When Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee and said to fishermen brothers Simon and Andrew, "Come, follow me," they had been casting their nets for fish. Then he confounded and re-polarized every fiber in their being when he added, "and I will send you out to fish for people." (Matt. 4:18-19)
You could argue that Jesus was a theatre producer, casting roles for the greatest drama of all time—Peter the Rock, John the Beloved, Mary the First to Witness the Resurrection, Judas the Betrayer, and of course all of humanity toward oneness with God.
Yesterday, a friend prayed with me about Audience of One and decompressed my slightly frantic, take-charge-of-all-the-details mental state by saying that Jesus was reminding me to follow him. "It's like this," she said, getting up from her chair, facing me and backing up while she beckoned me with her fingers. It reminded me of a tour guide at Disney World who had an effective way of keeping a straggling line of tourists moving by facing them as he walked backwards, doing the same thing with his fingers, saying, "We're walking, we're walking, we're walking!"
In the case of the Audience of One musical, the call is still to follow Jesus, and the people to be fished for are actors and singers, instrumentalists, directors, choreographers, volunteers and financial donors. We're even fishing for venues, dates on a calendar, props, scenery, projections and costumes. My invaluable comrade, Jen Felty, and I do it because we love God, love theatre, and have a unique convergence of resources and energy for this project. We don't profess to understand God's full purposes in all this. We just keep following, keep fishing, and keep walking.
We've got a beautiful catch of people getting ready to put on a staged reading/fundraiser to be held at St. Paul's United Methodist Church in Elizabethtown, PA, at 7:00 PM on Saturday, April 27th. But we're still fishing for others. Maybe you're one of them!
We're looking for:
300 people to attend, who would enjoy a night of hearing the show read and sung through by 29 characters + 5-piece band, and who wouldn't mind buying a ticket to help us raise more funds to put on a production later this summer.
1 or 2 coordinators, and roughly 3-5 others who would enjoy providing and serving a meal (3:30-6:00pm) to 35 actors and musicians between dress rehearsal and performance, to be prepared and served in the church's kitchen (crock pot, microwaveable, or cold food and drink only; oven not usable at this time) + paper goods
2 people to check off names at the door and assist people as needed
If you'd like to swim to the surface and be caught in the net with us, please respond to: info@audienceofonemusical.com
With love and joy,
—ab
Your blog posts are like devotionals. I wish I could do more than be with you in spirit, and Spirit (!). You have my prayer commitment and ongoing belief that what you are doing with AoO is and will be touching lives beyond all expectations ... "exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us. Unto him be glory ..." Amen amen amen!