Guest conductor

Stephen directs the theatre dept. in cheering the Star Spangled Banner.

Superman saves the day!

At tonight's concert they played the theme song to Superman. The theatre dept. was invited to get in on the action. Kayla Winston played Lois Lane, Josh Knox played the bad guy, and Danny Cornett played the Man of Steel.

Happy Fourth of July

It's taken two weeks and an outdoor concert for me to finally have time to post from MasterWorks. We're now half way through and having a great time! The play (Tartuffe) is coming along well and should be a hoot!

The Streets of New York...

..at sunset.

John Keddie's biography on Eric Liddell, Running the Race has been translated to Chinese and is now available in China.

Here's an article that's been translated into English by Google: Running life - dedication, born in China: China's Olympic champion

Have fun!

I'm staying with my friend, Alex Walker, while here in LA. He had friends over for breakfast today, and one of them rides this Honda Shadow. it has 750 cc's, and I told him my dad had an 800 cc Honda, but that he sold it before I was big enough to ride it. Alex's friend tossed me the key and said, "Have fun!" I had a most delightful spin around the block. Woohoo!

Greetings from John & Nathan

I just left the John Kirby Studio in Hollywood, where I had a great meeting with John & Nathan in preparation for MasterWorks.

Lunch meeting with John Kirby

We're prepping for Tartuffe at MasterWorks ( http://RichDrama.com ).

A canyon above Malibu

Malibu

The view from Bel Air Pres

New members

I attended Bel Air Presbyterian Church, near Santa Monica, CA. This morning they welcomed 15 teens into membership in the church, and four of them were baptised. The theme of the day was "Flipp'd", based on Acts 17:6, which refers to how followers of Christ were turning the world upside down. These young people were declaring that they want to be about that.

Touchdown LA

Pulled away from the gate

It already pulled away from the gate. Thankfully they already had me booked on the next flight. Now I have five hours to experience Denver. Well, at least their airport.

Late flights at LGA

They're down to a single working runway at LaGuardia Airport, so I'm landing in Denver minutes before my flight for Ontario, CA, is due to take off. And I thought I wouldn't get a workout in today!

I'm heading west for the Christians in Theatre Arts National Conf ( http:CITA.ORG )

Last time I sprinted through a mile-high terminal I was coughing up a storm. I only have to cover 14 gates this time, which is much better.

If I don't post again before 1:33 Pacific Time I made it.

A miraculous view!

For all ten years of our marriage Joyce and I have been on the waiting list to reside at Manhattan Plaza, which offers subsidized housing to those who make over half of their income in the performing arts. About a month ago we got a rejection letter because we make too much money. Because Joyce is in grad school and my income as an actor varies wildly but has never been impressive, Joyce was surprised when she read the letter. She called and found that they base part of our income on a percentage of our savings, but the number they calculated was actually below the limit! So they looked into it and discovered that they had assessed our income the very day that the limit was raised! if they'd made the assessment the day before we couldn't have gotten in. If they'd assessed us the next day we'd never have known how close we were. We knew eventually that Joyce would leave the workforce and that our income would plummet. We sensed that the time was right, and if we'd waited much longer we'd be back at the bottom of the list for another decade or more.

Yes, that's the Empire State Building we can see from our window. We move in soon.

August 18, 2013
We've LOVED being in this miraculous apartment. This morning, during Joyce's sermon she told the story of how God opened things up for us to get into this amazing space.



For the whole sermon click here.

Here are some shots from a lightning storm...

We found a great translation

We've found a wonderful translation of Tartuffe by Donald M. Frame for the MasterWorks Festival.

Another drafts folder

I found another folder of drafts I'd started but never posted. The next three posts are from trips in January and February.

This one was from our planning session for MasterWorks, which starts in three weeks! I understand Winona Lake, IN, is now looking much more like the summer haven we all love!

So much for warming up down South

From my trip to Atlanta in March. I was hoping to, well, warm up.

Psalm 98

This mural at the Charlotte Airport features Psalm 98.

The Year of Living Biblically

Joyce enjoyed, and I'm still enjoying, The Year of Living Biblically by AJ Jacobs.

So I was glad to see a condensed version in Relevant Magazine: My Biblical Year.

