Vulnerable

Click here for an outstanding sermon by my former professor from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.

Some gems: "Charisma without character is catastrophe." "'You're credible with us because you became vulnerable with us.' ...Christ is most credible because He made himself most vulnerable."

Chariots of Fire in the West End

In the run-up to the Olympics we read that Chariots of Fire would be running in cinemas all over the UK. We never saw posters for the movie while we were there with performances of my one-man play on the rest of the story, Beyond the Chariots, but we LOVED the West End production of the newly staged theatrical adaptation. The staging and "choreography" was just brilliant! And the opening and closing sequences had the cast running about in Team Great Britain 2012 athletic uniforms. Great fun.

It follows the four-time Academy Award-winning film from 1981 quite closely, but they give themselves an extra hour to work in subplots for which the film didn't allow.

At the Eric Liddell Awards breakfast, I told Eric's daughters that I only had two quibbles. Patricia, his eldest said she had two also. I told her to go first. She didn't like how her Aunt Jenny was portrayed. When I performed Beyond the Chariots in Milwaukee I was given a note from Jenny by someone who had been in correspondence with her before her death. In the note Jenny wrote about how much she encouraged Eric in his running. Patricia said Jenny was much more fun-loving than she's portrayed in the film, and now in the West End. Her second quibble was that her father was also portrayed as being more dour than she remembers him to have been. He used to sing silly songs with their mother to keep the Sunday school kids interested in God's Word. Then I shared my quibbles: Their mother is portrayed as a blonde, when she had very dark hair (Patricia also said her accent was far too American, and not enough Canadian). My biggest complaint is that they close the play with--and work into the ancillary literature--the phrase "Harold was faster, but Eric was better." They point out that Harold got faster and faster when training with Mussabini, but the fact of the matter is that Eric's 100yd British record of 9.7 held for 35 years. I did the math, and Harold's Olympic record of 10.6 in the 100m, which he equalled in two qualifying heats, is a virtual tie with Liddell. But to say he was faster than Eric is just not true.

Having said all of this, it's a marvelous play, and I highly recommend it to anyone in or heading to London. I'm praying it will be done on Broadway some day. Maybe I'll be young enough to audition for Eric's older brother.

Mostly I was pleased because they stayed true to the bold stance that Eric took not to run on a Sunday. They didn't pull back anything from his conviction.

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See the rest of Olympic champion Eric Liddell's Chariots of Fire story in Beyond the Chariots. Watch it online and book a live performance.

Reposting a report on Toronto and the Olympics from 2012

Rich with Ian Sadler, organist for
Chariots of Fire.

My Toronto performance of Beyond the Chariots in April was bookended by Ian Sadler playing the same pieces on the organ as he did in the Academy Award-winning film Chariots of Fire. To hear "Jerusalem" played as it had in the film, just before I walked out to perform my play about Eric Liddell, one of the main subjects of the film, was a very special moment indeed.  Two of the daughters of Eric Liddell also spoke that evening, marking the fourth such performance, starting with Heather Ingham, Eric's middle daughter, speaking after an Off-Broadway performance in 2006. Heather found out I was performing the play at Trafalgar Castle School for girls the following Monday, and she was kind enough to speak there, as well.

Rich with Eric Liddell's daughters
and their husbands.

The highlight of my time in Toronto was when Heather told me upon my arrival about the story told about her in Our Daily Bread, about how her faith had been "rekindled" through a prayer for her aunt which was instantly answered while they were in China preceding the 2008 Olympics, visiting the key places Eric and Flo Liddell had lived.

Puerto Rico, Transylvania and London were all during the two weeks of the Summer Olympics.

In Puerto Rico I taught with fellow board members of Christians in Theatre Arts at a conference for applied theatre practitioners. In London we had four performances in various parts of the city, and three were within five miles of the Olympic Pavillion. We were surprised that Transylvania was the highlight of the trip. We found ourselves laughing at everything, and it occurred to us that, in a land scarred by persecution, we were bringing healing through our laughter.

By the end of the second week of the Olympics we had reached people from 30 nations and every inhabited continent.

At the Eric Liddell Legacy Breakfast with world-record breaking Olympic gold
medalist Madeleine Manning Mimms, with whom I performed during the
Beijing Olympics, and Ashley Null, who served as a chaplain during
previous Olympics.

Grace to the Nations

I just posted a number of photos from our travels to Puerto Rico, Transylvania and London during the Olympics: GraceToTheNations.Shutterfly.com.

We reached people from 30 nations during those two weeks!

