Best landing ever!

Last night we landed in Taupo, New Zealand at sunset. It was the most spectacular landings I can recall. My Treo's camera couldn't do it justice at all, but I will post more photos when we get back to the States.

Together but apart

This was the first flight of our journey on which we haven't been able to sit next to each other: there was an aisle between us. Then again, we both had window seats over some of the most breathtaking landscape on earth. For the first leg of the flight we both had coastal views.

God cares

When we were in Sydney we performed at the William Booth House, a drug rehabilitation facility. I performed Sheepish and led a bibliodrama and some enacted prayer, while the Sydney Staff Songsters blew us all away with sweet music. Graeme Press, who leads the Songsters just sent me the following quote from one of the pre-believing residents: "I didn't know that anyone, including the Salvation Army, could care enough for me to succeed in this program so much that they would give us a night like last night." Succeed, my friend, succeed!!!

Down Under update

Thanks so much for your prayers! Things have been going miraculously well
down here in Newcastle (2.5 hours north of Sydney).
I got a text requesting me to teach a couple of workshops in a Christian
school here. Though I only had about an hour's notice I felt the Holy
Spirit guiding, and both classes went quite well by the grace of God.
Last night's performance of The Revelation was well received, and someone
spoke to me about extending our trip a bit for some additional
performances. Follow http://RichDrama.com/Itinerary to see what develops.
A number of young adults went out after The Revelation, so the ministry
continued. It wasn't until then that it was confirmed that I'll lead a
workshop on sociodrama and enacted prayer tonight, so that should be fun!
In a few hours we'll lead devotions for the staff at Compassion's national
headquarters ( http://RichDrama.com/Compassion ), so pray that these
advocates for the world's poorest children will be encouraged by the
stories of Jonah and Gideon.

We LOVED Sydney!

We were blown away by Sydney's aquarium, saw 130 Aussie species at an animal park, looked down on Sydney from The Tower, and watched The Mikado at the Sydney Opera House.

But the real highlights were performing The Revelation with the Sydney Staff Songsters on their 20th anniversary celebration in downtown Sydney, performing Lazarus and a bibliodrama with them at a local corps (Salvation Army church), and performing Sheepish: the story of Gideon, at a Salvation Army rehab center, The William Booth House. The residents, and Songsters, brought some very touching requests to us for enacted prayer. After we prayed for the end of human trafficking and snuff films (people are paying to watch people killed) a police siren went blazing past, and one of the residents yelled out, "God's answering our prayer!!!"

The Songsters are such a high caliber choir, which performs all over the world. They're getting ready to tour Hong Kong. They gave their all at Congress Hall in downtown Sydney, at the Rockdale Corps, and at the William Booth House. They are a shining example of excellence. When they finished the main section of the program (many residents came back for more enacted prayer) with "We Are Not Alone" most of us had tears streaming down our faces. What a privilege it was to partner in ministry with such amazing group of people on and off the stage. We will forever be grateful for Graeme and Neryl Press for forging this group into such a mighty Weapon in God's arsenal, and for bringing us out to partner with them.

Chasing the sun

We had a bit of a delay (though no worries about a connection since this flight goes all the way to Sydney), so we took off at sunset. This shot was taken about two hours into our leg to LA.

Seats together!

Because Joyce is flying to Oz on frequent flyer miles we weren't able to choose seats together before getting to JFK. Prayers were answered, and we're together all 20 hours to Sydney!

Now we're praying for seats together on 5 more legs, none of which offered a choice of seats for either of us.

The future of the Army

Those at the alter have come foreward to express an answer to a call to leadership in the Salvation Army. The Divisional Youth Secretary, Captain Chip Johnson, said if you can steam up a mirror in the morning God can use you. I was blown away by all the potential!

Success has many fathers

Commissioner James Osborn addressed four soldiers (members of The Salvation Army), who are about to enter their School for Officer Training. The Commissioner pointed out how many in the Division had encouraged them to take this step saying, "Success has many fathers. Failure is an orphan."

