St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church

Contact our Web Master

Let’s Put On A Musical!

Matthew 28:1-10

Easter Sunday (March 27), 2005

1. My goodness, what a story! This is without a doubt the greatest story in the world. We have the story of how God brought new life out of certain death. How can we get the word out? I know it’s been around for many years, and the word is out, but what could we do? How can we St. Andrew’s Presbyterians tell this story? I know, let’s put on a musical! No? You seem skeptical. What are you thinking? I know, you think we don’t have what we would need, don’t you?

2. That’s a good thought! What does it take to put on a musical? What would we need? We already have the story. That’s the hardest part. So, the next thing, I suppose, would be music, and musicians. Then we would need a stage, of some sort, and a few people who can sing beautifully and act convincingly. Then we would need some more people who couldn’t necessarily sing or act, but who are still committed to the project, and we would need some stage hands to take care of all the props and some people to hide in the wings and prompt the actors when they forget a line. A choreographer would be nice, to help the singers move to the music. And, of course there has to be rehearsals.

3. Those are the basics. Do we have what we need? We have music [Presbyterian Hymnal] and a skilled musician [Kathy]. We have a stage [this whole room]. We have some people who can sing beautifully and act convincingly [many, but not all, are in the choir], and we have some more people, not all of which can sing or act [most of them are in this section]. We have some "stage hands" to take care of all the props [put the right color paraments and liners in the offering plates and oil in the candles and purchase and position the flowers]. We have prompters [acolytes and ushers]; we actually have a choreographer [Kris choreographs the Memorial High School musicals], and we have rehearsals. For one hour every week, from 10 to 11 on Sunday mornings, we all gather on this stage. So far, so good!

4. But there’s more to a musical than just music and people! We would need drama coaches to teach the actors how to be their character, and voice teachers to teach the cast how to interpret the songs. And we would need a script. We couldn’t even begin without a script, a printed page that has all the directions telling us where to stand and where to sit, and move us from one scene to the next. And we would need a producer. Even if we had the best music and musicians and theater and the best cast and the best stage crew, but didn’t have a producer, we would flop on opening night!

5. Do we have that "more than just music" for our musical? Yes, we do! We have a great voice teacher [Dan]. We have a couple of people who could be coaches, teach you how to stay in character [Rodgers and me]. And what about a producer? Do we have a producer? Yes, we are blessed to have the author of the book from which our "musical" is taken. Our "producer" is God, and our "book" is the Bible. God is present every rehearsal, moving around, seeing things from every angle, helping the actors interpret the story just right.

6. Are you with me? Maybe yes, maybe no. I know that, whatever the issue, half of the people aren’t going to like it. The mere fact that I mentioned "putting on a musical" probably turned half of you off. You’re thinking, "Now, wait just a minute! What are you doing with my worship? Turning it into a ‘rehearsal!’ I’ve never been part of a musical in my whole life, and now you’re asking me to be part of a cast? I don’t want to work when I come to worship! I want to sit back and enjoy!" If that’s what you’re thinking right now, you are not alone! Many people come to church expecting the very same thing they would get at the theater or even ball game – they expect to be entertained. But Soren Kierkegaard, the Danish theologian who lived in the early 1800s, realized that there is a big difference between worship and the theater or a ball game. Granted, they have many similarities. They all have a place to happen, some people to make it happen, and an audience to watch it happen. But in worship the cast and the audience are flipped. A musical happens in a theater with the players on stage and the patrons in the audience; a ball game happens in a stadium, with the players in the field [or court] and the fans in the bleachers. But in worship, Kierkegaard wrote, all of us are the players, the sanctuary is our stage, and God is our audience. I admit, it’s a bit hard to think of ourselves as the cast and God as the audience, especially the way this room is arranged, but don’t leave yet!

7. Even if you are among the half who doesn’t like the idea, are who are a bit skeptical, hang in there with me. We have everything we need: we have the greatest story every told, we have the music to carry the story, and we have the Author of the story at every rehearsal to help us get it right. Rodgers and I can be your "coaches" to help you keep "in character." We all have access to our "Actor’s Handbook" [the Bible] that we can read between rehearsals. Every Sunday one coach will read from our Handbook, and another coach will explain how best to do it. And each week we can use our "script" [the bulletin] to give us the words and music. Did you notice that the bulletin looks more like a script this week? There is a bit more direction – the words to the short songs we sing every week are printed, and by next Sunday the melody will be printed along with the words [if we can figure out how to do it!].

8. Now, just because we have everything we need doesn’t mean we won’t have problems putting on this musical. The biggest challenge, I suspect, will be staying focused, staying "in character." I read that Charleton Heston walked around his house in full armor for one whole month so he could actually be the Ben Hur he was playing for the movie. The hard thing for us will be our infrequent rehearsals. If we rehearsed every day for four hours, we’d get pretty good in only a few months. But we only rehearse one hour once a week, from 10 to 11 on Sunday mornings. So when birds get in and fly around, it’s hard to stay focused then. And, as with any cast in any musical, we all come to "practice" with a lot on our minds. Some of us live all alone, and feel that loneliness; some live in homes we share with one . . . or four or five. Some of our homes are happy; some are tense, some are in transition. But whether we come here happy or sad or preoccupied or focused, we come to this place, forgetting what’s going on in the rest of our lives, and give our all to the project. The show must go on, because we have the greatest story ever told, about the greatest life ever lived!

9. Staying focused will be our greatest challenge. The only other possible concern might be establishing a unified troupe. By all rights this shouldn’t work because we’re all so different and come from such different places. We all have different gifts and abilities, so there is an outside chance that some of us might think we are less essential to this production than others are. Some of us might not be totally committed. We might think our part isn’t important, that it no one will miss us if we don’t come to rehearsal. But Dan likes to quote Shakespeare’s thought on this subject: "There are no small parts; only small actors." Everybody is important, no matter if you are the star of the show or a face in the crowd, or you sweep up after everyone else has gone home. Everybody is important! That’s why Dan always tells us to greet each other in "Christian fellowship" before we begin. Each of us has a responsibility to care about the other, tell the rest of us "I’m glad you’re here today. We couldn’t do this without you!" And I don’t think it’s too far-fetched to say, "If we cannot be here, we need to find an "understudy" who can fill in for us!"

10. After all this talk about rehearsals, you might be wondering when opening night will be. When Christ comes again! We don’t know exactly when that will be, but we cannot give up! Every cast that ever came together to put on a production came because they believed in it. The show must go on! And we have the greatest story every told!

11. Let’s put on a musical! We have a story to tell, the greatest story ever told!

References consulted:

Let’s Put on a Musical!, Peter Filichia, Avon Books, New York, 1993

To navigate through the web site, click on the buttons at the top or on the side of the pages or on any links within the page.  Use your browser's Back button to return to the previous page if that page does not appear in the buttons available.  External hyperlinks should open in a new window - close it to return to this page.