Mormon Life - Musical tag

{A&E} Poll: What's Your Favorite Musical?

Fri, 30 Mar 2012 07:03:00 -0600

by LDS Living
source: MormonLife.com

Mormon Life says: Vote in our poll for your favorite musicals, or tell us if we're missing any!

LDS Broadway star Sandra Turley released her debut album, Sandra Turley: On Broadway, this week. Featuring songs like "Popular," "The Sound of Music," and "Les Miserables Medley" and a sound straight from the stage, the album is sure to please any listener who is a fan of musicals.

“The melodies in this album tell tales of their own," Turley says, "but coupled with masterful lyrics and poetic imagery, these songs become stories that can capture our hearts."

So, what songs and stories have captured your heart? The release of Turley's album got us thinking about some of our favorites, but what are yours? Take our poll below to find out.

You can also visit our Facebook page to enter to win one of five copies of the new album or click here to get more product details.

Author: Essence of Mormonism missed in Broadway plays

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 10:32:00 -0700

source: deseretnews.com

Mormon Life says: You can read an expert from Matthew Bowman's book, The Mormon People: The Making of an American Faith (click on the forwarding link). Although many national stories are portraying Mormons in a lot of different ways, including those in which members of the faith say they are regular people who many know as neighbors and friends across the world, one historian says people are missing the mark in defining Mormonism.

2011 positive Mormon media highlights

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 09:32:00 -0700

source: deseretnews.com

Mormon Life says: Hooray for winning Time magazine's Religion of the Year! For its 2011 annual retrospective, Time magazine named Mormonism the Religion of the Year, accompanied with an obligatory photo from the Book of Mormon Musical. The distinction isn't offered every year, but in light of the musical, two presidential candidates and the rise of Glenn Beck — funny no one ever mentions Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in these lists — the editors made an exception.

The Time write-up itself was notably upbeat.

"The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints has always been the religion of the future — demographically, organizationally, fervently. Well, the future is now," the blurb began. After running through the highlights, it concluded, "Mormon visibility has helped dispel some stunning bits of ignorance. … By being part of the social and political conversation, this original, innately American religion has become even more a part of the mainstream American fabric."

Nauvoo Pageant core cast auditions

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 15:16:00 -0700

source: deseretnews.com

Auditions for 20 core cast roles in the 2012 Nauvoo Pageant will be Jan. 18-19 from 6 to 10 p.m. at Brigham Young University in Provo and Jan. 20 from 5:30 to 10 p.m. and Jan. 21 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Bountiful Regional Center. Callbacks will be Jan. 27-28 in North Salt Lake.

There are 10 roles for men, nine for women and one for a young man available and adult ages range from 20s to 60s.

2011: The Year of the Mormon

Fri, 16 Dec 2011 10:36:00 -0700

source: bycommonconsent.com

Mormon Life says: This blogger lists all the people, events, and things that made this year big for the LDS Church. What a wild year it’s been. Never has Mormonism been so culturally relevant, and never has the undulating curve of popular opinion shifted so wildly, so quickly. As the year draws to a close, I think we’re safe in naming 2011 “The Year of the Mormon.” The BCC permas have picked out a few reasons why:

Romney would like to see ‘Book of Mormon’

Thu, 15 Dec 2011 09:56:00 -0700

source: nytimes.com

Mormon Life says: Romney joked he encouraged the writers to create the musical as a publicity stunt. (Which it actually kind of turned out to be.)

So what does Mitt Romney, perhaps the best-known Mormon in the country, think of “The Book of Mormon,” the Broadway musical send-up of his faith, complete with profanity and sexually explicit humor?

Michael McLean's Interview with LDS Living

Tue, 29 Nov 2011 00:08:00 -0700

by Kaela Worthen
source: MormonLife.com

Mormon Life says: Michael McLean, beloved LDS musician, sits down with LDS Living to talk about a Christmas favorite: The Forgotten Carols.

In the November/December 2011 issue of LDS Living, we published an article on Michael McLean's Forgotten Carols in honor of the 20th anniversary of the musical. Though most of our interview couldn't make it into the article, he was so much fun, we wanted to share some of it with you anyway.

