Why I love MasterWorks

It's difficult to try and narrow down why I love the MasterWorks Festival in general and the theatre program in particular. I guess it's mainly because this program is so needed. These past few months that I have been interning at the North Shore Music Theatre in Massachusetts, I've seen a general respect, if something less than acceptance, of "old church stuff." The problem is that this respect is something deliberately vague and distancing so as to avoid anyone not liking you or limiting your lifestyle. This takes away the joy and the deeply felt intimacy in our relationships with each other and especially in our relationship with our Savior. What the faculty at the MasterWorks theatre program understand and teach us both through class work and through example is that, while theatre does involve skilled acting and stagecraft and polished performances, it is actually all about these deep, intimate relationships that so many theatre folk miss out on. There was a lot that I, a college graduate, never knew about this art form until I attended this program, and through the rigorous schedule and intense coachings from our teachers we came up with performances we could be very proud of. But I don't think any of us students would say that the first thing that popped into our minds when we think of the program is the performance. I know that first and foremost I will remember my brothers and sisters in Christ and most especially getting to know my Lord in ways I didn't know existed before. And looking back at the different productions I've been a part of, I think it is a testament to MasterWorks' goal that the ones where the Holy Spirit was invited in, even if it was just between two people, were the ones that ended up being the most cherished and meaningful both to those working on it and to the audience.

--Brandon Langeland
Intern
North Shore Music Theatre


"And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love." 1 Corinthians 13:13