Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Tools for Christian Drama

One of the questions I get asked most often is whether I can recommend a script for use during church services or for special productions. There are a number of good script providers in the Christian/church field and the internet offers endless sites with free scripts, but years of experience have proven that, in most cases, you get the quality you pay for.

If you're looking for professional quality scripts with a lot of variety from which to choose, one source I highly recommend is Lillenas Drama at http://www.nph.com/nphweb/html/ldol/index.jsp
(and no, they don't pay me to do this -- we just offer help and resources for those in the Christian performing arts.)

Lillenas offers top quality authors and a wide selection of scripts on varied and timely topics. You can preview scripts online and download specific scripts or purchase whole collections.

When Ruth Bell Graham passed away last week, for example, many churches wanted to to pay her tribute through drama. Lillenas offers a readers theater adaptation of a story authored by Mrs.. Graham called "Footsteps of a Pilgrim."

If you have other favorite script resources, please send us the information to share with our readers at masterworkproductions@yahoo.com.

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Be Still and Know He is God

Vacations are wonderful things. We don't take them often enough. It really is crucial for us to take a break from the grind of daily activity and have a chance to do something different, try something just for fun and give our bodies and spirits a chance to rest.
God thought rest was so important, that he commanded that we take a day of rest each week and keep it holy. It wasn't an option or a wise suggestion. It was an order, but how many of us, particularly those of us in the performing arts world, take that commandement to heart? Work and performance schedules make it difficult. Christians who are in Broadway shows, for example, find themselves performing in two shows on a Sunday. Usually Monday is off. Those who use their talents to help lead worship during Sunday (and sometimes Saturday evening) church services, may argue that they are ministering rather than working, and hopefully they are. But most put a lot of work into rehearsing and presenting the work to the best of their ability for the Lord and that's not exactly resting.
We need to find a day, if it can't be Sunday, to rest and to be still and know He is God. If we don't make this a priority, we don't rejuvenate and He's less able to use us in the areas He has called us to serve.
Make it a priority in your life this week-- and every week-- to take a day of rest. We need to spend time with him every day usually before the daily activities begin. But one day a week is His and He wants us to stop working. He wants us to take time to relax, to spend time having fun with family and friends, to reflect on His goodness and to allow our bodies and minds a chance to recharge, so we'll be refreshed for the new work week. God knows what He's talking about! Follow His lead in this and you won't feel overwhelmed and overly tired.

Tuesday, June 5, 2007

Send Us Your Ideas

We're on vacation. Next post will be June 19. Meanwhile, please send us ideas for topics you'd like to see discussed here or Christian performers you'd like to see highlighted. Email us at masterworkproductions@yahoo.com.

Daily Inspiration

The Blind Side

Read about the real life mom from "The Blind Side."

Lifeway: http://www.lifeway.com/article/?id=169816

Guideposts: http://www.guideposts.com/story/sandra-bullock-blind-side-football?page=0,1

Read Matt Mungle's review of the movie at http://www.buddyhollywood.com/.

Lauren Yarger, Bio

Lauren Yarger has written, directed and produced numerous shows and special events for both secular and Christian audiences. She co-wrote a Christian musical version of “A Christmas Carol” which played to sold-out audiences of over 3,000 in Vermont and was awarded the 2000 Vermont Bessie (theater and film awards) for “People’s Choice for Theatre.” She also has written two other dinner theaters, sketches for church services and devotions for Christian artists.

Yarger trained for three years in the Broadway League’s Producer Development Program, completed the Commercial Theater Institute's Producing Three-Day Training and produced a one-woman musical about Mary Magdalene that toured nationally and closed with an off-Broadway run.

In 2008 she was a Fellow at the National Critics Institute at the O'Neill Theater Center in Waterford, CT. She writes reviews of Broadway and off-Broadway theater with a Christian perspective for Reflections in the Light (http://reflectionsinthelight.blogspot.com/) and is editor of The Connecticut Arts Connection. She also is a contributing editor for BroadwayWorld.com

She also reviews books for Publisher's Weekly and is a member of the National Book Critics Circle. She formerly was Connecticut theater editor for CurtainUp, a national theater web site bsed in New York and a reviewer for American Theater Web.

She also served as Executive Director of Masterwork Productions, Inc. and worked in arts management for the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts in Hartford and the Hartford Symphony Orchestra.

She is a freelance writer and member of the Drama Desk, The Outer Critics Circle, The American Theater Critics Association, The League of Professional Theatre Women and The CT Critics Circle.

A former newspaper editor and graduate of the University of Missouri’s School of Journalism, Yarger lives with her husband in West Granby, CT and has two adult children.

Copyright Notice

All contents copyright © Lauren Yarger 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013. All rights reserved. For reprint permission, contact masterworkproductions@yahoo.com.

Scripture from THE MESSAGE Copyright 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.

Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

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