NEOSA Family Camp

I landed in PA, had lunch in WV, and performed in OH, all within 8 hours.

I performed The Acts, Sheepish: the Story of Gideon, and taught Enacted Prayer at Camp NEOSA for the Salvation Army's family camp.

As a bonus I was able to reconnect with several TAM alum (scroll down to see more about TAM).

Clawing our way home

I'll only be in NYC for a bit over 24 hours before we're in the air once again, this time bound for Australia and New Zealand!

We'll take off from JFK Monday at 07:10 PM and will arrive 22 hours, 15 minutes later (20 hours, 35 minutes of flying), which is 07:25 AM on Wednesday, their time.

By the way, that's not a PhotoShop effect. My Treo's camera stops the prop in midair.

Follow our adventures here or get updates on your FaceBook main page by signing up at www.FaceBook.com/RichDrama.

Coming back will be worse. It will only be 17 hours, 15 minutes of flying, but we'll have a 9 hour, 15 minute layover in LAX, making it 26.5 hours, tarmac to tarmac.

The Halo Affect

We got to connect with MasterWorks alum, Bobby Nicholson, the other night. He was passing through NYC after returning from a tour of Europe with the Halo Ensemble (HaloEnsemble.org), a group made up of MasterWorks alum and faculty. They performed at a European version of MasterWorks in Hungary as well as in Finland.

Bobby told us that many expressed how blessed they were through their music At a coffee house in Helsinki two women said the music moved them in a way they had never experienced before. It gave them opportunity to share the Source of their inspiration.

Commissioned

The closing sermon at TAM was preached by Commissioner Moretz, who oversees the Eastern Territory of the Salvation Army.

He preached from Collossians 3, and sent them out challenging them to:
*Remember your identity (Col 3:1)
*Renew your thoughts (Col 3:2)
*Recognize your old life is dead (Col 3:3-7)

Move from the shadows to the substance.
*Release past habits (Col 3:8-11)
*Replace them with new ones (Col 3:12-14)

Identity

Lois Garcia preached on Jesus' struggle in the Garden of Gethsemene.

She said that, as performers, we need to place our identity in who we are, not what we do.

1 of 3 performances in Melbourne

Unmasked

Here's my team! Out of the 80 performers in Unmasked I got to direct these students for two scenes.

We're done

Jolene Cox and her mask are as wiped out... and as exillerated as the rest of us.

Tetelestai

Major Kevin Stoops preached on Jesus' last word on the cross, "Tetelestai," whis is translated, "It is finished."

It's what merchants would stamp on a receipt if something had been paid in full.

Kevin pointed out that, in Jesus' time, a carpenter's last step of preparation was to wipe the sawdust off. Then, he would fold up his cloth and rest it on the work of his hand to show that it was finished, and the one who had commissioned it could pick it up.

When the disciples ran to Jesus' tomb, all they found was the grave clothes neatly folded and lying where his head had been.

Through his word and action Jesus was saying, it was finished.

He accomplished what He came to do: to make a way for sinful people to be acceptable to a Holy God

So, though we wear our masks, and hide our worst from others. Our the Lord sees the good, the bad and the ugly, and He loves us just the same, because, for those who have received this amazing gift, He paid it all. Telestai.

Tech Rehearsal

We're in our tech rehearsal for tomorrow night. It's such a unique production! We're praying for it to have a powerful impact.

Unmasked
Friday, August 14th, 5:30 & 8pm
Salvation Army Montclair Citadel Corps
13 Trinity Place
Montclair, NJ

No charge.

Hope you can join us!
Rich

We're here!

We've arrived at our venue, a brand new corps (Salvation Army term for a church). One more day!

Preview of Oz

A couple of us are sneaking off campus for dinner with the Stokers. Chris was on the TAM faculty for a number of years, and he has a really cool salt water fish tank. We won't end up having time while performing in Australia to get to the Great Barrier Reef, so it was cool to see Nemo and friends in a small community. And the Stokers make amazing fajitas!

Thanks, guys!

Come and See!

It's coming together

Tomorrow we move to the venue.