We have more stories on this blog as well as Facebook.com/RichDrama and TheLizThatWas.Tumblr.com.

The photo shows how close as we could get to the Olympic Park. We waited on tickets to allow for as many bookings as possible. We're praying for openings in Sochi, Russia, and Rio de Janero, Brazil, for the next Olympics. We've decided to order tickets early for morning events!

The Rich Young Ringmaster

This is my report to Westchester Chapel of our performances and workshops in Puerto Rico, Transylvania and London during the Olympics.

This will be part of a brief documentary of our trip. Find out more about that by signing up at RichDrama.com/Updates.

"The Rich Young Ringmaster" © Copyright 2012 by Rich Swingle
Translations by Tarjányi Krisztina Irma @ Copyright 2012 by Tarjányi Krisztina Irma

The rest of the service can be found at WestchesterChapel.Blogspot.com (8/19/12).

30 Nations During the Olympics!

During the Olympics we reached people from at least 30 nations:

Puerto Rico
Romania
Hungary
England
USA
Australia
Canada
Holland
Switzerland
India
Zimbabwe
Liberia
Kenya
Congo Brazzaville
Japan
Philippines
Sri Lanka
South Africa
Malawi
Nigeria
Russia
Poland
Italy
Belgium
Ghana
Guyana
Jamaica
Barbados
Trinidad
Bangladesh 

The Paralympics begin on August 29, so this Sunday's performance of Beyond the Chariots with translations for Chinese in Richmond, VA, will fall within the larger Olympics window, making it 31 nations.

Amazing connections

We've been having a ball in Europe!
We've been posting as often as we can to http://Facebook.com/RichSwingle and our friend and colleague Liz has been posting to http://thelizthatwas.tumblr.com .
Here's a video we just posted telling some of the amazing connections the Lord has been setting up: http://vimeo.com/47153213
It's for our Hungarian friends, so I didn't put in subtitles. The Hungarian is:
Istan hozott: welcome (literally "God sent you."
I don't know how to spell the phrases I said at the end, but they're from a monologue I performed for them and they mean, "It will change your life. You'll be refreshed and renewed."
Also, we were on the Tube, waiting for our train, bummed because the other line had come past a number of times. Had ours been as regular we wouldn't have discovered that the couple sitting next to us were good friends of the creative team that cast me in Judah Ben Hur in Singapore!

A mid-journey report

We've come to London to share my play about Eric Liddell (RichDrama.com/BeyondTheChariots) during the Olympics.

Last night was the debut of the Tamil translation, which was well received. They translated it for seven people who had come from Sri Lanka and India to attend the International College of Officers for the Salvation Army.

This morning a woman told us how integral Eric Liddell's story was in her coming to faith, and there she sat in the William Booth Officers Training School, where she'll start attending in the fall, watching a play about the man who had inspired her to go into ministry! The things that our Father orchestrates are so far beyond what we could ever plan!

Before we came here we performed the play in Romania with Hungarian translation slides. It was in Transylvania, a region that used to belong to Hungary, and the people we visited were Hungarian speakers. One of the men there asked us to tell him more about Jesus. We stayed up until 1am. In the end he prayed that Jesus would cover his sins, so that he could be in a relationship with the Father. The next morning he walked into our room radiating joy, but he still wants to see miraculous signs to confirm this. The next day, when we flew to London there were seven specific Appointments that we knew were all about confirming our friend's new relationship with the Lord. The highlight was when we discoverd that our waitress was from Tirgu-Mures, Romania, the city from which we'd flown only a few hours before. We'll also tell our friend about the woman who will start training school and her story. We're praying that these Love letters will encourage him to grow in his new relationship with the Lord.

On Friday we'll have breakfast with 120 Olympic athletes (some of which will be sitting at our table) as the Eric Liddell Award is given to two gold medalists who exhibit not only outstanding athleticism but also a strong committment to the Father.

filled with Hope,

Rich

Total triumph in Transylvania

We had an indescribably great time in Transylvania. My shirt says, "For I am not ashamed of the Gospel, because it is the power of God that brings Salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile." (Romans 1:16 NIV) Though we're in Romania, it's written in Hungarian, the language of the wonderful people with whom we partnered in ministry.

They are an ecumenical group, though the hosts are Charismatic Catholics, and none of the leaders were ashamed of the Gospel! We sensed the presence of the Lord so powerfully in their prayers and worship songs, though we only understood the ones that were translated from Hillsong, Vineyard and other English sources.

It's always overwhelming to me when I worship with fellow believers in other parts of the world. A connection to the Lord is so powerful it doesn't need words to experience.

