When some people hear the words “church play,” they sigh, look for an excuse not to accept their friend’s invitation to attend, and think to themselves “yeah, I’ve seen dozens of church Christmas plays.”
But once they see “An Evening in December” their comments are often “wow, that was unbelievable,” or “are you sure those aren’t professional ringers?” or “that was incredible, that was better than (fill in the blank with something familiar like ‘the Nutcracker’ or ‘Music Circus’).”
The cast gets just one chance in front of each audience to tell a brilliantly written story, deliver vocal sounds that will vibrate through to the farthest seat, or execute explosive choreography by Devin LePage, John Plastow, Jennie Johnson, Carolyn Melville, Karla Harris, and Morgan Ortiz.
But when we get that many unprofessionals onstage, how does John inspire us to raise the bar to the highest level? Calling upon his experience with hundreds of productions and passion for excellence, he inspires us with what I call “the director’s message.”
Last run-through, he gave us just six things to remember:

E – is for Energy. I interpreted his comments personally as follows: Overcome my tiredness, overcome the fatigue or the distractions from our work or family life. Give my all.
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