The Miraculous Surgery

On May 17 my wife, Joyce, was a part of a prayer team praying for her sister, Amy, who was going to have a brain tumor removed on May 20. The doctors had told her that part of the tumor was wrapped around nerves that control swallowing, so they were going to leave that part of the tumor and treat it with radiation. Joyce felt led to pray that the tumor would cluster so that the tumor could be completely removed. Before the operation the surgeon reconfirmed the need to follow up with radiation. I was there when the surgeon came out, and he told us that the tumor had somehow clumstered together and they were able to remove it completely. No radiation will be needed, and he won’t need to see her again for another year.

The next morning Amy’s husband, Wallie said to the surgeon, “So, I understand there’s a chance that you won’t need to do radiation?” The surgeon replied, “There’s no chance we’ll do radiation. We got it all.” Wallie pressed, “Will you have to do another MRI to make sure it’s all gone?” The surgeon said, “I was in there. There’s nothing left.”

On May 24 Amy was released. Her kids, who were quite excited to have their mom home again.

Holy fire

I found several blog posts that I'd started on my Treo and never sent, so all the posts today are from various times and places.

This statue is near Mt. Shasta in northern California. I took it on the way to perform at the church that was pastored by Mike Yakonelli before his untimely death. His son, Mark, set up the performance, and Mike's widow still attends, as do many of the folks mentioned in Mike's books.

Allow God to Love You

From our trip to Guatemala last year...
Mark Yaconelli, who ran against me in high school cross country and track we realized, is closing strong. He's sending us forth not as artists and speakers, but as spiritual leaders. His greatest assignment to us is to wait upon the Lord. He said, "Cancer is our Sabbath." So many look forward to getting sick because we don't set aside time to rest. When someone gets cancer they spend time contemplating life as they rest. As spiritual leaders we must spend that kind of intense contemplation on Life even when we're healthy.
He encourages us to keep things small, to follow the thread. The Artist sees the big picture, but He wants us to contemplate on the present moment.

Rain of Grace

This church has been called Llevias de Gracias (Rain of Grace) for 26 years. Last year Compassion put in a water filtration system that allows them to sell bottled water to the community. They sell it at such a low price that everyone in the community can afford it. It's a great way to share God's love for them.

They're doing it again!

Every time I've seen people share from the depths of their souls I've seen God work at deeper levels. Chris Davey, one of the faculty shared that he was a homeless drunk who wandered into a Salvation Army rehab center just to get off the streets. He didn't want to have anything to do with the Gospel. But God started working on his heart, and now he's sold out! He even trusted the Lord to carry him through a bout with one of the worst kinds of cancer.

Dad's TBM

From last year...
We were just at the Evergreen museum that hosts Howard Hughes' Spruce Goose (though he preferred to call it the Flying Boat). It's in McMinnville, Oregon, home of the News-Register, the paper for which I was a correspondent and photographer while I was in college.

One of the planes in the museum was this TBM my dad flew before I was born. He writes:

On August 3, 1966 I
flew TBM N5260V (the plane pictured here) from El Mirage California to Chico. The total flight time was 4 hours including the flight test after installing a different engine. It caught on fire when we first started it, so we had to repair some cowling fasteners and wireing. Most of the side glass was gone and it was full of sand, so I needed goggles to see. Aero Union bought 3 TBMs and 1 PV-2 from a defunct company, probably Riverside Aircraft. Of the 3 TBMs I was the only one that made it non-stop. The others had to land for repairs.

Dad

CITA National

I came across this draft from last summer's Christians in Theatre Arts Conference, and since this year's is rapidly approaching I thought I'd post it...

There was just a dance that blew me away. Most near me were sobbing by the end of it. Not a word spoken, but it was a profound exploration of marriage and death. The choreographer, Colin Harbinson spoke on the death of a dream.

He said that many artists have been wounded in some way: don't live in your woundedness. As artists we should be leading people out of a place of death into Life.

He had a project in China that died, but 15 years later he was invited back to produce The Messiah. The paper ran an article titled, "The Messiah touches people."

A powerful reminder

Annondale High School, where I performed and taught today, just outside Washington, DC, has this wreck parked outside the school as a reminder of the devestating consequences of drinking and driving.

Released!

Joyce's sister was cleared for release from the hospital tomorrow morning! Thanks for all the prayers and notes of encouragement! I'll pass them along.
Rich

My nephew, the city planner

My nephew plans to build wonderful cities in the future.

Looks good

We just visited Amy in the recovery room. She was smiling and in good spirits. Thanks again for your prayers!
Rich

Completely successful!