We did an awful lot of laughing. It seemed to us a supernatural joy. It occurred to me that it was the Lord's gift to the land scarred by communism. We were in the same county where Richard Wurmbrand was tortured and beaten daily year after year because he wouldn't renounce Christianity. He explained in his book Tortured for Christ that he was actually allowed to serve as a pastor so long as he cooperated with the Communists. They were to teach that Moses brought the first revelation, Jesus brought the second and Joseph Stalin brought the third. But when Wurmbrand's underground activities came to light they imprisoned him and his wife.

With the fall of Ceausescu and the Iron Curtain there is joy in the land. We sensed it and praise the Lord that we could add to it.

My performance of Beyond the Chariots was translated to Hungarian just in time for the performance. They clearly appreciated it, and I was thrilled to receive a special applause in which they unified their clapping into an ever-faster beat.

I wrote a two-minute piece that was translated by a former student of mine in the States who set up our visit. When I got to speak to her on the phone when she called the camp I wept for joy and deep gratitude. She had recorded her translation for me, but the Hungarian language is quite different from any other. I recorded myself speaking it, and all who heard it thought I was better off using translation slides, which I did. I memorized a few Hungarian phrases, and those were received well. Phew! I posted that performance here.

I got to teach two acting workshops and closed by introducing enacted prayer to Romania. Some of the enactments were quite powerful.

One of the camp organizers said they always pray for just under half of the students to be pre-believers, since, at their age, they are influenced toward the majority of their peers. We rejoiced to see 17 of them go forward to indicate a desire to know the Lord more. Last night the call was to come forward if they want to give their lives to the Lord. We missed it because we had to get to London, but we know of at least one of them that is quite close to making that commitment, and we were privileged to pray with one to that end. [We later heard a report that our friend did go forward, along with all but two. Pray for them to continue to consider the Lord.]

During the weeks of the Olympics we've been blessed with bookings in Puerto Rico, Transylvania and London. We're working on a documentary we've decided to title Grace to the Nations. One of the leaders told us, "The Love of God is an ocean, and Grace is an invitation to swim."

The student pictured above asked me to film her telling her father how beautiful the worship and fellowship is at the camp and how much she longs for her father to experience this kind of joy through a relationship with Jézus. Pray he dives into the Love of God.

Love Does Not Boast

Pastor Joyce Swingle preaches on James 4:13-17. Communion by Pastor Linda Warren.



Rich Swingle closed the service telling about the documentary Captivated, which was screened at the MasterWorks Festival this year.




This service is available for download free on iTunes, where you can also subscribe to our podcast. Search for "Westchester Chapel" on the iTunes Store.

Former prisoner in N. Korea shares story Wednesday night

Arts and media ministry leaders of New York City and friends,

I have a last-minute invitation for you to join MasterWorks and Mastermedia this Wednesday night.

Though I've lived in Manhattan since 1993, one month each year I direct the theatre program for The MasterWorks Festival (http://RichDrama.com/MasterWorks) in Winona Lake, Indiana, where Billy Graham kept an office and Billy Sunday lived and held revivals. We're taking our students, who come from ten different states and Melbourne, Australia, to New York to perform for agents and casting directors (details follow), and I wanted our students to meet people from as many different arts groups as possible. So I've invited Euna Lee to tell the story of her arrest in North Korea on March 17th, 2009. She and her colleague Laura Ling were filming a documentary along the China / North Korea border.  They were sentenced to 12 years of hard labor in one of North Korea's prison camps, but former President Bill Clinton went to North Korea to arrange for their release.

After that I'd like to invite each of you who run ministries to share a bit about your work with our students. In turn, we'd like to offer an enacted prayer for you and your organization. Enacted prayer was developed about seven years ago, and it was the idea of a student at a small Christian college. I've facilitated enacted prayer in many of the 23 nations in which I've performed, and it's always moved people in profound ways. We offered them here at The MasterWorks Festival a couple of weeks ago, and--as they do every year--people stayed until campus security shut us down almost three hours later. Don't worry! We won't keep you until midnight! 

I do believe something profound will happen as various arts and media groups come together to inspire the next generation over a dramatic story and this dramatic form of prayer.

You can find out more about enacted prayer at http://RichDrama.com/Workshops .

Euna will be sharing her story with us on July 11th at 7:30 PM.

Location:  Theater 315, 315 West 47th Street, NYC

I'm sure I'm missing some NYC arts groups, so feel free to forward this to leaders and invite your members.

Information on our performances follows. Though the showcases on Thursday are geared toward agents and casting directors we'd love to have as many people as possible in all of our performances.