Don't miss Unmasked

The students are performing their scenes from Unmasked. If you are in the area you really shouldn't miss it!

Details posted on August 4.

Un-masked

Steve Ditmer, one of the faculty here at TAM, read how Peter denied Christ, and then the rooster crowed, and his mask came off. He read how Jesus told Judas to go and do what he planned, and his mask came off.

Then he pulled up images of an article which reported how a drug ring was taken down near Albany 30 years ago. Then he blew up one of the paragraphs to show that he, at 22, was one of those arrested. His mask came off and everyone at his corps (Salvation Army's term for church) knew that he was only putting on a show on Sundays. In handcuffs he prayed, "God, if this is all I can do with my life, I want You to take it. Now he's a respected officer (Salvation Army's term for pastor), based at their Territorial Headquarters.

I'm praying his example will ignite a Fire in the students at tonight's improvised worship and enacted prayer.

Fish Eyes

Jonathan Shaffstall and Ian Evans just performed a two-person play about the life of Christ, called Fish Eyes by Ted & Lee. Jonathan was a student of mine at TAM in 2001, and Ian is a current instructor. It was hilarious, poignant and is available at a church near you!

You can book them at www.theTAMjam.com .

Self consciousness

Carole Jeanne Bate gave her testimony this morning. She said she pulled away from the arts for a long season because she was so self conscious. Then one day someone told her self consciousness wasn't part of the curse, it was the curse. As she has grown in her relationship with the Lord she has unapologetically returned to the arts, sharing confidently who God created her to be.

I got my mask

Instructors get to perform, too!

Do you feed your spiritual self?

Lincoln Hawk is one of the leaders of a prayer walk we're doing this morning.

He asked us all if we spend 30 minutes a day prepping our physical bodies by taking care of our appearance or eating. Then he asked if we spend that much time developing our spiritual selves. He challenged us to develop spiritual disciplines so we can be spiritually strong.

Doug Berky

Our featured guest artist this week (www.RichDrama.com/NewsBlog 8/8/09) is Doug Berky, who was a master class instructor at MasterWorks (www.MasterWorksFestival.org) last year. Last night he shared his testimony. He came to the Lord while he was studying at the Del Arte School of Physical Theatre. He was so impacted by Jesus that, like me, he thought he should be a pastor, until he discovered that God wanted him to express His Truths through the talents God had given him.

CAST

The Creative Arts Service Team, which I got to work wih just before MasterWorks, performed a powerful choreodrama they developed with Becky Phillips, who's been an instructor at TAM longer than my six years.

08/08/09

One year after the Beijing Olympics began, we're in the opening ceremony of TAM Conservatory ( http://theTAMjam.com ).

Carol Jaudes (CATS on Broadway) has directed this program for nine years. Check out my post on August 4 to see how cool it's going to be this year!

It was jus announced that we'll have 80 masks on stage for the entire performance.

Unmasked

Next week I'll be teaching and performing at this...

...if you're in the area, I hope you can join us.

Living Water

This fountain is created on what used to be a prayer labyrinth two blocks from our apartment. I've been blessed by a number of labyrinths around the world. As you journey to the center you focus on drawing closer to God. On the way out, you pray that you will more effectively take the presence of God to the world.

We were eating dinner next to the fountain tonight, and we decided to make it an enacted prayer: That as people splash in its waters, the Spirit of Christ, honored in the former labyrinth, would wash over them, making them long for Living Water.

The Amazing Month of MasterWorks!

We had an amazing month at the MasterWorks Festival!

Ken Wales (far right), producer of Amazing Grace, Christy, Breakfast at Tiffany's, and the original Pink Panther films, among many others, met with most of our students to help them see how their unique giftings can help them fit into the entertainment industry. This was his fourth year, and the reason he didn't get to every student this year was because he was hard at work on another film he hopes to shoot in Winona Lake, just before MasterWorks.