The surgeon just came out to tell us that it went better than expected! They were concerned because the brain tumor had wound around the nerves that control swallowing. They were going to remove them and then treat it with radiation, but when they got inside it was all in one lump, as we had prayed. They won't do radiation at all unless something returns, but we're praying that it won't. Thanks for joining with us in prayer!
Rich

It's out!

The brain tumor was removed successfully! They expect another hour or so to finish up. Thanks for your continuing prayers.
Rich

Half way

We just got a call to say that the surgery is half way finished and going well.

Please pray for Joyce's sister

Joyce's younger sister is undergoing an operation to remove a benign brain tumor.

At this point, the initial incisions have been made; the doctors told her husband that it is going well, but will probably be a four hour surgery.

Please continue to pray for
perfect removal of the tumor,
that the tumor itself be contained in one easily removed lump,
against any brain damage itself;
that the neural networks regrow and reform as God intended them;
that the effects of the surgery and anesthesia be easily overcome and healed from;
that salvation and peace would come to the entire household as a result of God's faithfulness today;
in praise to the Living God whose love is too great to express in human words and whose joy abounds in the hearts of His beloved.

Thank you so much.
With love,
Pastor Joyce

Prince Caspian soundtrack

I'm loving the Prince Caspian soundtrack! I've been playing it over and over again. I'm bummed that I couldn't get there opening weekend because I was at the GI Film Festival with Ken Wales. We're hoping it will do even better the second weekend than it did the first. That would be a miracle, but we know those are possible. If you haven't seen it yet, don't let this week go by. It's so important for films like this one to do well in order to make room for others.

Here are some reviews:

'Prince Caspian' pushes 'Iron Man' off throne
‘Prince Caspian’ Rules at the Box Office
Out of the Wardrobe, Into a War Zone

Israel

This is a shot of Joyce and I in Bethlahem in 1999. Our church, Westchester Chapel, be returning to Israel next February, and I'll be performing sketches of stories where they took place.

Here are some that we're planning (subject to change):

"Elijah" on the top of Mt. Carmel
"Peter's Trip to Caesaria by the Sea" at Ceasaria by the Sea's amphitheatre
"Gideon" at Gideon's Spring
"The Last Supper" near the Garden Tomb
"Peter Walks on Water" on the Sea of Gallilee

You're welcome to join us!

For a brochure and to sign up, call 914.287.7620.

Prince Caspian is on it's way!

I just came across a good interview with director, Andrew Adamson. Among other things, he reveals that Michael Apted, who directed Amazing Grace, will helm Voyage of the Dawn Treader, due in 2010. Also, it points out that The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe was in the top 30 films of all time around the globe.

30,000 youth

We're at our church's District Assembly (http:MNYNaz.org). These youth represent the 50 hispanic churches on our district. They have a vision to reach 30,000 hispanic youth in the coming year. What a joyful noise that will be!

I'm married to a 15 year-old

On this day in 1993, four years to the week before we met, Joyce committed her life to the Lord. In a sermon at our church last week she shared how a co-worker told her that the radical changes in Joyce's life after that day added up to the first miracle that co-worker had ever seen. I'm delighted to spend my life with that miracle!

Happy Re-Birthday, Joyce!
Love,
Rich

Bev Holloway is looking forward to MasterWorks

As we're getting closer to the start of MasterWorks I was working through details with our faculty.  I wanted to share the following note from Bev Holloway.  A more complete bio of her work as a casting director in Hollywood is now online at http://MasterWorksFestival.org.

We still have a few more openings in the program, so be sure to get your application in soon and/or send your friends to http://RichDrama.com/MWF.

in Christ alone,

Rich

Begin forwarded message:

Thanks for the opportunity to watch and talk with your actors.  I am really

looking forward to it!

Best,

Bev

What a great day!

We had a wonderful lunch with my relatives and then drove .4 mile to interview Mary Previte. She's the great grand daughter of Hudson Taylor, and was in the internment camp with Eric Liddell. I was so moved by her stories!

Then we went to the University of Pennsylvania and filmed the plaque that declares the school motto: "In the dust of defeat as well as in the laurels of victory there is glory to be found." Liddell ran at the Penn Relays there and quoted that motto when he spoke. We also met a fellow named Dan who was kind enough to run against me as Eric Liddell.

