Well...

I now know why the industry calls it pre-production hell. It feels like this project is eating me alive...

...but the strangest thing is, I love every second of it.

So I came back from Thailand all ready to jump into the world of jobs and bosses. I was ready to make an impact and land myself a spiffy job, somewhere I could be creative and make money at the same time. Then I got sick. Then I went to a U-turn camping trip. Then I got sick again. (I hate airplanes. They are petre-dishes for the common cold.) So rest was the key, and laziness was the result.

All of that to say, I haven't been very productive in my time home. That is, on anything other than this show.

It has consumed me. And I love it. I get up in the morning and do research on this costume or that prop, work on smoothing out the finer points of the script or help Jonathan with all the countless items on our to-do lists.

At this point, we don't have any idea who will be our leads. ('Main characters' for those of you who are just delving into the world of theater.) We have a few people who we don't know on the sign up sheet, but for the most part, we know who we have. Lots of talent, lots of incredible people, but not many who fit the parts. What do you do when you need Nazis and Jr. High girls sign up?

I'm just complaining now and I shouldn't because we've had an incredible number of people sign up and we really couldn't be happier. We're just a little nervous, because as Jonathan always says, 'you don't do King Lear without Lear.' (Yes, I know he's probably quoting someone, but I don't know who he's quoting so I can't attribuite it to the right person. My apologies to whoever that is.)

I really can't complain. We've had so many things fall into place so smoothly, we really couldn't ask for better. We have the dates we thought were ideal, key people we'd hoped would jump on board have done so and we're having a blast disgussing the one special effects scene we get to do...

...Because of the nature of that scene, it's pretty much all we've talked about this past week. There are so many details to work out. Unfortunantly, I can't discuss it here, or I'd ruin it for you. I suppose you're mad at me know, for bringing up something then saying I can't tell you about it... Sorry! Ok. I'm not that sorry. I only hope I don't hype it too much so that when people actually see it they won't say, 'it wasn't that cool.'

That's one of the problems with special effects and theater. We just can't compete with what people have seen at the movies. That leads some people to give up without even trying, but I'm a little more stubborn than that. Maybe I shouldn't be. I don't want to give people the same specticle they see on the silver screen, I know we can't compair.

But theater has one thing going for it that the movies can't ever do. Theater is real. The people could actually be touched. They are life sized. When they cry, you could touch the tears. So if theater is done well, it has the potential to be so much more impactful than a movie could ever be.

Now I know some of you are thinking: theater isn't 'real,' it's just as rehearsed as the movies are.

I think theater people rehearse more actually. They have to memorise the whole show, not just what's being shot that day. And when I said real, I meant that theater is more real than the movies because the audience is in 'real' physical proximity to the 'real' actors. It's not just moving pictures projected onto a screen. It's a real person.

I just realized that I'm totally soap boxing, so I'll step down, bow and leave the stage.

Oh, and I wanted to tell whoever's reading this that I changed the settings for leaving a comment, so it's way easier now and you don't have to have a user account or anything.

Someone asked if I'm going to be posting pictures or not. The answer is yes, I do want to. The problem is that I have to choose what's appropriate to post and what isn't, because I don't want to give anything away. I'm sure there will be many pictures once rehearsals starts. I'm also interested in opening this up so others can post on this site also. If they want.

Well, I guess I'll sign off. I'll post again when I have something to say or if I just get the urge to ramble again like I did tonight. Love ya all!


..... And if you know of any younger-ish adult men (soldier-ish) who might have the slightest desire to help out onstage, send 'em our way!!! Thanks!!!

I figured it would be best to begin this blog here, in a strange country filled with smiles, spice and hidden sadness.

The genesis of Stille Nacht actually began several years ago, as I was working on the Sanctuary's production of 'Plight Before Christmas.' If you are not familiar with this show, it's one that our very own Bob Levy wrote, and it was performed for five years! It's a great show and I hope that one day we'll do it again so you can see it if you haven't.

One of the things I did was help make or find various props, and try to make sure things stayed historically accurate (as best as I was able). For that show we needed a 5' square banner with the Roman Eagle on it. As I researched imagery for the Roman Eagle, I was surprised to see how incredibly similar it was to the Nazi Eagle.

A little bit of research showed that the Nazis patterned themselves after the Romans in many ways, and I think the idea for Stille Nacht started there: what if we took the Romans out and replaced them with Nazis?

Several years later I wrote the first draft of my play for a college playwriting class. It was good and I thought it was ready to go so I presented it to Pastor Marty. He said he loved the concept, but for a number of reasons the play didn't happen that year, or the next. I let the proverbial 'bird' fly away.

Then after we finished Screwtape, Pastor Marty came to us and we jokingly said we were already gearing up for Christmas! (It was July at the time.) He said something along the lines of: '..better believe it!! Stille Nacht!' (I don't remember exactly what he said, but it was something like that.)

I partly thought he was joking because I'm a little bit of a pessimist about such things, but a week later he said he'd dug the play out of his files and was going to start reading it again. I quickly told him to throw it away. I had re-read it recently and discovered the show was no where near being ready and was gearing up for a rewrite.

So we packed up and left for Thailand. Most people would have called it quits and said to just do a different play. I am not most people. (Though sometimes it would be a lot simpler and saner if I was.) After much discussion with Jonathan (and a few heated moments) we decided on a plan.

I stowed a printed and digital copy of my script and worked on it during my free time. Needless to say, there were times I felt like I was being pulled in half, wanting to work on both Zoe and Stille Nacht at the same time. I'm glad to say that Zoe was definitely my priority while I was here. I did what I came to do.

But I also completed a major overhaul of my play! It went from being 60 pages to 120. (It really isn't as long as it sounds! 1 page = 1 minute, so it's only as long as a normal movie.) There are a few more characters now and I think everything is much more believable.

And last week, the play was approved for this year, was announced at the Family Meeting and a sign up sheet will be at the Welcome Center very soon! If you know me, you can imagine how excited (and scared) I am, because this is my first play to ever be produced!!!!

I hope the plug doesn't get pulled...

I thought it would be appropriate to do this entry here because I feel like I 'birthed' this show in Thailand . While I did have the original idea for it back at home, it really ripened and matured in 'the Land of the Free People.' (That's what 'Thailand' means if you were wondering.)

One very fun memory was the very first production meeting for Stille Nacht, a picturesque snapshot of the colliding of worlds. We spent four hours sitting in a Starbucks, overlooking an ancient city gate and courtyard that was overcrowded with Thai vendors catering to natives and tourists alike. East meets West to the fullest. That is where this play was born. Now we just need to bring it home and introduce it to the world.