John Kirby (next to Ken), acting coach on The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Count of Monte Cristo, Déjà Vu and about 20 others, shared about his work as director of The Word of Promise: Next Generation and directed us in Our Town. People were saying our production was better than renditions they'd seen at Notre Dame University, New York and London! One faculty member attended at least two performances and told me that the third act of the play got him thinking about eternity years ago. That was what started him on a journey toward Christ, and we're confident our four performances planted and watered a lot of seeds.

Bev Holloway (next to John), casting director for Bobby Jones: Stroke of Genius, The Ultimate Gift, An American Carol, and about 30 others, did a casting session with our students, and some of the roles they read are for two upcoming films! A man who lives in the community came up to me with tears in his eyes and shared that he's always enjoyed MasterWorks, but when he attended Bev's workshop and watched her giving direction and the students taking that direction and instantly making great adjustments, it finally dawned on him: MasterWorks is really training up the next generation of professional artists!

Patricia Mauceri (center), called us the week before she arrived, saying that she'd been given a script she couldn't perform. She made rewrites, but they were refused, and the role was recast. Her bold stance was a great witness to our students.

All four of them participated in one of two panel discussions, set up to answer questions the students had. Both panels were recorded for Romanian radio by one of our students, Krisztina Fekete, far right in the photo below.


This panel featured (from left to right), myself, Kohli Hessler Calhoun (dialect coach at NYU and the Stella Adler Studio, and our first master class instructor who attended the program!), Susan Sommerville Brown, and Harvey Johnson.

I was so thrilled with all that Harvey, Susie and Kohli brought, not only to this session, but to each one-on-one and class session they had with our students. The level of artistic and spiritual growth that was achieved because of their efforts is mind-boggling.

The only master class artist who wasn't around during a panel was Mac Nelson. He shared stories from his work with Liz Taylor and Jerry Lewis, from his most recent book, Memoirs of a Hollywood Adventure. He also shared from his first book, Waiting for my Fingers, about how he was healed from near-paralysis of both arms through surgery and the Lord. After the surgery he only had one note in his vocal register, but during a faculty recital he sang with his full range and tap-danced, swinging both arms with full-strength, to the Glory of God!

One of the spiritual highlights of the festival was when Joyce, my bride, led our students in a foot-washing. After we finished, the presence of the Lord was so palpable that I didn't want to lead them in anything. I just said, "Do whatever you want to do." They chose to wash each other's feet.

By the end of the month, one of our students asked to be baptized. Since Joyce is an ordained minister, we made plans. Another student had been taking baptism classes but had never been able to follow through to actually being baptized. She was delighted to do it with the close friends she'd made over the month. We went down to Winona Lake, the site of our festival, before church on Sunday. Their parents read scripture and prayed over each of them. Joyce baptized them officially, and then I got to dunk them. As we were walking off the dock singing, "Down To The River To Pray," Joyce yelled, "We've got another one!" The friend of one of our students was so moved by the service he asked to be baptized, too.

Photos from top to bottom by Nathan Nesbitt, Rich Swingle, Bernie Bernhardt (last two).

To download a PDF of this article, click here.

To audition for MasterWorks 2010 visit MasterWorksFestival.org.

Happy Fourth of July!

Wishing you a great Independence Day from Winona Lake, where we're at the half-way point of the MasterWorks Festival.

MasterWorks is off to an amazing start!

The students we have this year at MasterWorks are amazing! Their gifts and talents, as well as their hearts for the Lord are just mind-blowing.

What do I do?

Last night I performed The Acts at the downtown Orlando Salvation Army. Afterward a gentleman in a Salvation Army Adult Recovery Center (ARC) came up to me and said, "So what do I do?" I asked him what he meant, and he said he'd prayed the prayer during the close of the play to commit his life to Jesus, and he wanted to know what the next step was to grow in his relationship with the Lord! There was another ARC resident who got a degree in theatre before getting off-track. I'm putting him in touch with a dear friend who went through the ARC program in NYC, and is now working in the arts full-time.

The poster is for the next event where I'll be performing The Acts. Appreciate your prayers that it will help bring about more life transformations.