Hope to see you very soon!

Rich

Invitation: 

MasterWorks Festival Theatre Program formally invites you and your office friends to attend our Off-Broadway industry showcase for casting directors, agents and filmmakers. 

Press Release (link):

INDIANA BASED TALENT PROGRAM BRINGS ACTORS FROM AROUND THE GLOBE TO PERFORM OFF-BROADWAY AT 'THEATRE 315' IN NEW YORK CITY

RSVP:

Kindly, RSVP so we can reserve your seats as our special guests, thank you. 

"A Midsummer Afternoon's Love"
The Ellington Room of Manhattan Plaza
400 West 43rd St. NY, NY

- Click here to RSVP for Thurs., July 12 @ 4:30pm

- Click here to RSVP for Thurs., July 12 @ 6:00pm

Pope John Paul II's "The Jeweler's Shop"
Theatre 315

315 W. 47th St., NY, NY

- Click here to RSVP for Fri., July 13 @ 7:30pm

- Click here to RSVP for Sat., July 14 @ 7:30pm


************************************************

PRESS RELEASE:

INDIANA BASED TALENT PROGRAM BRINGS ACTORS FROM AROUND THE GLOBE TO PERFORM OFF-BROADWAY AT 'THEATRE 315' IN NEW YORK CITY

MasterWorks Festival Theatre Program Presents Pope John Paul II's "The Jeweler's Shop" on July 13 & 14 at 7:30pm and special industry talent showcase of "A Midsummer Afternoon's Love"on July 12. 

NEW YORK (July 12, 2012) – The MasterWorks Festival Theatre Program, an annual summer program in Winona Lake, Indiana -- for elite students of classical music, theatre, dance, and opera instructed by world-class faculty from around the globe -- will hold a special acting showcase of "A Midsummer Afternoon's Love" for agents & casting directors in New York City, July 12th at 4:30 and 6PM at The Ellington Room of Manhattan Plaza located at 400 West 43rd Street; followed by two performances of Pope John Paul II's "The Jeweler's Shop" at Off-Broadway's Theatre 315 located at 315 W. 47th St., July 13th and 14th at 7:30PM. Admission is Free.

"The Jeweler's Shop" portrays three couples facing episodes of joy, pain, love and marriage, while asking the question: "What does it mean to fall in love?" MasterWorks Festival Theatre Program director Rich Swingle (www.RichDrama.com) directs 14 aspiring and professional actors from around the world, ages 17 to 32 including Brandon Langeland, (masters from Regent University), playing the lead role of Adam; Irene Kao, as Teresa, studied at Melbourne's National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA), where Cate Blanchett and Mel Gibson trained. Elizabeth Lobach, sharing the role of Teresa, is en route to USC School of Theatre after studying filmmaking in Cape Town, S.A. Danny Cornett, playing Stefan, can be seen in upcoming Olympic soccer film "For the Glory" opposite Jason Burkey ("October Baby"). Swingle also directed "The Miracle Worker," "Cyrano de Bergerac," co-directing "Tartuffe" and "Our Town" with renown acting coach John Kirby ("Narnia: The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe," "Déjà Vu"). An accomplished theater actor who has performed his one-man plays in 23 nations, Swingle is scheduled to perform in Puerto Rico, Transylvania & London during the Olympics this summer. He also appeared in 8 feature films including upcoming French and Indian War movie "Alone Yet Not Alone" & "The Screenwriters."

Patricia Mauceri (www.PatriciaMauceri.com) who directed the industry showcase "A Midsummer Afternoon's Love" directed "The Crucible" at MasterWorks in 2007 and currently teaches On-Camera Acting at TVI Studios. A graduate of The Juilliard School Drama Division in early years (alongside actors Patti LuPone, Kevin Kline & Kelsey Grammer), Mauceri's 40-year career includes performances on Broadway, film & television alongside Christopher Plummer, James Earl Jones, Johnny Depp, Richard Dreyfuss, Gene Hackman, and other luminaries.

MasterWorks Theatre Program students receive Master Class instruction from Broadway actors, filmmakers, casting directors, improv masters and Hollywood producers. Some past and present instructors include Bev Holloway, Ken Wales, Edwina Findley, Carol Doscher, MWF alumna Kaelen Carrier and Phillip Telfer.

For more info, faculty and actor bios/photos, visit www.RichDrama.com/MWFFaculty. MasterWorks is sponsored by Christian Performing Artists' Fellowship, under the direction of Dr. Patrick Kavanaugh. Industry, teens & adults welcome. RSVP to Rich Swingle at Phone@RichDrama.com or Shelly Woods, SDI Entertainment at s.d.i.entertainment.pr@gmail.com.

