The production gave us the opportunity to see the Easter story though the lens of a child's imagination. In our story that unfolds on video produced by our incredible production team, nine year old Joey (Played by Tom Wood) is curious about the Easter holiday. His mom (Played by Jennifer LaBerteau) explains the origin of Easter and how early pagan influences have all but taken over. Joey's imagination kicks in and provides us with an onstage performance of the old Veggie Tales classic The Bunny Song (performed by Richard Gaspard and rewritten to reflect the bunny's hostile takeover of Easter.) For the performance we used black light technology and full-bodied costumes to create a song and dance number that featured a puppet-version of Joey, his mom and dad, the bunny, evil minions and three singing peeps that you absolutely have to see! (I'll be posting the video here later this week.) Once the scene ended the band went into a lively Reliant K inspired version of Peter Cotton Tale arranged by the always masterful Coy Watson and performed by Jordy Davidson. Jordy was joined by the aforementioned "bunny" (brought to life by Luis Vasquez) and a host of candy-throwing teens from the youth group dressed in bunny attire! Jordy and the kids did a great job and the song was a lot of fun!
In the next scene, Joey is informed by his mom about the efforts that have been made by the scientific community for centuries to discredit the Easter story. She lets him know that there are many credible sources that point to scientific, historic and archeological evidence that supports the story of Easter. Yet, just like in the case of the lies the soldiers told in the first century, many choose to believe something other than the truth. When Joey asks about it, his mother explains what an archeologist does by referencing Indiana Jones. That's all it takes to send Joey's imagination into a onstage scene with he and Indy (Played by our magnificent set designer Rhett Wyatt) in a large cave where Nazi soldiers under the command of Professor Doubt (played by Jeff LaBerteau) try to steal the evidence for the Resurrection of Christ. Fight scenes, gunplay and the familiar Indian Jones theme music make for an exciting scene that everyone enjoyed! (It's always fun to see Nazi's get beat up by a nine year old kid!) When the scene ended the band (comprised of Coy Watson, Kari Campbell, Lance Morgan, Mark Conley, Bill LaLande and Beau Roy) kicked off an inspiring new arrangement of the old 4-Him hit Can't Get Past The Evidence. Jeremy Greene did a great job covering the song.
In our third act, Joey and his family are in church where the Pastor (played by Jason Rhoades) is sharing a sermon called "What Happened Those Three Days Jesus Was In The Grave." As the sermon unfolds, Joey's imagination transports him to an onstage portrayal of Sheol where Satan (played by Jared O'Kelly) and the Grave (played by Jordan Springer) are arguing over the body of Jesus (played by Chaz Jones). They are joined by ghoulish Voodoo dolls and Zombies (played by our Master's Commission students) who are all connected to what amounts to a death matrix - operated by the Grave. All of this played out to a sound track produced by Curvine Brewington that is a 21st Century remake of the old Carman song Sunday's on The Way. Both the track and the Human Video (written by Jared) were REMARKABLE - A definite highlight in the production! At the close of the scene the band covered Tree63's Sunday with Carter Berry providing lead vocals. It's a great song and Carter did an incredible job with it!
Lastly, Joey's dad explains the reason we celebrate Easter by pointing to our own resurrection from the grave. He tells the boy that because Jesus rose from the grave, we can too and makes the point personal by bringing up Joey's late grandfather. When asked what he thinks it will be like to see his grandfather again in heaven at the resurrection - Joey answers, "I can only Imagine." It's the perfect segue to a beautiful ballet arranged by Michelle Sanchez and performed by Michelle, Mariah Hebert, Brittany Alexander, Jasmine Chaisson, Natalie Myers and Skylar Courville. The ballet is set to the MercyMe classic I Can Only Imagine in an onstage heavenly setting. Jane Lantier breathed new life into the song that ended with Joey meeting up with his grandfather (played by Ken Lantier) and joined by Jesus Himself. The crowd loved it!Once again this year, our team absolutely rocked! This was our last production in our current auditorium. We've achieved a lot in the old venue, but I'm really looking forward to what we will be able to accomplish in the new worship center!
