heard artists like him share music like this at a number of Compassion artist retreats. This brought me right back there.

Sanborns' double feature

The latest newsletter by Christians in Theatre Arts (CITA.org) has a link to an article on my friend Retta Blaney's blog: A Walking Miracle.

It tells the miraculous story of how Art Sanborn was healed (and continues to discover new levels of healing) from a paralysis at the level of Christopher Reeves. He's now jogging I think four miles every day!

I performed in Judah Ben Hur, which the Sanborns produced in Singapore. I was told that Art was paralyzed to the same degree as Christopher Reeve but that I wouldn't notice. I was blown away to meet him and discover that they were right!

I experienced another miraculous story in my friend Mac Nelson, whose story is written up in Waiting for My Fingers. Mac, who has performed with Liz Taylor, Jerry Lewis and the like, was losing use of his arms through a disease called stenosis. His doctors were shocked to find his recovery well beyond what they expected.

After a month in release Fireproof is still #11

Going into it's fifth weekend, Fireproof is maintaining it's place of #11 at the box office, and the film with a $500k budget has now crested $24M according to Variety.

Tale of Two Cities is a big hit on Broadway

I'm glad to see there are others that share my thoughts about Tale of Two Cities.  Here's what I blogged after seeing it:

My favorite theatrical hours of late were spent at the new musical, A Tale of Two Cities. While creating our documentary on Eric Liddell (details will be announced soon for our Western Hemisphere debut) we discovered that Liddell was meorizing the last three chapters of Dickens' masterpiece. It truly is worth meditating on the story of a man giving his life for another. The whole cast was great, but James Barbour, who played Sydney Carton, was extaordinary. Right from the start he was making choices that were absolutely captivating.

Rich

Begin forwarded message:

Could Tale of Two Cities be the Next Les Miserables on Broadway?
Teresa Neumann (October 30, 2008)

"The musical...honors the central theme, taken from Christianity, of sacrificing one life to save others." After performances, audiences stand, cheer, and weep.
Sounding like shades of the French Revolution—oppressed peasantry vs. jaded royalty—World Magazine has published an article exposing the deep cultural divide in America as it relates to the new Broadway musical A Tale of Two Cities, based on Dickens' seminal masterpiece.

Writes reporter Marvin Olasky: "The [New York] Times sneered at the production based on Charles Dickens' novel...another reviewer, from Toronto, complained about the reaction of apparently ignorant theater-goers: 'The audience stood and cheered . . . some even wept.'"
"That's what happened the night I attended," Olasky remarks. "The singing and staging were excellent, and the colorful Dickensian plot moved along and moved attendees. Afterwards, I wasn't surprised to find that most of the 85 online responses to the Times review gave the musical five stars (out of five) and included comments like 'the best of times despite The New York Times.'" 
Olasky wonders if the criticism from New York elites is due to the fact that Jill Santoriello, who wrote the new show's book, lyrics, and music is a self-taught novice (a threat to the inner circle of well-educated and well-groomed professionals). Or, muses Olasky, it could be that theology plays a role considering the main theme of Dickens' novel is self-sacrifice centering on the Scripture"I am the Resurrection and the Life."
Regardless, it seems the people have spoken, and in New York—as it is everywhere—if they continue to come, the play will go on.
Source: Marvin Olasky - World Magazine

Cooper Union's IV

Last night I portrayed The Good Shepherd and Joyce preached on John 10 for the InterVarsity Christian Fellowship (http://www.intervarsity.org) at Cooper Union. In the documentary Changing Lives: The Peter Cooper Story I got to do the voice of Peter Cooper, who founded the school. It continues to operate on his principal that the college should be free. I'm sorry to say they don't offer a degree in theatre! So that students appreciate the value of their education, they are each awarded a full scholarship, which declares it's value at $30,000.

What a great group of students we met! Their worship and fellowship was so heartwarming. It made me wish I would have attended a student fellowship when I was in school. I remember making the choice not to attend because I was so busy, and because I had my own church. But the value of knowing some fellow Christians on campus, worshiping with them and lifting each other up in prayer would have been so valuable.

Should I ever be called to another degree at a secular school, I'll know what to do!

This group was started by a young man from our church. It started last year as six students in his living room, and now they've already divided into two groups to accommodate schedules, and the one we attended had over thirty!