###

CONTACT: Shelly Woods, S.D.I. Entertainment PR s.d.i.entertainment.pr@gmail.com Director, Rich Swingle, MasterWorks Theatre 646-932-4890, Phone@RichDrama.com

S.D.I. Entertainment Public Relations Los Angeles, CA www.facebook.com/s.d.i.entertainment 

INDIANA BASED TALENT PROGRAM BRINGS ACTORS FROM AROUND THE GLOBE TO PERFORM OFF-BROADWAY AT ‘THEATRE 315’ IN NEW YORK CITY

CONTACT

Shelly Woods, S.D.I. Entertainment PR

S.D.I.Entertainment.PR@Gmail.com

Director, Rich Swingle, MasterWorks Theatre

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MasterWorks Festival Theatre Program Presents Pope John Paul II’s “The Jeweler’s Shop” on July 13 and 14 at 7:30pm and special industry talent showcase of “A Midsummer Afternoon’s Love”on July 12.

     NEW YORK (July 12, 2012) – The MasterWorks Festival Theatre Program, based in Winona Lake, Indiana, is an annual summer program -- for elite students of classical music, theatre, dance, and opera instructed by world-class faculty from around the globe -- will hold a special acting showcase of “A Midsummer Afternoon’s Love” for agents and casting directors in New York City on July 12 at 4:30 and 6 p.m. at The Ellington Room of Manhattan Plaza located at 400 West 43rd Street; followed by two performances of Pope John Paul II’s “The Jeweler’s Shop“ at Off-Broadway’s Theatre 315 located at 315 W. 47^th St. on July 13 and 14 at 7:30 p.m. Admission is free. Industry, teens and adults welcome.

     “The Jeweler’s Shop” portrays three couples facing episodes of joy, pain, love and marriage, while asking the question, “What does it mean to fall in love?” Directed by MasterWorks Festival Theatre Program director Rich Swingle (www.RichDrama.com) features 14 aspiring and professional actors from around the world, ages 17 to 32 including Actor Brandon Langeland, playing the lead role of Adam, who received a masters degree from Regent University. Irene Kao, playing Teresa, studied at Melbourne’s National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA), where Cate Blanchett and Mel Gibson trained. Elizabeth Lobach, sharing the role of Teresa, is en route to the USC School of Theatre after having studied filmmaking at Media Village in Cape Town, South Africa. Danny Cornett, playing Stefan, will appear in upcoming Olympic soccer player film “For the Glory” opposite Jason Burkey (“October Baby”).

     Swingle also directed “The Miracle Worker,” “Cyrano de Bergerac” and co-directed “Tartuffe” and “Our Town” with renown acting coach John Kirby (“Narnia: The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe,” “Déjà Vu,” “Scream 4”). Swingle is an accomplished theater actor who has performed his one-man plays in 23 nations and is scheduled to perform in Puerto Rico, Transylvania and London during the Olympics this summer. He also appeared in eight feature films including upcoming French and Indian War movie “Alone Yet Not Alone” and “The Screenwriters.”

     Patricia Mauceri (www.PatriciaMauceri.com), director of 2007’s MasterWorks “The Crucible,” is the director for the industry showcase of “A Midsummer Afternoon’s Love.” Mauceri trained at The Juilliard School in the Drama Division's early years alongside actors Patti LuPone, Kevin Kline and Kelsey Grammer. For about 40 years, she worked as a performer on Broadway, film and television alongside Christopher Plummer, James Earl Jones, Johnny Depp, Richard Dreyfuss, Gene Hackman, and other luminaries.

     Master class instructors for the 2012’s MasterWorks Theatre Program students include actress Carol Doscher (Broadway’s “Sweeney Todd” with Angela Lansbury), filmmaker Phillip Telfer (Captivated), MasterWorks alumna Kaelen Carrier (founder of St. Louis improv troupe “Living Improv” ). Previous master class instructors include casting director Bev Holloway (“Like Dandelion Dust” with Academy Award-winner Mira Sorvino and Barry Pepper), producer Ken Wales (“Amazing Grace,” original “Pink Panther” films, Emmy-winning television series “Christy”), and actress Edwina Findley (HBO’s “Treme” “Brothers and Sisters,” Brett Ratner’s movie-of-the-week “Blue Bloods”).

     For more info, photos and faculty and actor bios, visit www.RichDrama.com/MWFFaculty. MasterWorks is sponsored by Christian Performing Artists’ Fellowship, under the direction of Dr. Patrick Kavanaugh.
     To RSVP, please click here. 

