"Theater, especially musical theater, is a collaborative endeavor. The success of the venture is about the team." —Betty Buckley

Beautiful and talented people are coming together in small and large ways to lay the foundation for Audience of One. They are praying, providing funds, organizing, rearranging their schedules, making phone calls, hosting, sending videos, offering to bake, learning music, providing rehearsal space and technical services, and honing their talents in the direction of one ultimate goal—to help us tell a story on stage.

They are saying yes to an idea, an opportunity, a relationship, a nudge from God. They are saying yes to faith. And they are saying yes to its natural and beautiful by-product, community.

On Saturday, February 24th, we will come together to workshop the first full draft of this musical. And by "workshop," I mean exactly that. Since I actually wrote a huge chunk of this show last summer while workers were renovating our basement right underneath my desk chair, it's not a stretch in my mind to ask you to picture HGTV's Ben Napier in his Scotsman workshop in Laurel, Mississippi, as he describes an idea to his brother about an original table or cabinet he wants to build for the new owners of Home Town's latest renovation.

Like him, at our workshop we'll take all the tools we have in the room to shape our own innovative piece, and assess how it will look in the open air and against the walls where it will someday be set. We'll learn where the show needs more time on the lathe, more sanding, stronger joint reinforcement, and just what kind of stain will suit it best.

On the morning of February 24th, we will "woodshed" the choral parts (that's a real term in music), and then run the show after lunch from start to finish. We will discover together what works and what doesn't, where energy lags, storytelling isn't clear, characters are too thinly drawn, and gosh, hopefully, what's actually inspiring!

After the workshop, it will be back to my drawing table to implement the things I learn from this valuable day. I might know the show better than anyone else at this point, because I've lived it for over a year now. But I'm hardly objective about it, and will depend upon others to give critical feedback to help me strengthen it for a first production.

A well-equipped workshop has a lot of tools, but it needs skilled people to wield them. And these dear folks who have agreed to come and support a vision they don't know a whole lot about touch my heart in the deepest way.

There are few things more powerful than the arts when it comes to promoting empathy, trust, and helping us transcend the anxiety and suffering of our existence. I plan to lean into the power of the greater whole these next two weeks. I'm praying that something beautiful and inspirational comes from it for all of us. —ab

If you would like to help support this project, we would be grovelingly grateful! Please visit www.audienceofonemusical.com