If your school doesn't have one, consider starting one. Joy Freschly can help. Her email is on the Contact page of http://MasterWorksFestival.org.

Fireproof still at #11

In its fourth week in theatres, Fireproof has only slipped to #11 at the box office, and it has now crested $20M according to Variety.

They were out of Countryman microphones

Everywhere you look there's beauty!

Beautiful!

Sunrise

My Treo can't come close to doing this justice!

It's easy to worship an Artist that paints like that!

Waking in WI

I'm here near Kenosha for Salvation Army's Central Territorial Worship Conference: http://usc.SalvationArmy.org

The air's a little crisper here, the leaves are certainly more beautiful, and it's great to be among a people ready to worship!

Fireproof still in top 10 after 3 weekends

I was delighted to see Fireproof stay in the top ten at the box office for it's third week. Their $500k investment has now made almost $17M.

Happy Columbus Day

A particularly nice view

We always love the view at Manhattan Plaza, but tonight it's especially great.

Christened by Eric Liddell

The Daily Record, a British publication, just ran an article on a woman who was christened by Eric Liddell in a kitchen of the internment where she spent her first three years: 'Scots Olympic great Eric Liddell helped me survive concentration camp horror'.

The New York Times had good things to say about Fireproof

The New York Times, had a very balanced review of Fireproof: Putting Out House Fires, Reigniting Passions.

Today the front page of their Arts section ran an article on how well it's doing: It’s a Healthy Marriage of Faith and Filmmaking.

Olympic Hero in China

November 14, 7pm
Olympic Hero in China:
The Eric Liddell Story

World Premiere of English narration by Rich Swingle

Followed by slides from our 22,400 miles in 36 days with 40 audiences, 5 nations of Asia surrounding the Beijing Olympics.

The Ellington Room
Manhattan Plaza
400 W 43rd St
NYC

No charge; no donations allowed.

The documentary will also be screened on November 20 at our home church, Westchester Chapel. We'll have a free dinner at 6:30, and we'll start the documentary after 7pm.

I've already given the slide show about our trip to Asia at Westchester Chapel, so if you missed it, be sure to come to the New York showing.

See Fireproof!

Wow! Amazing!

Variety called it "The biggest surprise" of the week.

In their first seven days they made $8.4M. That put them at a respectable #4 at the B.O., but with $10,039 per theatre they were less than $500/screen off of #1 for that category. Not bad for a $500k budget!

If you've got a good marriage this film will inspire you to make it better. If you're engaged or newly married you've got to see this film. If your marriage isn't as good as you want it to be you MUST see this film. If you're a teenager this film will give you a vision of how to build a solid marriage.

But Fireproof isn't just a theatrical marriage seminar. It's entertaining! For a cast made up mostly of amateurs this is truly remarkable film making. The makers of Facing the Giants are improving on their craft. The car on the track scene (I'm not giving too much away since it's glimpsed in the trailer) is so gripping because you know they didn't have the budget for CGI (which the credits confirmed). Our theatre on Times Square was packed, and people laughed so loud at the humor I've got to see it again because I missed so many lines! And on the other side of things I was moved to tears again and again.

Were there some holes? For what they paid and the experience they had you have to expect that. Was it an enjoyable, entertaining film. Absolutely!

See it soon to cast your vote for more films like it.

Facing the Giants

To order Facing the Giants, click here.

MWF08 - Theatre

Thanks to Stephanie Terranova we now have shots from the MWF '08 Theatre program and production of Tartuffe online. Click here.

Favorites On and Off-Broadway

I've wanted to see Blue Man Group all 15 years I've lived here, and they didn't disappoint. Though they only opened their mouths to eat there was a wealth of lessons for actors:

1. Listen to each other. at least one of the actors we saw has been doing this show for 16 years, but it felt as fresh as if they were making their discoveries for the first time.
2. It's not about words. Words only make up 7% of communication, and these guys were communicating volumes. Most intriguing was how they expressed their relationships to each other and to the audience.
3. Be as big as you need to be. Their whole schtick is based on subtlety, but when they need to be big, they don't hold back! Their energy is stupendous!