Help send Beyond the Chariots to London for the Olympics

We'll be going to London and Birmingham to perform Beyond the Chariots during the Summer Olympics. Our friend Liz Jennings will be  joining us to advance translation slides as I perform my play about Olympic champion Eric Liddell. Some of Liddell's story is told in the film Chariots of Fire, which will be showing in UK theatres in the run-up to the Games. There is also a stage version of the film that is being produced in the West End. We're hoping many will want to know what came after Olympic gold.

Pastor Linda Warren invited support for the trip.



To give to the trip visit RichDrama.com/Donate, or if you'd like it to be tax deductible mark "Olympics" on your check and deposit it in the offering on Sunday or send it to Westchester Chapel.

This announcement is available for download free on iTunes, where you can also subscribe to our podcast. Search for "Westchester Chapel" on the iTunes Store.

I shared this excerpt from my one-man play The Acts during the Friday night banquet at our denomination's District Assembly. The theme of the weekend was "Mission Possible", based on Acts 1:8.



This monologue is available for download free on iTunes, where you can also subscribe to our podcast. Search for "Westchester Chapel" on the iTunes Store.



© Copyright 1999 and 2012 by Rich Swingle. All rights reserved. Performance of the monologue is forbidden without express written consent from the playwright. To arrange a performance of The Acts visit RichDrama.com.

The Sandals of Peace

Here's my sermon on Ephesians 6:15. It contains excerpts from my one-man play The Revelation.



Rich mentions his sermon on Peter walking on water, Freedom from Fear of Circumstances.

Go deeper. Dr. Timothy J. Keller's series on The Armor of God includes four sermons on The Sandals of Peace:
The Armor of God
Sandals of Peace--1
Sandals of Peace--2
Sandals of Peace--3
Making Peace

The sermon is followed by prayer over Pastor Rachel Taylor and her three roommates, Rachel, Laura and Sarah, as they celebrate graduation from Nyack College/Alliance Theological Seminary.

This service is available for download free on iTunes, where you can also subscribe to our podcast. Search for "Westchester Chapel" on the iTunes Store.

Pastor Joyce Swingle preaches on Ephesians 6:14 and Matthew 4:1-11.

Benediction by Pastor Rachel Taylor.

The sermon is available for download free on iTunes, where you can also subscribe to our podcast. Search for "Westchester Chapel" on the iTunes Store.

Long-Form Improv

This year the MasterWorks Theatre production of Pope John Paul II's The Jeweler's Shop will be going to New York City for performances in an Off-Broadway theatre: RichDrama.com/MWFTheatre2012.

The opportunity to tour to NYC created such a demand and surge in applicants that we were unable to cast everyone in the touring company.  To accommodate the many excellent actors who applied, we have created an exciting new track for the drama program: Long-Form Improv.  By the end of three weeks students will be equipped to take a suggestion from the audience and create a half-hour one-act play on the spot. Actors will study the works and influence of Viola Spolin, learn how improv is used professionally, and become an expert with short and long improvisation forms. The discipline will be a real boon for actors, helping them to cultivate spontaneity on stage, accelerate the creation of characters, and sensitivity to on-stage relationships. 

The track will be run by Kaelen Carrier, a MasterWorks Theatre alum, who attended the program from 2005 to 2008. She now has an MBA on top of a BA in Theatre Management, and she has worked with Washington University School of Medicine as a professional improv actor, performing the role of a patient to teach medical students how to improve their bedside manner. She runs a professional improv troupe in St. Louis.

It will be a three-week program that will run concurrently with the cast of The Jeweler's Shop, so students will spend an hour each morning with the entire company in warm-ups, worship, and devotions. They will also benefit from our master classes.

Carol Doscher has been
helping people find their
joy through Graceworks
 since 1995.

This year we're featuring Carol Doscher, President and CEO (Chief Encouragement Officer) of Graceworks. She has been captivating audiences since she performed on Broadway with Angela Lansbury. Since founding Graceworks in 1995, she’s trained thousands of professionals globally to make that vital human connection in sales presentations, client meetings and lectures. Having been featured in The New York Times and on Bloomberg television, Carol also has published numerous articles on presentation and communication skills. She just came back from Oslo, Norway, where she worked with clients from a dozen nations.

I've been a Graceworks Freedom Finder for over a decade now, and we've been thrilled to help liberate people from their fears, connect emotionally with their material and audiences, and trust that they can share more of who they are.    

