You've read the book, now see the film!

James, the Movie!  My wife, Joyce, has been leading a Bible study on the Book of James over the last few months.  We're closing with a review of the book, including James the Movie, which I performed when I was a student at George Fox College ( http://GeorgeFox.edu ).

It will all happen this coming Sunday, November 30, in our 9:30 a.m. Bible Study.    

Come prepared to participate (if you want to) in this entertaining and incisive look at The Book of James.  You'll be encouraged and edified.

For directions visit http://WestchesterChapel.org

Happy Thanksgiving!

It's like Grand Central Station on Thanksgiving Day

Actually it is!

You're Pulling My Leg!

For Thanksgiving I'm bringing Truth or Fib, which is now marketed as You're Pulling My Leg! The award-winning game was developed by Allen Wolf, who used to attend Inter-Mission, when it had a NYC chapter. He created the game to help finance his upcoming movie, In My Sleep, which is now in post-production.

Fasting coffee

An alumna of MasterWorks ( http://MasterWorksFestival.org ), who is
now working for Compassion ( http://RichDrama.com/Compassion ) just
featured on Compassion's blog: http://blog.compassion.com/fast-for-food/#comment-4105

She and her colleagues are fasting coffee for a month and donating the
money they would have spent to The Global Food Crisis fund: https://www.compassion.com/contribution/giving/global-food-crisis.htm?referer=51090

I donated, and now I'm joining them in their coffee fast...until
Thanksgiving.

Views of the Manger in Five States

From Views of the Manger

I'll be bringing Views of the Manger to five states this Season. Hope to see you there.

Article on Views of the Manger

The Clarksville Leaf Chronicle just ran an article on my upcoming performances of Views of the Manger: 

Dinner theater spotlights Christmas theme

The only thing they got wrong was that they speak of The Lamb's Repertoire Theatre as if it's still happening.  She looked at an old bio.  The current one is at http://RichDrama.com/Bio.

Schools

These are schools or student organizations where I have taught, performed and/or directed:

Colleges and Universities

Summer Arts Programs

High Schools

Elementaries

Colleges and Universities

PRINCETON UNIVERSITY, NJ

Bob Hillier class -- The Human Connection (four times)

SINGAPORE BIBLE COLLEGE, SINGAPORE

Workshop

GEORGE FOX UNIVERSITY, OR

Introduction to Acting -- Developing Characters

Introduction to Sociology -- Sociodrama

Systems of Social Work -- Sociodrama

Introduction to Social Work -- Sociodrama

Play writing -- Play and Screen writing

Oral Interpretation of Lit. -- Cartoon Voices

Technical Theatre -- Theories on Technical and DirectingTies

GEORGE FOX SEMINARY, OR

Using Drama in Ministry

REGENT UNIVERSITY, VA

Workshop for students visiting NYC

FURMAN UNIVERSITY, SC

Performance

WILLIAM CAREY INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY, CA

Performance

EARLHAM COLLEGE, IN

Open Forum -- Reaching Others Through Art

Humanities -- Tragedy

Earlham Young Friends -- Performing Arts

Human Existence -- Theatre Ministry and Christian Faith

Counseling and Psychotherapy -- Sociodrama

Introduction to Theatre -- Theatre as Ministry

Quakerism -- John Woolman and 17th c. Quakerism

WILMINGTON COLLEGE, OH

Quaker Lecture for students and community -- John Woolman

Introduction to the Bible -- Jonah, Gideon, The Vine and theBranches

Introduction to Acting -- Christian Theatre Trends

Prison Campus Extensions – Sociodrama

(three visits)

CONCORDIA COLLEGE, MN

Drama workshops

Performance

WHITWORTH COLLEGE, WA

Chapel

Workshops

CRICHTON COLLEGE, TN

Performance

Workshop

MONTREAT COLLEGE, NC

Performance

Workshops

CLEARWATER CHRISTIAN COLLEGE, FL

Performances

Workshops

ANDERSON COLLEGE, SC

Chapel

Drama workshop

NORTH GREENVILLE COLLEGE, SC

Sociodrama and drama workshops

Performances

LIMESTONE COLLEGE, SC

Drama workshops

Performances

TABOR COLLEGE, KS

Drama workshops

Performance

STERLING COLLEGE, KS

Performance

Workshop

GENEVA COLLEGE, PA

Performance

Theatre workshop

SOUTHERN ADVENTIST UNIVERSITY, TN

Chapel

Performance

Workshop

FRIENDS UNIVERSITY, KS

Chapel

Drama workshops

FONTBONNE COLLEGE, MO

Performance

Drama workshop

NYACK COLLEGE, NY

Sociodrama workshops

ALLIANCE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, NY

Chapel

Sociodrama workshop

(two visits)

GUILFORD COLLEGE, NC

Chapel

Workshops

Summer Arts Programs

MASTERWORKS FESTIVAL, IN

Theatre Program Director (fifth year)

Theatre faculty or master class instructor (four years)