In the shadow of justice there is Compassion Corner

I taught a sociodrama (www.RichDrama.com/WorkShops) master class at the Christians in Theatre Arts (www.CITA.org) National Conference in Orlando. We started the class at the conference, where I taught the history and basics of the dramatic/therapeutic form, then we took a free (thanks Orlando!) public bus to Compassion Corner, shown here, across the street from the courthouse. It's an ideal location for them, since their prime focus is helping clients move through the legal system as they look for jobs and housing. It's given them great visibility, and they now have volunteers from 14 churches and at least 9 denominations (off the top of the leaders' heads).

We had an amazing sociodrama with their clients. Our warm up was done in four small groups in which they had to come to concensus on a shared dream. Two of the groups had a dream of greater compassion in the world. They beat out dreams of family and a home.

The scenario was a rich man (played by a client) walking past a homeless woman (played brilliantly by a CITA member). Someone gave her a back pack, which she put on her back. The clients said, she wouldn't be wearing it because she'd have been carrying it too long. So we put her on a park bench. On the first pass the rich man moved away from her with a grunt. Then we talked about how the rich man could show more compassion. He took some suggestions from the group, and stepped back into the scene (this time played by a second client who tagged in with some great ideas). The rich man struck up a conversation, and he happened to comment on her sun glasses. She said she got them at the Salvation Army, and he said he used to go there. We talked about how we all have had low spots in our lives, so we prayed that people would be less inclined to look down on people who are there right now.

Orlando

I'm at the Christians in Theatre Arts Conference (www.CITA.org) in Orlando. This morning I'll be doing a master class on sociodrama, which will start at the conference, and then move down the street a few blocks to incorporate Compassion Corner clients, who are working to get their lives back in order. Sociodrama's a tool to do just that, so I'm expecting miracles... Literally.

Star Lake

I just arrived at Star Lake, where I'll be working with the cast of CAST, the Salvation Army's Creative Arts Service Team. What a joy to work with actors, where the only Star is Jesus. That's quite liberating!

Now we're on lunch break, and I have to say that they're quite a talented bunch. We're having a ball!

In the fiery furnace

Linda Braaten, missionary to South Africa, spoke to our church tonight.

She shared how her pastor was called to minister in a place quite closed to Christianity. He went to call on a leader in that place, and the security guard asked him why he was there. He told the guard that he was there to share the Good News of Jesus Christ. The guard told him to throw his Bible in a furnace before entering the house. The pastor told him he couldn't do that because God's Word was too precious to him The guard said, "Then put your arm in the furnace." The pastor did, and when he pulled it out, it was unharmed. Not a hair was singed. The guard had him put it back again and again. Each time the arm was unharmed.

Pray for God to do even more work in South Africa and around the world, including the US.

Don't miss King David!

We got to hang out with the miraculous Sanborns today.

Art, who was paralized from the neck down, was telling us how (before he worked his way up to 150 push-ups and 6 mile runs) he couldn't even communicate with anyone but God after his swimming accident. Now he's grateful for those extended periods of connection with his Healer.

Ellen reminded us how, as an 18 year old she turned down the opportunity to have a West End credit when she read the script of the show in which she'd been cast: Hair.

David, who has miraculously overcome death and other ailments, continues to perform his one-man musical, King David (KingDavidMusical.com) through the end of June.

Don't miss it!

Read my review, posted here on 6/6, which includes a link to Art's book.

Living as a Called Person

While prepping for MasterWorks, which starts in a matter of days, I decided to recommend Chapter Five of Gordon MacDonald's Ordering Your Private World: "Living as a Called Person". I first read the book when I was the students' age. Back then I set out to read at least part of the book every year. Rediscovering this chapter makes me want to get back on that pattern.

Concert on Sunday

There will be a concert this Sunday at Union Theological Seminary in the James Chapel beginning at 6:30PM.

MasterWorks students (from left to right) Caroline Chehade, Paulina Papölöne and Laura Hairgrove will be performing. The concert will be a fundraiser for a tour they're doing with a number of other MasterWorks students later this summer. They will perform in Finland and Hungary.

