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.
F – is for Focus. Concentrate on the moment. He’s put me through the show dozens of times, rehearsed me through the dance steps more than 50 times, had me memorize the entire libretto, trained me to know my cues. So, focus on that alone for 90 minutes.
F – is for Fun. We’re singing about Christmas! Snow! “this gift!” When the audience sees that I’m having this much fun, their own experience will reflect that.
O – is for Offering. We have all been blessed with individual gifts and talents. I’ve been blessed. The months of practice and sacrifice of family time (when I could have been sleeping, or blogging, or eating) are mine by choice, so give my performance as an offering.
R – is for Rejoice! Look it up in a dictionary. ’nuff sed.
T – is for Team. When you take a 40-member children’s choir that’s on stage for six songs; a dance company doing some killer moves, lifts, and turns; a talented and brilliantly cast troupe of character actors; a 60-member adult choreography team (of snowmen and snowwomen) doing precision drills through nine numbers; and a hot brass section kicking up some hot licks; we MUST be ONE team. One VISION. One PURPOSE.
It all comes down to our EFFORT. If we the cast can remember all those six points, we will be surprised by the level of performance we can achieve. And the audience will be blessed with the experience.
Thanks John for an inspiring message!