Interview with Ben Stein

Here's a recent interview with Ben Stein about his film, which opened this weekend, about how scientists and teachers who believe in Intelligent Design are being censored: Ben Stein is Expelled!

Good films

Joyce and I just watched August Rush. We were both quite moved, and I was a complete mess. It's got some profound stuff in there about how God creates great beauty out of bad choices and orchestrates (pun intended) divine appointments.

We're also going to try to catch Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed, in which Ben Stein

...realizes that he has been “Expelled,” and that educators and scientists are being ridiculed, denied tenure and even fired – for the “crime” of merely believing that there might be evidence of “design” in nature, and that perhaps life is not just the result of accidental, random chance.

For a trailer and theatre locator visit ExpelledtheMovie.com. Encourage Hollywood to make more of this kind of film by seeing it opening weekend.

Amazing Grace - Just the Black Notes

John Newton was a slave trader before he became a Christian and wrote Amazing Grace. Ken Wales' film Amazing Grace tells part of Newton's story. I watched it again the other night and was moved deeply all over again. This clip shows how the tune that Newton used for Amazing Grace most likely came from a Negro spiritual. It's eight minutes long, but you can get the essence of this profound connection in the first half. The rest is a beautiful rendition of the song.

When I was in Guatemala with Compassion we visited a Compassion site that provided pure drinking water for local residents. This clip shows another group that's working to provide drinking water around the world. Jennifer Connelly's character shows the profound reality of how blessed we are in developed nations.

Theology dramatized

One of my students at MasterWorks told me before joining us that he wanted to focus on being a theologian rather than an actor. I told him the program would enhance his abilities to express theology. I'm glad to see Sadler Mahan is proving that out with the help of another MasterWorks alum, his brother, Cody.

Eric Liddell's story told during the Olympics

Things are shaping up to take Beyond the Chariots to Asia during the Olympic Games this summer.

The play tells the rest of the Chariots of Fire story: How, after breaking the world record in the 1924 Olympics, Eric Liddell spent the rest of his life as a missionary in China.

The play has been translated into Spanish, Chinese and translators are working on Portuguese, French and Korean.

I'm also working on a docudrama about Eric Liddell with a group in Hong Kong. I've written a rough draft of the screen play, and now I'm working to incorporate our newest interviews. I'll get to play Eric Liddell in the dramatizations.

Because the Hong Kong Dollar is linked to the US dollar, the money they've raised for the project is not going as far as they hoped. Also, many funds have been rediverted to help earthquake victims in that region. I've decided to raise some funds to cover my expenses to make their budget go further and therefore raise the quality of the film.

If you'd like to make a donation for either of these endeavors, make checks payable to Westchester Chapel. If you want the money to go toward performances during the Olympics write "Emmaus Arts--Olympics" in the memo line. If you want it to go toward the docudrama, write "Emmaus Arts--Docudrama" in the memo line. Send to:

Westchester Chapel
214 Central Ave.
White Plains, NY 10606
USA

Thanks!

To keep up to date on developments, sign up at RichDrama.com/Updates.

Filled with Hope,
Rich & Joyce

The following is an excerpt from the Off-Broadway performance.

Never before

On Friday I blogged that I didn't think our anniversary had ever fallen on Good Friday before. Retta Blaney, who's birthday was that day, blogged evidence that Joyce and I would have to have been celebrating our 95th anniversary for that to have been the case: http://uponthesacredstage.blogspot.com/2008/03/easter-blessings.html

We're only on our 120th monthaversary, which we'll celebrate tomorrow. So don't be surprised if we don't answer the phone or return email.

It's the blood

Our Good Friday service at Westchester Chapel was very powerful. A number of us read the scriptures of the Lord's Passion, but we started with Genesis: God covered the first man and the first woman with animal skins. Pastor Jim told how blood was also used to cover the doorposts of the homes of the Israelites so their firstborn would not be killed while the firstborn of Egypt were killed as the final plague. Someone pointed out to me years ago how the blood on the doorframes was placed in such a way to form a cross (a form of execution which wouldn't be invented for quite some time). Tonight we stepped forward and put blood red paint on the door we'd created. It was a very powerful evening.

Sandy Rodriguez is pictured here applying the blood.

Curt Cloninger, who was the first person I ever saw do a one-man play, just posted a beautiful reflection for this Holy Weekend: Three Days.

Having a poignant anniversary

Joyce an I are celebrating our 10th anniversary by performing together: http://RichDrama.com/WCCC.