We're also bringing Phillip Telfer, who wrote, produced, and directed a recent documentary called Captivated.  He will be sharing with the whole Festival, screening his film, and meeting with our theatre students. We heard Phillip speak to the cast and crew of Indescribable, the film in which my bride, Joyce, and I played the parents of nine. The documentary wasn't complete last summer, and in fact Phillip interviewed at least one crew member on set. But his talk was so spot on for many of our goals for the theatre program I'm excited that he'll be speaking to us and sharing his documentary. Captivated, now complete, was featured at the San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival, where it was runner up for Best Documentary and an Official Selection as a finalist for Best of Festival, which was won by Courageous.

Members of this track will also be able to audition for the honors recital at the MasterWorks Festival. If selected they will be coached by Patricia Mauceri, who trained at Juilliard with Kevin Kline and Patti LuPone and performed on television, film and Broadway alongside Christopher Plummer, Johnny Depp, Richard Dreyfus and James Earl Jones.

If you or someone you know is interested in the Long-Form Improv track apply (or urge them to apply) today. Instead of performing a monologue from The Jeweler's Shop, two contrasting monologues from any play will be fine, even if they're improvised.

Right to Worship Prayer March

* Please be in prayer about and attend the upcoming Right to Worship Prayer March and Concert this Sunday April 22 at 2pm starting at Cadman Plaza. Pray that the people of NY would unite together in prayer and thanksgiving and intercede for the city and the area and the nation!

^"14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land." - 2 Chronicles 7:14

Breakfast with Jesus

The Westchester Chapel Players shared the Resurrection Breakfast between Jesus and his disciples with our children of all ages.  We brought the youngest to the front table where VIP signs reserved their places.

Joyce followed the drama with a sermon on the corresponding passage from John 21 and shared her testimony of how she came to make Jesus her personal Savior. The clinking you hear in the background is from the breakfast we were eating.



This sermon is available for download free on iTunes, where you can also subscribe to our podcast. Search for "Westchester Chapel" on the iTunes Store.

Here's the book Joyce mentions:
 

Joyce Swingle

Joyce Swingle played the role of Mrs. Lehman in the upcoming film Indescribable, and she performed her own one-woman play "The Shepherd's Daughter" in the Shepherd's Cave of Bethlehem (see below). She has performed in numerous sketches with her husband, Rich Swingle in the US and Jordan.  She is a pastor at Westchester Chapel, and she has preached around the country and in Malaysia, Israel and Taiwan. To hear samples of Rev. Joyce's sermons, click here.

 She earned a Bachelor's degree in Journalism from Northwestern University, spent more than 20 years in corporate America, working in the publishing industry for magazines such as Newsweek, Time, People and Fortune. She left her position as a Vice President for BusinessWeek magazine in 2006 to pursue her call to ministry. She has attended acting workshops with Bev Holloway (casting director on over 30 films including Bobby Jones: Stroke of Genius, The Ultimate Gift and October Baby), Carol Jaudes (CATS on Broadway), John Kirby (acting coach on over 20 films including Count of Monte Cristo, Narnia: The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, and director of Word of Promise Next Generation with Anna Sophia Robb of Soul Surfer and Sean Astin of Lord of the Rings), Curt Cloninger (world-wide performer of his own one-man plays), Patricia Mauceri (Julliard trained actor of theatre, film and television who has starred opposite Johnny Depp, James Earl Jones and Richard Dreyfus) through the MasterWorks Festival where she serves as Director of Pastoral Care.

October Baby

October Baby Movie is phenomenal! It was a packed theatre on Times Square that gave it a long applause when it was over. Almost everyone stayed for the interview during the credits. Kudos to Beverly Kennedy Holloway, a Masterworks Festival master class instructor, for pulling together a wonderful cast. Jason Burkey, who performed with me in The Screenwriters and For the Glory, was terrific!

Christmas Grace

I play a quirky clerk in Christmas Grace. It's a wonderful story of forgiveness and... well, grace. I sob the whole third act every Season.

You can see it on TV throughout the Christmas Season.

It's also available in Family Christian bookstores across the nation as well as the following online stores and On demand websites:
-ChristianMovies.com
-PureFlix.com
-ChristianFilms.com
-ChristianCinema.com
-Christian Book Distributors
-FamilyChristianMovies.com
-fishflix.com
-iamflix.com
-Koorong Books (Australia)
-New Day Christian
-Vision Video


The director, Keith Perna, worked on Indescribable, though he was done before Joyce and I arrived on set. Three other Indescribable team members worked on Christmas Grace: Adam Terrel, Timothy Jones and Rebekah Cook. Rebekah worked with me on Alone Yet Not Alone, tipped me off to Indescribable, and cast me in The Screenwriters. I was in Detroit early March and got to help with some scenes they were filming, including one with MasterWorks alum Brandon Langeland. There was a bit of a buzz on set about the nice work he was doing, and he gets some great screen time in the trailer.



