All In One Week

For the past few weeks I was blessed with directing a show titled "All in One Week" for the Palm Sunday Service at my church. At first I was hesitant to pursue this because, lets face it, a large amount of church dramas are cheesy and are hard to take seriously. I was even more skeptical when I realized that our small church does not have much theatrical talent, so embarking on this was a huge leap of faith for me. Not to mention I only had three weeks to get this from concept to performance! Long story short, I was completely (for lack of another word) blessed with the people who were brought into my life for this production. They were totally professional (even more so than some of the "professional" theater dwellers I have worked with in the past 16 years that I have been involved in theater), and just amazing to work with. Their passion inspired me, and though I was pretty tough on them they took my suggestions and flew!

I can't forget to mention my Samwise who was a trooper and decided to help me out by being my Asst. Director. I honestly could not have done it without her support. She was SPECTACULAR! I can honestly boast she was the yin to my yang; where I faltered she was there with the perfect suggestions and ideas! Nor will I forget to mention my beautiful sister who lives down in San Diego and lent me the use of some theatrical lighting from the company she works for! It was her lights that really added the "cherry on top" of this production, and made it so special! I also could not have done this production without the coolest guy at our church, Caleb, who ran my sound. He is an actor, he is a techie, he made everything just perfect!! Without these three I would have been totally lost!

Steph and Caleb as "The best crew EVER!"

Since we only had three weeks to put this show together, I was amazed at how quickly the actors memorized their lines and blocking since they do not consider themselves "actors" per-say, nor is it a hobby of theirs. I was equally as amazed as to how fast all the tech came together in the end! What astounded me most, though, was how well they all worked together!! I have never been involved in a drama production with such LITTLE DRAMA! They really showed me what it is to be a church "family", lifting each other up and supporting one another! I know that the friendships I made with all these individuals will truly be life-long!

I also know it was God working the amazing way he does, because during our last week of rehearsals I was let go from the job I truly loved (and sometimes hated), and I was pretty devastated, though I didn't admit it. I know that if I didn't have these wonderful people to look forward to seeing each day during that week, I would have gone into a very deep depression. I am even welling-up thinking about it now because I don't think they realize that their commitment and their laughter and sweet friendship helped me transition through something that could have been very bleak. So I know that I was meant to direct this show, and be completely blessed with each one of these individuals. If they don't know it, I surely do, that they are a gift from God to me. They have changed me forever!!

So without further ado, a few pictures from our final tech. rehearsal. (The rest I will post on my Facebook page).

Becca as "Mary"

Chris as "Jairus" & Marilla as "Shauri"

Jonathan as "Peter"

Josh as "Caiaphas"

"I know, a DONKEY!"

"Where is my Jesus!!!"

(A breif synopsis of the show: All in One Week tells the story of Palm Sunday, Good Friday, and Easter Morning from the unique perspective of five people that were forever changed by Jesus. While we never actually see the figure of Jesus himself, these five figures experience the events while Jesus is cheered on Palm Sunday, crucified on Good Friday, and, ultimately, rises on Easter Sunday. Biblically accurate in every detail, the story brings the events to life in a compelling and incredibly human way that is accessible for the modern viewer.)