Donna East returns to Westchester Chapel

Christian Comedienne, Donna East (DonnaEast.com), will perform at WCCC on Saturday, June 20 at 7pm. She'll be bringing clean comedy for the entire family. Speaking of which, she's got plenty of fresh material based on her new role as mommy.

Get prepared for the healing art of the belly laugh.

Send your friends to WestchesterChapel.org/DonnaEast.

Admission is free, and an offering will be collected.

Directions: WestchesterChapel.org/Directions.

May we be like the ESB

> Here's a visual prayer that we will shine God's love around this
> city, which can be so dark at times.

We're rooting for David Lander!

Our friend, David Lander, was nominated for a Tony Award. Just being nominated is a great honor, and the plaque they gave him is huge, but we're hoping his name is called tonight.

The nomination is for his lighting design on 33 Variations, which featured Jane Fonda.

David was the lighting designer for our Off-Broadway run of Beyond the Chariots, paired with my friend Roger Nelson's The Man from Aldersgate.

The People's Choice: Irena's Vow

Irena's Vow won the People's Choice award for best Off-Broadway Play (for its pre-Broadway bow), and Tolvah Felshuh won Best Actress for her portrayal of Irena: BroadwayWorld.com Announces Results of the 7th Annual Theatre Fans Choice Awards 2009

I was sorry our friend, David Lander, didn't win for his lighting design on 33 Variations, but we'll be rooting for him Sunday night when they're handing out the Tony's! David's plaque for his Tony nomination is HUGE! GO DAVID!

King David Sanborn

We saw our friend, David Sanborn's one-man musical, King David, Off-Broadway at The Promise Theatre.

The New York Times was right! It's a "first-rate" production. He does impersonations of one Hollywood superstar after the next. As fun as the impersonations were, there were moments where he was deeply emotionally connected. Despite having performed it since April (quite a nice run for these parts), there were times that his face was drenched with tears. At other times he's like a little kid playing in a sandbox.

In these days of so many distractions I always feel so rewarded by the intense focus and energy it takes to perform a one-man play. David made me appreciate it from another angle: I forget it takes focus and energy to follow a one-man play! We become so used to the artists providing all the details, but there's something akin to reading a novel that happens when the brain gets a chance to fill in some of the gaps in solo theatre.

David and his mother, Ellen, chose their cuts judiciously from Christian and Jewish translations of First and Second Samuel, and they've found a great dramatic arc from his confrontation with Goliath to the birth of Solomon. They've interspersed it all with Davidic psalms set to music which delightfully foreshadows the Sanborns' musical, Judah Ben Hur, advertised as coming to Broadway in the fall of 2010.

David and I recently saw Irena's Vow on Broadway. He took inspiration from how Irena's daughter came out and spoke after the play. David (Sanborn) came back after a robust applause to briefly tell how, like King David, his life had been impacted by G-d's relationship with man. He then went on to tell how his own father, Art, had been paralyzed at the same level as Christopher Reeve, but Art now runs six miles a day. Then he invited people to stick around in the lobby (don't miss this!), where they begged him to tell more details. He talked about the accident, the recovery, starting with the miraculous movement of a pinkie, to his three repetitions of one push-up, to his three reps of 50!

When I arrived in Singapore to perform in the world premiere of Judah Ben Hur in 2001 the accident was quite fresh. Everyone was abuzz about his near-drowning and the recovery. I was told that I would have no idea to see him that he had been completely paralyzed below the neck. Because I have experienced miraculous healing in my own body and in the lives of those I know well, I was on high alert. But it wasn't until I was in conversation with him that I discovered that was Art!

The whole story is told in Art's book: Walking Miracle.

Going public

I got to perform an excerpt from Beyond the Chariots ( http:RichDrama.com/BeyondtheChariots ) and The Fall ( http:RichDrama.com/ShortPieces ), from Les Misérables, in a public school just outside of Washington DC.

In the District

Now I'm hanging out and seeing sites with my brother and his wife.