I also got to catch a ride from set with Daniel Knudsen who was running one of the cameras. He directed a film everyone on the set of Indescribable was raving about: Creed of Gold. Later Daniel picked me up at the Detroit Airport for a Christians in Theatre Arts conference. He asked if I would play the voice of a reporter for Creed of Gold. We pulled into a parking lot, he turned his car into a recording studio, and now I have a credit in the film!

Settled

It was great to perform the role of Tom in this short film with my friends Josh Murray, who performed with me in Alone Yet Not Alone, and Sandra Van Natta, who performed with me in The Screenwriters.

"Settled" was a part of the 168 Film Project.

Josh Murray, who asked me to audition for the film reported from the 168 Film Festival:

I heard that word (awesome) and I think "amazing" countless times last night about all aspects of the film. Many talented film makers said it was their favorite of the night. You guys should all be (humbly) proud of your work :) ... Also the cinematography looked amazing on that huge screen!

MasterWorks Theatre Off-Broadway

I've directed the theatre program at the MasterWorks Festival since 2005, and over the years we've watched the quality of our actors grow consistently and steadily as they've worked with world-class Christ-centered instructors like John Kirby (acting coach on over 20 major motion pictures including Narnia: The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, Disney's Prom, and he directed Word of Promise New Testament Youth Edition with Sean Astin of Lord of the Rings and Corbin Bleu of High School Musical), Ken Wales (producer on Amazing Grace, Christy, Breakfast at Tiffany's) and many others. At a certain point I started bringing Bev Holloway, a Hollywood casting director, who's worked on over thirty projects including Bobby Jones: Stroke of Genius, The Ultimate Gift and Like Dandelion Dust with Barry Pepper and Academy Award winner Mira Sorvino. Bev has joined us four years.

We feel like we've reached another milestone as we're bringing this summer's production of The Jeweler's Shop to New York City, where we'll perform it in an Off-Broadway theatre. We'll be inviting agents and casting directors to see the talent we've been developing over the years. We'll rehearse the most popular play of Karol Wojtyła, who would become Pope John Paul II, in Winona Lake, perform it for the full Festival, and then perform it in the Pittsburgh area before moving on to New York City.

As soon as we arrive in New York we'll be joining a Bible study for Broadway actors, and an exciting meeting with Mastermedia members is also in the works. Before we leave for New York, Phillip Telfer, who wrote, produced and directed a recent documentary called Captivated will be sharing with the whole Festival. We heard Phillip speak to the cast and crew of Indescribable, the film in which my bride, Joyce, and I played the parents of nine. The documentary wasn't complete last summer, and in fact Phillip interviewed at least one crew member on set. But his talk was so spot on for many of our goals for the theatre program I'm excited that he'll be speaking to us and sharing his documentary. Captivated, now complete, was featured at the San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival, where it was runner up for Best Documentary and an Official Selection as a finalist for Best of Festival, which was won by Courageous. We'll be seeing Freud's Last Session, which imagines a conversation between Sigmund Freud and C.S. Lewis, and afterward the actors and creative team will treat us to a talk-back.

Patricia Mauceri (who's performed on television, film and Broadway alongside Christopher Plummer, Johnny Depp, Richard Dreyfus and James Earl Jones) will be joining us for her seventh straight year, and this time she'll be able to work with our students for the full month.

We've already had as many women apply as we'll need, but we're still looking for a few good men. Click here for application requirements. If you're interested, move swiftly. We'll start making our selections for men (16-30) after March 31, and you'll need to order the script before uploading your audition.

The Festival begins June 16 and will run through July 15. For more information visit MasterWorksFestival.org/theatre.html.

We're looking forward to your auditions!

The Controversy of the Cross

Pastor Joyce Swingle points out the links between Psalm 22, the temptations of Christ in Matthew 4, and His Crucifixion in Matthew 27. She illustrates with stories from her own walk with the Lord, challenging listeners to stay on their cross, to allow the Life of Christ to flow through them.

 Opening prayers by Pastor Linda Warren. Matthew 27:32-44 read by Kenny M. Closing by Pastor Rachel Taylor. Music by Dom M. and Kenny M.



This service is available for download free on iTunes, where you can also subscribe to our podcast. Search for "Westchester Chapel" on the iTunes Store.