For example: my favorite part of the interview was not even an official part of the interview. Michael was sitting in his car, talking to me on the phone, when he happened to see T.C. Christensen (the Mormon movie mastermind behind 17 Miracles, Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration, and The Testaments) walk by. So he honked his horn, rolled down his window, and shouted out, "T.C.! My brother from another mother!" (Keep in mind, these are two 50-ish grown men.) T.C. Christensen replied in kind: "You still hanging out with those Mormons?" I nearly fell out of my seat laughing.

Unfortunately, with a two-hour interview on my recorder, it still wasn't feasible to put all of it online. But for you I've compiled some of my favorite humorous anecdotes and inspiring stories to provide a more in-depth view into the workings of Michael McLean's amazing brain and the magic of the musical that has touched thousands of lives around the world.

LDSL: What was the process of creating The Forgotten Carols?

MM: I had a week. So I did this really unusual thing for me, and I tried this really interesting experiment. I had heard about people who use their creative subconscious to help them when they were really busy. And so I wrote as much as I could one Saturday night, and just before I went to bed I had this little moment where I told my creative unconscious, “You know, I've gotta sleep, but you can work on this all night long. That would be great. Here's the stuff that I'm thinking about and here's the stuff I'm worried about; I'll get up early tomorrow and I'll see you about 6 or 6:30, and don't worry about editing this stuff, just try to help get the story moving along, and I’ll see what you’ve got in the morning.” And I went to bed.

And I wake up in the morning, and I have an appointment with my subconscious. And I say, “Well, thanks for working all night long on this for me—this is great. Just share with me what you’ve got, and I’ll type as fast as I can, and don’t worry about editing. I’ll do that later.” And then I would type until I had to leave for work. I would type from like 6 in the morning until like 8:30 or something. And then after I finished typing, I thought to myself, “Well here are some other ideas, and here’s some stuff. I have to go to work now, but could you work on this while I’m working at Bonneville? I’ll come back tonight about 6:30 or 7, and here’s some things I’d like you to kind of figure out, because I don’t know what the answers to these are—but--work on this for me.”

So then I’d go to work all day and then I’d drive home to Heber, and then after I had dinner I’d sit down at my computer and say, “Hey, you’ve been working on this all day long while I’ve been working at Bonneville, and I’m really grateful. I can’t wait to see what you’ve got, I’ll just type it up and then we’ll see how we’re doing; I’ll probably go to 11 or 12 tonight.” And then I’d just start typing as fast as I could.

And I did that every day, and then that Saturday came, and I just asked myself: “I’d just like you to work on this full time for me, because I have these other things I have to do—to pay the light bill and take care of my kids and whatever.”

And at the end of the week, The Forgotten Carols was written. The book was written, and some new songs I had added to it, and some new thoughts I hadn’t thought of. I don’t say that to suggest that every second of what I do is all inspired and I’m this great conduit for Heaven or something, but it was just kind of a remarkable thing for me that it happened.

LDSL: How did you put yourself in the position of the characters?

MM: The big idea was “Who was part of the Christmas story that’s just like me, but we don’t think about very often?” when I made the connection: “Wait a second, the reason I’m writing a song about an innkeeper turning away Joseph and Mary is because I’m that guy. I am exactly that guy. I’m not a bad guy, I’m just too busy. I will miss great moments because I’m just trying to pay the light bill and keep the inn full and you know… I’m not trying to hurt anybody, I’m just too busy. I’m like that guy. Well, who else am I like?

What if there was a shepherd that fell asleep—Oh my gosh, what if a shepherd lived during the time, and everyone woke him and said, the most incredible thing—you just missed it; let me tell you about it. Oh my gosh! I’m the shepherd! I didn’t get to see it firsthand. I have to take that story secondhand and decide if I’ll believe it. And can I believe it even though I wasn’t there? Will I say, “Somehow I did believe it, though I’d not seen a thing, I did not go to Bethlehem or hear the angels sing, but if you feel the spirit in the air, you know if you felt the magic in the air, you’ll know that He was here.” And that’s what began the thought process that led to the characters

What if I’m struggling to be a father—what did he feel like as the dad of Jesus? How do you criticize your kid? What if he had a bad day and he shouted at Jesus? I mean, you know who your kid is, and you’re a creepy dad that day. How did you mess that up? What does that feel like? And then the song went forth from that.