I can't remember Good Friday falling on our anniversary before. It's actually poignant to commmemorate two events of great love.

Running the Race

A new biography on Eric Liddell, subject of my play Beyond the Chariots, has recently been released. It's called Running the Race, and it's by John Keddie, who equaled Liddell's time at Edinburgh's Craiglockhart track. The race was 44 years after Liddell's first race on that track, which was literally unchanged from his day. Later, Keddie was a consultant on Chariots of Fire.

I haven't finished the book, but what I've read is superb. It's more focused on Liddell's running than previous biographies, but, as Keddie is now a minister, it certainly isn't devoid of Liddell's devotion. It contains several photos I hadn't come across in other biographies, nor in my visits with several of Liddell's family members.

Running the Race will be presented to each member of the British Olympic Team for the Beijing Games this August.

Here's a more thorough review from The Herald: Spirited life in the fast lane races off the page.

Keddie just had an article on Liddell published in the Yorkshire Post: John Keddie: A true sporting hero who lived by his faith.

Bag pipin'

Our friends Carter and Carol are gearing up for a trip to Scotland. She's presenting a paper at Edinburgh University and he'll be doing more illustrations like this one, no doubt.

Good Friday Service

We're exploring Good Friday through a number of creative expressions this year. Come and experience it.

For directions click here.

For directions from NYC via public transporation, click here.

Met exhibit

There's a fabulous exhibit of Chinese iconography at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I found it quite fascinating.

World Prayer

Light to the Nations

© Copyright 2005 by Rich and Joyce Swingle.

Scripture from the NIV .

Light to the Nations was created for Westchester Chapel Community Church. The song "Every Nation" was created by Danielle Strickland for the album Sounds of the Revolution and is used by permission. The map is courtesy of the CIA, and is in the public domain.

Feel free to link to this site or send an email to let people know about it, but do not host elsewhere without permission.

Please note, the state of some nations has changed since the song "Every Nation" was written. For a current list go to CIA.gov.

Let us know from where in the world you're praying...

 

Sharing the stage with Lynn Redgrave

I'll be performing an excerpt from Beyond the Chariots at Broadway Blessing on September 8.  Retta Blaney, who is organizing the event just wrote me this encouraging note:

Hi Rich -- Just wanted to let you know Lynn Redgrave will be taking part in BB too.

Retta Blaney
Visit my blog, Life Upon the Sacred Stage, at http://uponthesacredstage.blogspot.com

What a glorious day!

Priscila Netto's music video

I posted this earlier with not link to the video! Here it is: Give It Up.

Priscila Netto, a member of Christians in Theatre Arts and a friend of ours, was featured in a music video of Give It Up by Christine Evans. The video shows powerfully the value of human life in comparison to the things we think will give us happiness. Evans says this about the song:

I would have to say that "Give It Up" is probably my favourite song. This song follows an ongoing theme of mine which is the transient state of our existence. This world is passing and so are we from this world, so it’s important not to hold on too tightly to things that are only temporary.*

Passing the Torch

I just saw the following quote, framed in a theatre. It could surely be applied to the life of Eric Liddell...

This is the true joy in life, being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one. Being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances, complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy. I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community and as long as I live, it is my privilege to do for it what I can. I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work, the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake. Life is no brief candle to me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got hold of for the moment and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations.

--George Bernard Shaw

Question

I was just asked the following question about Beyond the Chariots, so I thought I'd answer it here:

Begin forwarded message:

How long did it take you to write and rehearse it before you put it together?

It took three months to write and perform the first draft, but it wasn't until the following fall that it really started falling into place.

Bev Holloway's bio

Beverly Holloway just sent her bio.  It makes me even more excited to have her coming to MasterWorks!

Beverly Holloway has worked in LA as a Casting Director for TV and feature film projects for over 13 years.  Her credits include recently released film The Ultimate Gift (Starring James Garner, Abigail Breslin Drew Fuller, Brian Dennehy), Bobby Jones: Stroke of Genius (Starring Jim Caviezel, Claire Forlani, Malcolm McDowell, Jeremy Northam), and the soon to be released films The Least of These (Starring Isaiah Washington, Jordan Garrett, Robert Loggia, Andrew Lawrence), Like Dandelion Dust (Starring Mira Sorvino, Barry Pepper, Cole Hauser) and a new comedy from Director David Zucker (Starring Kelsey Grammer, Jon Voight).  In addition, Beverly is responsible for casting the children's video series Hermie & Friends with amazing talent such as Tim Conway, Don Knotts, Richard Kind, Judge Reinhold and Vicki Lawrence.  After starting her career with primarily faith-based projects, Beverly continues to be excited by projects that use the power of TV and Film to encourage and inspire the world around us.  Beverly lives in Southern California with her husband Douglas and "wonderdog" Oscar.