Another standout was A Man for All Seasons. Our friend, David Lander, who designed lights for Fire Off-Broadway (my NYC run with Roger Nelson) lit this Roundabout production brilliantly...so to speak. It was so encouraging to see Broadway explore a man literally laying down his life for his beliefs. Frank Langella plays Sir Thomas More, who served as Henry VIII's chancellor, but resigned when Henry made himself the head of the church in England so he could annul his marriage.

My favorite theatrical hours of late were spent at the new musical, A Tale of Two Cities. While creating our documentary on Eric Liddell (details will be announced soon for our Western Hemisphere debut) we discovered that Liddell was memorizing the last three chapters of Dickens' masterpiece. It truly is worth meditating on the story of a man giving his life for another. The whole cast was great, but James Barbour, who played Sydney Carton, was extraordinary. Right from the start he was making choices that were absolutely captivating.

Inside Out (Everlasting)

I was singing this all last week, so when it came up again this Sunday I just had to download it. Enjoy.

The track that isn't listed as "Album Version" was recorded live, so you can hear thousands singing along.

Mary remembers Jesus in his youth

I was at The Cloisters today, an extension of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. This centuries-old sculpture broke the heart of this child-less man as it brought me to contemplate a mother's grief.

A prayer for our journey

As we pulled away from the pier for Corregidor there was a prayer for our trip on the video monitor. My friend, Chris, said, "You mean they don't do that in New York on the way to Ellis Island?"

Tonight's menu

Tonite's Menu for our Asian presentation:
Edamame
Scallion Pancakes
Sesame Chicken w/ Broccoli
Kung Pao Shrimp
Vegetable & Egg Fried Rice
Beef Lo Mein

Thanks Ava!

Visited by Dale

My agent, Dale Savidge, stayed with us while he was here to view a play partially funded by Creative Gift Foundation. He's on the board and came to check it out.

Telling the story of our Asia tour

From Beijing '08

This Thursday night, September 18, we'll be sharing out our trip to Asia surrounding the Beijing Olympics. Here are the stats:

22,400 miles
5 nations
4 language translations
36 days
40 audiences
1 hour to tell all about it

Thursday, September 18
6:30 free Chinese food
7ish slide show begins
214 Central Ave
White Plains, NY
http://WestchesterChapel.org
Directions from NYC: http://RichDrama.com/WCCC/NYC

First trip to Hong Kong

Here are shots from our pre-Beijing visit to Hong Kong.

To see thumbnails click here.

Hong Kong

Here are shots from the second and third Hong Kong legs of the journey.

A view of two tributes

From our bedroom we can see the red, white & blue lights on the Empire State Building, and from our living room we can see the towering lights at Ground Zero.

Praying for the nation and the world on 9/11

The lotus

From Beijing '08

The lotus is a symbol of purity in the midst of an unclean world.

Chung Gwo Jiao!

From Beijing '08

This is on the Olympic plaza, quite near the Birds Nest Stadium and the Aquatic centre.  My flag says "Chung Gwo Jiao!" It translates literally to "China, refuel!" but is used like, "Go China!"  The stadium shook with "Chung Gwo Jiao!" when one of their athletes was competing.  The shirt says, "Wao aye Chung Gwo" or I love China.  The shirts were produced after the Sichuan earthquakes to raise awareness and support for the recovery process.

Priceless service

We were surprised that the clerk who checked us into our hotel in Manila was still there to check us out. She said they work 12 hour shifts for 250 pesos. That works out to about US$0.46 an hour. She said it's better than being unemployed.

Purpose driven police

This church, Christ Commission Fellowship, is gathering for its annual anniversay celebration. They started 24 years ago in a living room. They usually meet around Manila in smaller fellowships. None of the pastors take a salary, so that they don't attract ministers for the wrong reason.

The Chief of Police here, Gen. Avelino Razon, gave his life to the Lord, and he's now requiring that every police officer in the city goes through The Forty Days of Purpose, based on Rick Warren's Purpose Driven Life.

He pointed out that, though this is the only Catholic nation in Asia, corruption and immorality are rampant because the focus has been on the forgiveness of God. He challenged the thousands to consider that He is also a God of justice.

Another member helped establish Christmas as a national holiday in Nepal!

The pastor pointed out that every two seconds someone in the world dies. He urged us to do all we can to help them know how to live beyond the grave.

He quoted Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War. Someone told him he was praying God would be on Lincoln's side. Lincoln said God is always on the side of the right. We need to pray that we're on God's side.