And I’ve been writing songs for a long time—the beginning of my career I wrote a song every day for a year. So I had had the skills or the craft of songwriting happen a lot, so once my mind started thinking, “Oh, wouldn’t it be cool if we met Handel, and what if Handel was like me? What if he couldn’t sing?” And Handel could sing, but what if in his dream he couldn’t sing, and he wanted to be in the choir to welcome Jesus, and the guy says, “You’ve got a different role to play. You’re not going to be the lead singer of the angels welcoming Jesus. But you’re gonna write this thing in the 1700s and it’s going to be heard by millions and millions and millions of people for hundreds of years because it came from your heart.”

That’s the evolutionary process of the creativeness. It isn’t like it just pops into my head and it comes written and done. It comes as a spark that requires that every skill I’ve worked all my life to develop gets to become operable.

LDSL: Obviously, with putting on such a big production so many times each year and for so many years, there's a lot of room for mishaps. Can you tell me about some of those?

MM: Once, we had this really clever idea where the cop would come on and get a phone call, because cell phones had just come out. So I would have someone call me onstage, and it could be something from headquarters. I thought this was going to brilliant, this will be a great surprise, no one has seen this before. The problem was, I forgot that other people could call me too if I left the phone on. So at the wrong place in the show I got a phone call, and it’s just ringing on stage. So I had to figure out a way to answer it and make it sound like it was a part of the show. And the person who called me, for the rest of forever, had no idea what I was talking about. And decided that they had to call again because they probably got the wrong number. So I then had to respond to it and turn it off. That was just crazy.

There were times when the microphone wasn’t turned off during one of the numbers when I had to go off stage and change costumes and go to the bathroom and flush and everything.

There was the time where I had to have a surgery in the middle of the tour, and I had one night off. And I have to decide whether I'm going to take my pain meds, which would make me loopy and forget my lyrics, or whether or not I was going to not take them, and be in so much pain I couldn't sit. It was the most brilliant performance of The Forgotten Carols I've ever done because I walked like a guy who'd been around for 2,000 years.

One time when we were down in southern California we had a group of great singers [to sing the “Homeless” a capella song], but the guy blew the pitch pipe in the wrong key, and everyone got the wrong relative pitch, so five guys are singing in five different keys, and the guy who’s supposed to sing the lead doesn’t know who to follow. So here’s this mess, and I’m off stage and you hear this “ehhhh.” It was the only night that I’ve ever done the show that John Batdorf—who wrote the arrangement and sang on the record—had come to see the show. And it was utterly, completely destroyed. It was the worst; I should have just stopped and done an adlib, and gone over to the piano and started it off right. But no, they went on, and it was the most embarrassing performance of “Homeless” there has ever been.

There were times when we had a choir that was so old that they slept through the show, and they were on stage the whole time, and what happened was, I was walking past—because I would perform in front of them and they would just stand—and four of the people of the front row of the choir [were snoring].

Then you have people in the audience who brought way too many kids, and the kids are screaming so loud, so I’m finding ways to try to say something about how to get people out of the room so others can enjoy the show, and still make it feel like it’s part of the program. You know—“And then suddenly Connie Lou and John hear, because the window was open on this cold night, that next door there was a child screaming for his mother to attend to him. And then everyone started applauding because the kid started up crazy, and then I made an enemy of that poor mother who had that child there. She wasn’t coming back.

I did a performance once and got a letter that said, “I’m just writing, Mr. McLean, to tell you that I had this horrible experience with The Forgotten Carols and you should know about it. There’s somebody going out there and doing this show who can’t sing, and I bought this record, and I love this record and I spent all this money to bring my whole family, and this guy gets up, and he can’t act, and he can’t sing, and he tries to do this show like a story and a play and it was just awful. Is there any way I could get my money?” And it was me! This person had seen me and said, “You have a record with these good singers, why couldn’t you just do a concert with those good singers, that would have been plenty for me. But I have to endure this show, and there’s no easy way for me to sneak out. You’re the worst.”

LDSL: What about special behind-the-scenes moments? Can you tell us about some of those?