Interview with George Flores

Part 1


Part 2


Aired February 17, 2008 on Star 99.1FM, Profiles with George Flores.

Posted by permission.

An excerpt

This scene is from the Off-Broadway production of Beyond the Chariots.



Music composed by Fritz Kreisler. Arranged and performed by Claude Chew.

NYC on a misty night

And the winner is...

Ken Wales is featured in the article Joy finally returns to the Hollywood community, where he mentions the upcoming sequel to Chariots of Fire. Check out the article to see what prizes Ken's film Amazing Grace was up for...

The Meetingplace

I performed Beyond the Chariots last Sunday at The Meetingplace Church in Blacksburg, SC. The beautiful building was miraculously transformed from a chicken shed. A truck carrying sheetrock spilled a bunch quite near the church when they were getting ready to renovate it. Most of the sheetrock was in perfect condition, but the driver had to throw it away. They threw it to the church and they put it to great use.
Since then they've been reaching out through a partnership with a group in Mexico: http://Dayspring.us.

Beyond the Chariots in White Plains

Beyond the Chariots will be performed at Westchester Chapel in White Plains, New York, on February 23 at 7pm.

The play tells the rest of the Chariots of Fire story: How, after breaking the world record in the 1924 Olympics, Eric Liddell spent the rest of his life as a missionary in China.

This is a kick off as we gear up to perform the play in China during the Beijing Olympics. We'll have subtitles in Spanish, and we're hoping for several more before the Olympics begin, 08/08/08.

I was recently interviewed by George Flores for his program "Profiles" on Star 99.1FM. Click here to listen.

This event is free. I'm donating the performance so that the entire free-will offering will go directly to Westchester Chapel. We're also using the event to kick off fund raising for performances in Asia during the Olympics. If you can't make it, and you'd like to make a donation, make checks payable to Westchester Chapel. If you want the money to go toward performances during the Olympics write "Emmaus Arts--Olympics" in the memo line. Send to:
Westchester Chapel
214 Central Ave.
White Plains, NY 10606
USA
Thanks!
Rich & Joyce

For driving directions visit http://WestchesterChapel.org.
For directions from New York City visit http://RichDrama.com/WCCC/NYC.


The following is an excerpt from the Off-Broadway performance.

New York Snow

Here's what's left of the snow I was missing in South Carolina.

Historic Milestone Reached - 1,000,000th Registered Child

I want to share the following note from my liaison at Compassion...

Hi Friends,

 

Incredible day at Compassion.  We now have 1,000,000 children currentlyregistered in our sponsorship program!  For clarity, we have about 970,000sponsored, and will expect to cross 1 million sponsored children next fiscal year.  I joined Compassion just 4 years ago and we were excited to cross 500,000 children at that time.  How incredible the way God has been growing this important ministry to children.  It's truly transforming.  Thanks for the important part you play in releasing children from poverty in Jesus' name.

 

Ken

You can help us get closer to a million sponsorships: http://RichDrama.com/Compassion.

Moral Storytelling

I just came across a great article by John Truby.

Here's an excerpt:

I don’t know why these stories of grand moral accounting have all appeared in movie theaters at around the same time. It may be nothing more than a fluke of production. Or it may be a reaction to a time when America’s position as the prime moral compass in the world has been shaken, if not shattered, by war and torture. Or it may simply be a number of fine storytellers all deciding to make an aesthetic and moral decision of their own. That stories aren’t just about jolting and thrilling and then soothing an audience. Stories are the primary way we give meaning to our lives, but only when they show individuals making hard decisions with effects that can last a lifetime.

Click here for the whole article.

Beautiful bells

The bell tower is playing a very lovely tune. You'll have to imagine.

Gaffney

I'm doing an acting workshop this afternoon and performance of Beyond the Chariots tonight in Gaffney, SC, home of the Peachoid.