EASTERN TERRITORIAL ARTS MINISTRIES CONSERVATORY, NY

Performances

Directing

Workshops

(four years)

CANADA/BERMUDA TERRITORIAL SCHOOL OF MUSIC AND GOSPEL ARTS,ONTARIO, CANADA

Performances

Directing

Workshops

(three years)

SOUTHERN TERRITORIAL MUSIC INSTITUTE, OK

Performance

Guest directing

High Schools

CONCORDIA INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL, SHANGHAI

Acting workshop

Chapel presentations

YEW CHUNG INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL, SHANGHAI

Acting workshop

Chapel presentation

INTERNATIONAL CHRISTIAN SCHOOL, HONG KONG

Drama workshops

Chapel presentation

(three times)

FAITH ACADEMY, THE PHILIPPINES

Drama workshops

Chapels

(two visits)

CLARKSVILLE ACADEMY, TN

Spoke to an acting class

SOUTH PARK HIGH SCHOOL, PA

Theatre workshop

ANNONDALE HIGH SCHOOL, VA

Various workshops and performances

(two visits)

BRIAR WOODS HIGH SCHOOL, VA

Performances

Acting coaching

STONE BRIDGE HIGH SCHOOL, VA

Performances

Drama workshops

LOUDEN COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL, VA

English/Drama -- Cartooning

German I -- Sociodrama/Cartooning

German I & II -- Sociodrama

Elementary Schools

FRIENDS CHILDREN’S SCHOOL, IN

K-2nd Grade -- Miming and Cartooning

EVANGEL SCHOOL, NY

Third Grade -- Sociodrama

Sixth Grade – Sociodrama

ST. ANN’S CATHOLIC SCHOOL, VA

Performance

MEMORIAL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, PA

Guest director

ABUNDANT WATERS AFTER SCHOOL PROGRAM, NY

1st-8th -- Sociodrama and acting workshops

SAY Yes AFTER SCHOOL PROGRAMS, The Lamb’s Church

K-6 -- Sociodrama and reading series

Public School #76, QUEENS, NY

Grades 3-5 -- Operation Return: Big Fish Little Worm andSociodrama

YOUTH QUAKE

National Quaker Youth Retreat -- Conflict Resolution

NAZARENE YOUTH INTERNATIONAL

Mid-Winter Retreat -- Sociodrama for Conflict Resolution

MWF Theatre: Past, Present and Future

Last night at the world premiere of my voice over for our documentary, Olympic Hero in China: The Eric Liddell Story, we had four people from MasterWorks ( http://MasterWorksFestival.org ). Patricia Mauceri, of One Life to Live, and I are part of the current theatre faculty. Keri Taylor is an alumna of the theatre program. She's now living in New York and helped found the Haberdasher Theatre company ( http://HaberdasherTheatre.com ). And this summer Mac Nelson will be a master class instructor. His book Memoirs of a Hollywood Adventure is set for publishing just before the Festival begins.

A nice walk home

I took this shot as I returned from My Vaudeville Man!, a delightful two-person musical in production at St. Peter's Theatre. And I was humming its tunes all the way home.

It was a great mix of song and dance, humor and heartbreak.

It's based on Jack Donahue's "Letters of a Hoofer to his Ma," and it shows the relationship of Donahue with his "mudder" before he became a star. The confessions of "Mud" to Father Dennis contained various careers she'd told people that her son was pursuing...since they were only in her imagination.

One of the things I liked most about it was the laudable job they did of portraying sin in such a way that it isn't the least bit attractive.

Zipcar

Zipcar has been such a huge blessing to us here in NYC! The price includes insurance and gas. They have a gas card right in there. We've consistently found them cheaper than rentals and so much more convenient. You just hop on line, find the car you'd like for as little as half an hour at a time, and away you go. They're all over the US now and also in Toronto and London.

Kingdom Coming

One of our MasterWorks Festival theatre students is now working with Compassion in Australia.  She sent me a link to a free download by Shaun Groves. It's a great song, and quite inspiring. Shaun is a Compassion artist, and I've heard artists like him share music like this at a number of Compassion artist retreats. This brought me right back there.

Sanborns' double feature

The latest newsletter by Christians in Theatre Arts (CITA.org) has a link to an article on my friend Retta Blaney's blog: A Walking Miracle.

It tells the miraculous story of how Art Sanborn was healed (and continues to discover new levels of healing) from a paralysis at the level of Christopher Reeves. He's now jogging I think four miles every day!

I performed in Judah Ben Hur, which the Sanborns produced in Singapore. I was told that Art was paralyzed to the same degree as Christopher Reeve but that I wouldn't notice. I was blown away to meet him and discover that they were right!

I experienced another miraculous story in my friend Mac Nelson, whose story is written up in Waiting for My Fingers. Mac, who has performed with Liz Taylor, Jerry Lewis and the like, was losing use of his arms through a disease called stenosis. His doctors were shocked to find his recovery well beyond what they expected.