MM: Once there was a girl who had played Connie Lou the year before, and her only job was that when I come out and do that little dance with Connie Lou, she would come out at that part and dance with Uncle John [McLean] and give him a little kiss on the cheek before she left. Well, she did that, but the next year we went back to that same college and she was now married. She says, “I’m going to play Connie Lou, but I want you to know, Brother McLean, I’m not going to be able to actually kiss you or touch you when I kiss you on the cheek.” And I said, “Well, why?” And she said, “I’m married now; my covenants of fidelity prohibit me from kissing you on the cheek.” And I looked at her, and said, “Really? This is just a character.” And she said, “I know, but I don’t want people to get the wrong idea.” And I said, “You kissed me last year.” And she said “Well, I wasn’t married; I hadn’t made sacred covenants.” So I said “Well, we’ll go through rehearsal, and I understand, you got to do what you got to do.” And her husband was in the choir, so as we go through this part of the show, as she was about to kiss me on the cheek I turned my face right to her and said in front of the choir at rehearsal: “No tongue!” And everybody fell off their chair, and everybody knew who she was—it was the biggest laugh I’ve ever gotten, and I couldn’t use it ever again.

Scott’s best friend from acting academy is a secular Israeli Jew. And when Scott [McLean's son who adapted the story into a play] couldn't do it anymore, he said, “Have Gili direct it.” A story about Jesus? Not a Mormon thing about Jesus—this is about Jesus. And no Christmas shows are about Jesus. It’s A Wonderful Life has a spiritual message, but it’s not about Jesus. The Christmas Carol isn’t about Jesus; it’s about an encounter with these themes, but this show is about everybody’s encounter with Jesus. How is a Jew—not only a Jew, but a secular Jew, he’s not a religious Jew—how’s he going to get it? And Scott said, “Trust me on this, the kid is a beautiful artist and he’ll do great.”

And Gili Getz sees things in The Forgotten Carols that I haven’t seen at all. And because he’s Jewish, we start adding things to the script that have Jewish references, like what we named the shepherd boy was Hebrew for sleeping. “One of the Jewish traditions would be THIS,” he would say, “and maybe we can incorporate it in the way she would dance, and what about this, what about that.” And he saw things in the human component of the story and the spiritual evolution that were insightful and brilliant. And this guy wasn’t a Christian.

So he became this phenomenal addition to the show. All of us became better actors because of his directing skills, and he’s a great actor. From when he took over Scott’s script, every year there would be these improvements, these tightenings based on this adaptation written by Scott that has been evolving under the direction of everybody being guided by this secular Israeli Jew.

Because he was Jewish, we would ask him to say a prayer in Hebrew as we took our turns praying before each show. And we would celebrate Hanukkah with him, and he would light the candles of Hanukkah every night before the show as we celebrated that, and he would give the Hebrew prayer to bless our show. And, I'm telling you--suddenly the inclusiveness and the broadness of that opened our hearts and made us feel that this was a much bigger show than something that is for people who are just Mormons.

LDSL: What do you think it is that makes this show so special?

MM: The show was evolved and changed a little every year since it began, and the audience has grown. My gratitude is for the people who still let it become a tradition, even though it has evolved. You’re kind of walking that line—how do we preserve the heart of the show, and how much of these people are coming to see it because they are fans of Michael McLean, they come each year to see “this guy who’s not much of a singer but he connects with me, to see him sing these songs, and cry on stage because he is sincerely kind of a big boob—that’s who he is—and we kind of like that guy. He’s not good looking he’s not talented in those ways.” And that’s what people have said to me: they don’t come because I’m this great thing, they come because what this is about them. It isn’t about me. Each one of those carols is about them. They’re the person who was too busy; they’re the innkeeper who turned away Joseph and Mary; they’re the person who sang “Mary let me hold her baby and I’m reborn”; they’re the ones trying to find their way; they're the fathers trying to connect with their kids; they feel homeless and lost. The show is about, in a veiled way, their connection with the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

What is absolutely true—and shocks me that it continues to be true—is that every night that I do this I learn something. I’ll be listening to these songs I’ve sung for 20 years and think, “Oh my gosh, I think this song means that. Oh my heavens! I think this means that. And it’s extraordinary. I will hear a line or I will see something take place and I will be astounded at how deeply I will be moved. Things about my personal life that I need to know to help me through a crisis. Things to help me through my faith that has been shaken. Things that help me realize that I’m having a Connie Lou moment. There are a lot of things about the gospel that are easy to explain, but there are a whole bunch of things I still don’t get. Am I willing to suspend my disbelief long enough to trust that maybe things that don’t make sense could be true? And I think of that, and I think of the things that are being said and you know, maybe in the end, I don’t feel like I own The Forgotten Carols. I just heard them first. And I’m kinda passing along what I heard. But I heard them because I needed them. I think God made me a songwriter because that’s how he talks to me. That’s the way he sends signals that he really exists, that he really sent his Son, and that he really loves me.