It's snowing

Joyce just told me the snow flakes in New York are beautiful. You'll have to imagine them. I'm in South Carolina, where it's almost 70 degrees. This is where Christians in Theatre Arts (http://CITA.org) is headquartered, and Dale Savidge, the executive director, said one day he got a call from a member in Alaska, who said it was 100 degrees colder there than in Greenville that day. What a varied world with which we've been gifted.

The MasterWorks Theatre Program

Many have pointed out that the quality of our performances is getting better each year, so I realized that it was time to invite a casting director from New York or Hollywood. John Kirby (more on John in a moment) said that he had worked with Beverly Holloway and thought she'd be ideal, and now she's excited to join us.

She cast The Ultimate Gift (Starring James Garner, Abigail Breslin, Drew Fuller, Brian Dennehy), Bobby Jones: Stroke of Genius (Starring Jim Caviezel, Claire Forlani, Malcolm McDowell, Jeremy Northam), and the soon to be released films The Least of These (Starring Isaiah Washington, Jordan Garrett, Robert Loggia, Andrew Lawrence), Like Dandelion Dust (Starring Mira Sorvino, Barry Pepper, Cole Hauser) and a new comedy from Director David Zucker (Starring Kelsey Grammer, Jon Voight). She's going to come for our final performances, talk to students about their work, her work, her faith and how God has opened doors for her in Hollywood.

John Kirby will be returning for his third year, this time to direct us in Moliere's Tartuffe. Since reading it in grad school I've wanted to produce this farcical look at hypocrisy. So many are kept away from entering into a relationship with the Lord because they see some of his followers as hypocrites. I hope that in producing Tartuffe laughter will help people consider logs that might be imbedded in their own eyes (Luke 6:42) and approach those who don't yet know the Lord with a bit more grace.

John is not only coaching the Old Testament version of The Word of Promise, as he did on the New Testament version, but this time around he's actually lending his voice to some of the characters! He's also directing the children's version of The Word of Promise. Congratulations, John. He coached another film with Jim Caviezel in Australia, and three other films he worked on are in post-production. For those new to John's work, he's considered one of the best acting coaches in Hollywood. He's worked on Narnia, The Count of Monte Cristo and Deja Vu to name a few.

Another returning faculty member will be Harvey Johnson, who directed the first two full-length plays for The MasterWorks Festival. This season he's going to head up the auditions for the honors recital and then coach the winners. Harvey continues to work professionally in the Pittsburgh area as a director and actor.

Another goal of mine is to bring in professional performers who can share a full-length play with the entire community in addition to their workshops. This year we'll be joined by Acts of Renewal, a husband and wife team: Carol Anderson and Jim Shores. I first saw Jim and Carol perform at a Christians in Theatre Arts conference in the late '90's, and they blew me away. Since then their work has been featured on TV and radio and they've performed alongside nationally recognized speakers such as Tony Campolo, Joni Erickson Tada, Brennan Manning, Gary Chapman and Sister Helen Prejean (author of Dead Man Walking). I'm not only excited about their gifts as actors and instructors, but they also have a very powerful story to tell.

Once again we'll be blessed with instructors Susan Somerville Brown and Patricia Mauceri. Susie, of CATS on Broadway, will be playing Josephine in HMS Pinafore, musical directing Little Women and directing/teaching Princess Ida (a lesser know Gilbert & Sullivan) before joining us in Winona Lake. Patricia, in addition to her contract role on One Life to Live, has been seen recently on Law & Order and went to Costa Rica recently to minister to the people there.

I'm overwhelmed by how the Lord is putting the right people together for what should be an amazing theatre program this summer. Be sure to let people know! This article can be found at RichDrama.com/MWF.

East Liddell Road

I just went for a run on East Liddell Road. No, I'm not back in Scotland, I'm just north of Atlanta, GA, here to perform Beyond the Chariots about Eric Liddell. No idea of whether or not the road is named after him, but I'm grateful for the nearby inspiration, as well as the pickup truck bed of the kind passerby, who allowed me to climb aboard and get the shot. The light made it kind of tricky.

Interview with George Flores

I just did an interview with George Flores on Star 99.1 FM. It will air at 6:30am EST on Sunday, February 17 on "Profiles with George Flores".

David Nevue

Retta Blaney posted a review of my friend, David Nevue's book: How to Promote Your Music Successfully on the Internet. If you've ever wanted to go full time into the arts as a musician, David's book has a lot of tools to help make that happen.