Tuesday, September 25, 2007

News in Christian Performing Arts



We're excited to announce that Emmy-nominated author and humorist Martha Bolton has joined the roster of performers represented by Masterwork Productions. Martha Bolton has written comedy for such performers as Bob Hope, Phyllis Diller, Ann Jillian, Jeff Allen, Mark Lowry, Fritz Coleman, and more. A speaker and author of over 50 books, Martha is also the Cafeteria Lady for Brio magazine. She also is the author of numerous sketch and monologue books used by church drama teams everywhere!

Comedian Torry Martin recently was interviewed on Focus on the Family's podcast about the creation of character Wooten Bassett for "Adventures in Odyssey." To hear the podcast, go to
http://focusonthefamily.edgeboss.net/download/focusonthefamily/aio/podcast/aiopodcast27.mp3

For more information about Martha, Torry and the performing arts ministry of Masterwork Productions, go to our newly updated web page at www.masterworkproductions.org

What if someone told you that they believe the Gospel of Philip is as credible as the Gospel of Luke and that the entire bible can't be trusted because the church made errors about which books to include in the bible? What if someone wanted proof that the bones recently found in burial boxes didn't belong to Jesus? What if someone says they believe in the nice parts about Jesus, his love, compassion, willingness to accept social outcasts, but don't believe He would condemn anyone and that God wouldn't really send anyone to hell. Or what if a person believes Jesus was a good person, but not God and that other leaders and religions are just as helpful at bringing a person to salvation?

Are you prepared to share truth about those questions? In the performing arts world, it's likely that you've already encountered many people who share one or more of those beliefs, and if you haven't studied some of these issues, you might have questions yourself. There is a great new tool that can help Christians understand these arguments and clear up misunderstandings with the truth. It's Lee Strobel's new book, The Case for the Real Jesus:A Journalist Investigates Current Attacks on the Identity of Christ.
In "The Case for the Real Jesus," Lee Strobel gives us a reference book for all of the most popular attacks being embraced by today's post-modern culture when it comes to the Christian faith and who Jesus really is.
He meticulously examines six challenges to the traditional view of Jesus and shows them all to be unsubstantiated by evidence and research methods and often fueled by guesswork and personal opinion or motivation.
Very helpful are the "For Further Investigation" sections at the end of each section which provide resources for further study on each topic.
I have placed this book on my shelf next to the bible, the concordance and the bible dictionary as a major reference resource. It's wonderful to have so much information on such a variety of common attacks so handy in one book. -- Lauren Yarger, Executive Director, Masterwork Productions, Inc.
See the video below to hear Lee speaking about an interactive broadcast about the subject next Sunday, Sept. 30 or go to http://www.leestrobel.com/videoserver/video.php?clip=strobelP1002

2 comments:

Wanda and the RP Team said...

It's so fantastic to see people like this joining Masterworks! I'm thrilled. Thanks for sharing about this.

Wanda
www.reinholdtproductions.ca

Wanda and the RP Team said...

It's so fantastic to see people like this joining Masterwork Productions. Thank you for sharing this news.

Wanda
www.reinholdtproductions.ca

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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