One of the things about The Forgotten Carols that I don’t know if people pick up on—but that I really notice—is this: ALL of this was about one person. The fact that a guy over 2,000 years old would make sure that all those ornaments would tie into all those songs that could be shared with some others, but it was really meant for Constance Louise Chamberlin. She gets all the ornaments at the end. Why? Because every ornament was meant just for her. And we think that Jesus came to save us all and we think, “Well, I’m glad I’m in the group of 'all.'” But we don’t think, “He only came for me.”

But all of this—the suffering in Gethsemane or the saving the ornament, the making the cradle and bringing it to you at the one time in your life that you might believe that a guy who claims to be alive 2,000 years would love you so deeply that he would bring you the song your father wanted you to hear that had been forgotten, all of this—that took 2,000 years to orchestrate—was done just for you, Connie Lou. And I have given you a new name.

And I don’t know whether people ever will think of it that way, but that’s the way I think of it. And that’s the way all the little subliminal things keep coming back to go “Oh my gosh! I just thought I was writing what the subconscious was spitting out after working on it all night.” What I realized was that not only that subconscious but that part that’s connected to the divine said, “Here’s some lessons and some observations and some insights I would love for you to get year after year after year, Michael. And the reason you’ll get them is because people will be nice enough to buy tickets so you can afford to get on stage to tell yourself the story that you most need to hear.”

Follow the links to learn more about the DVD of The Forgotten Carols or the 20th anniversary CD.

The Forgotten Carols: 20 Years of Holiday Magic

Tue, 29 Nov 2011 00:05:00 -0700

by Kaela Worthen
source: MormonLife.com

Mormon Life says: Twenty years ago, Michael McLean created a Christmas performance that has endeared itself in the hearts of thousands. Read the backstory, the challenges, and what McLean thinks about the future of the show.

It started simply. Michael McLean was seated at his piano when he wondered: “What if I met the innkeeper who turned away Joseph and Mary?” And from that one thought, a new Christmas tradition was born—a tradition that would touch the hearts of countless people through original music and the stories of “forgotten” characters of the Nativity story.

With that first thought, McLean began composing a song from the innkeeper’s perspective called “Let Him In.” And as he wrote that song, another realization dawned: he wrote it because, as he says, “I’m that guy. I am exactly that guy. I’m not a bad guy. I’m just too busy. I miss great moments because I’m just trying to pay the light bill and keep the inn full.”

Soon McLean was wondering who else he was like. A shepherd who slept through Christ’s birth and has to decide whether to believe the story after hearing it secondhand. Or Joseph as a struggling father—“What did he feel like as the dad of Jesus? How do you criticize your kid? What if he had a bad day and he shouted at Jesus?” Soon other characters and songs followed.

McLean wrote these songs initially just as an album, but he realized he needed a story to connect them all together. He settled on a story about a nurse named Connie Lou who cares for John, an elderly patient who claims to have been alive for more than 2,000 years and interacted with all those whose songs he shares.

In April of 1991, McLean approached Deseret Book and proposed his idea. “If you’re going to do it for this Christmas,” he was told, “you’ll have to have it done by the thirteenth.” It was the sixth.

So, after writing almost all night and realizing he needed to sleep, he tried an experiment. “I told my creative unconscious, ‘You know, I’ve gotta sleep, but you can work on this all night long.’” And with that, he went to bed.

In the morning, he had an “appointment” with his subconscious and typed until he had to leave for work, then told his subconscious the same thing he had told it the night before. When he got home in the evening, he would sit as his computer and type for four to five hours. The process continued like that for a week. At the end, the story was written, the songs were completed, and the project was ready to move forward.

That first year, McLean did about 30 performances to promote the project, the book and the music sold, and he thought that was that.

Constant Expansion
The next year McLean received a request to do the show again. His response: “Are you kidding me? Why would you want to sit through this twice?”

