Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Multiply Your Talents for the Lord

Easter is over, and now that you’ve acted in the drama, performed in the pageant, written the sketch, run the video, adjusted the sound on endless microphones and moved that last prop, learn how to do it all even better!

Take advantage of the opportunity to develop your talent at this year’s Lillenas Drama Arts Conference April 24-26 in Kansas City. It’s really one of the best conferences around (and that endorsement comes from someone who has been to a lot of conferences!) The instruction is topnotch (OK, I’ve said that even when I’m not one of the workshop presenters… really!) and it’s a great opportunity to meet folks from drama teams all over the country.

This year’s keynote speaker is TV and film actor and writer Henry O. Arnold, who co-wrote and produced the film “Second Chance” with Michael W. Smith. Also on board are exceptional director Deborah Craig-Claar, comedian Robert G. Lee, dramatist George Halitzka and artist Ben Glenn, just to name a few.

Grow the talent God has given you in workshops like:

· Acting & Directing for the Camera
· Acting Basics
· Freeing the Actor's Voice
· Building a Dynamic Team
· Emergent Drama
· Stage Management
· Copyright and Royalty Issues
· Church Audio for Dummies 101
· High Definition Video
· Master Sketch Writing
· Writing Great Drama Sketches


For the full list of presenters, schedule and registration information, go to:
http://www.lillenas.com/nphweb/html/lcol/index.jsp?nid=qlink

A special offering, Designing a Worship Service as a Team that starts one day early on April 22, is almost full, so register right away.

Don’t throw away this opportunity to add to the talents the Lord has given you!

Other Christian Arts News
· “The Screwtape Letters” from Fellowship for the Performing Arts starring Max McLean opens in Washington, DC next month at the Harman Center of the Arts. The production of C.S. Lewis’ work recently sold out 12 weeks Off-Broadway in New York. For information, go to http://www.fpatheatre.com

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

He is Risen!


He is risen! This Sunday we celebrate with song, voices, instruments, drama, video, pageant and awe that God Himself defeated death and gave us life. Praise Him from the mountain tops. Praise Him from our church pews. Praise Him from our homes and praise Him in our Hearts with thanks for a gift beyond measure. Easter Sunday.

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

When Your Creative Well Runs Dry

Have you ever wandered in the desert? If you're involved in the arts, you know that this can mean a time of being unproductive rather than a journey through sand-covered land. We're called upon to create, to come up with quality products that honor God while helping others to hear His message and those products (whether they are performances on stage, scripts, songs, lyrics, choreography, devotions, videos or some other element used in the arts) must be created new and fresh every week and on deadline.

Creating new and fresh in the desert can be a challenge, however. It's dry, the heat is intense and desert is all you can see for miles around. So how do you survive and find your way out? Trust the One who is the Way.

In the heat and dryness of the desert, ask Him to quench your thirst. If you're feeling like your creative well has run dry, chances are you probably haven't been setting aside enough time for prayer and study in the Word. The water you need doesn't come from a full calendar. His water comes from the spring of eternal life and it renews your soul, spirit and creativity.

In the intensity of the heat and the sun bearing down, ask Him to be your rock, in the shadow of which, you can take refuge. Rely on that rock, and not your own ability or need for recognition, to be the foundation for all of the work you do and watch Him bring streams of water and creativity in the desert.

God very rarely allows us to wander in the desert without purpose. Sometimes we have to go there to be cut off from people, activities and things we otherwise rely on to discover how to depend on Him alone. Sometimes we have to journey there to allow Him to purify our character or motives or to give us new perspective. Whenever you find yourself in the dry place, however, remember there is a way out and back to a refreshed well of creativity.

"But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit." (Jer 17:7-8 NIV)

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Christian Arts News You Should Know



New and noteworthy offerings in the world of Christian Arts:

Composer Darryl Curry is releasing his "46th Street Mass" for chorus, soloists and piano for productions by churches. The piece was commissioned for St. Clement's Church in New York as an expression of its motto: "there are no outcasts."
"I wrote what I call a 'Praise Mass,' Darryl said. "Most of its Latin titles are from the Catholic Mass (Introit, Kyrie, Gloria, Offertorium, Sanctus and Communio), but I only kept the Kyrie and Gloria in Latin. The rest and others are all in English and not a translation of the Latin, but a personal interpretation. For example, I discovered a slave “shout” song and arranged it for solo and chorus under the heading of Offertorium. The song was meant as a way for slave children to accept death, an “offering” and comfort but also a shout to Heaven."
Darryl is a composer, arranger, performer and music director whose work ranges from jazz to musical theater to sacred music. He has written the musicals "The Elephant Piece," "Quitters," "George Q," "Dorian Gray" and most recently, "Mesmerized" as well as incidental music for the 1999 20th anniversary production of "The Elephant Man." His other commissioned work is the sung ballet "My Shadow."
For information about how to produce "The 46th Street Mass" at your church, contact Darryl at Dcurry2020@aol.com.

Nominations for the 39th annual GMA Dove Awards have been announced. The awards show will be broadcast live on Gospel Music Channel at 8:00 (Eastern) on April 23, 2008. For a full list of nominees, go to http://www.doveawards.com/categories/

"Welcome in This Place" by Scott Reed is the winner of Worship Leader Magazine's Independent Song Discovery of the Year for 2007. Song of the Year went to “Mighty to Save,” Reuben Morgan and Ben Fielding, Hillsong; Jeremy Riddle was named Breakout Artists of the Year and "Our God Saves" from Paul Baloche was named Worship Project of the Year.

Larry Norman, the father of Christian rock passed away on February 24. For an article about his last concert, go to http://www.christianitytoday.com/music/news/2005/larrynorman.html

The LifeWay Worship Project, a set of groundbreaking new products including Baptist Hymnal, The Worship Hymnal, and LifeWayWorship.com, as well as a full array of complimentary instrumental parts, accompaniment tracks and media will launch this summer. For more information go to http://www.lifeway.com/lwc/article_main_page/0%2C1703%2CA%25253D167093%252526M%25253D200836%2C00.html?emid=107

Registration is open for the Christians in Theatres Arts Conference June 10-13 at Azusa Pacific University in California. For information, go to http://cita.org/.

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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