But he began making preparations for a second tour and thinking of ways to improve the show. In the first years, McLean made simple revisions like adding outfits for the characters and creating better ornaments for the show. He also began figuring out a way to teach the choirs the music much more quickly, which was important since he would show up the day of the performance and quickly have to pull the entire production together.

Eventually, the revisions went deeper. The story itself was rearranged to help with the pacing. “Then what I found out was that the story was way too heavy—women could maybe stand it, but their husbands were ready to bail at intermission, if there was one, so they could go listen to the game or anything other than this super touchy, cheery, weepy thing.” So McLean began adlibbing and adding in more jokes, making notes each night of the parts that needed to be improved. Eventually, he began to develop a rough script just for himself. Some new songs were also incorporated into the performance.

After about seven or eight years, McLean decided that instead of him singing all the songs except the female ones, he should bring in other singers as well to perform all the solos.

Then came the biggest change of all in 2006. His son Scott approached him with a proposition: what if they made the performance into a real play? Until this point, McLean had still been playing all the parts, narrating a story rather than performing a theatrical piece, with soloists to perform the various songs. Scott, who had a master’s in acting, would write a completely new stage adaptation of the book.

“I didn’t know if this would work. This would require me to actually be an actor,” McLean says. “We did the show, and I was terrified that people would just leave in droves.”

But with that transition and other improvements year after year, the show finally reached its full potential. “I fell absolutely, slam dunk, in love with what the show had become,” McLean says.

Growing Pains
But as the show grew, so did the opportunities for accidents. Sometimes they wouldn’t have a spotlight, or the people who were running the equipment didn’t know how to do so properly. Sometimes a kid in the choir would hide the ornaments for the show as a joke. Sometimes the choir didn’t know their music, and once the group that was supposed to sing the part of “Homeless”—an a cappella song—blew the wrong pitch, which meant that they all ended up singing in different keys. McLean remembers another performance in which the choir was so old, they slept through the show.

But sometimes, McLean himself was at the center of the mishaps. Once he was off stage for a costume change and bathroom break—only to learn that his microphone wasn’t turned off as he went about his business and flushed the toilet.

During one tour, McLean took only one night off for a surgery and then was back on stage again the next night. “So I had to decide if I was going to take my pain meds, which would make me loopy and forget my lyrics, or whether or not I was going to not take them, and be in so much pain I couldn’t sit,” he says. “It was the most brilliant performance of The Forgotten Carols I’d ever done, because I walked like a guy who’d been around for 2,000 years and couldn’t sit down.”

A Show for Everyone
Despite the many mishaps, the show has earned its spot in the Christmas canon. “The reason this works is because this is the one Christmas show you go to that is unabashedly, unquestionably, clearly about Jesus. This is not a Mormon thing about Jesus—this is about Jesus,” McLean says.

While many people feel that the reason the show works is due to McLean’s charm and passion for the story and its message, McLean himself is quick to dismiss that idea.

“It isn’t about me,” he says. “Each one of these carols is about them [the people in the audience]. They’re the person who was too busy; they’re the innkeeper who turned away Joseph and Mary; they’re the person who sang ‘Mary let me hold her baby and I’ve been reborn’; they’re the ones trying to find their way; they’re the fathers trying to connect with their kids; they feel homeless and lost. The show is about, in a veiled way, their connection with the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.”

With that at its heart, it’s no wonder so many have been touched so deeply by the show.

One night, a woman came up to him after the show and said that her best friend had been raped on Christmas Eve eight years earlier and had not been able to tolerate the season since, but after seeing the show, she had decided she could like it again. “How do I thank the guy that gave Christmas back to my best friend?” she asked.

Another man came with his son and explained that 11 years earlier, McLean had performed The Forgotten Carols in Las Vegas, where the man had been homeless. “You sent someone down to the homeless shelter and said, ‘Anyone who wants to see this show can come for free.’ And I was strung out on drugs and trying to get straight and I didn’t know what it was but I came. . . . I wanted you to know that that show changed me. And I wanted you to meet my son.”

One family had come every year, and their father always purchased the tickets. But one year he suddenly passed away after already having bought them. They came anyway—on the same day as his funeral. “When we linked arms and sang ‘We Can Be Together Forever,’” they wrote him later, “our dad was there. Don’t ever change that part of the show.”

Continuing Progress
The evolution of The Forgotten Carols hasn’t stopped yet. McLean is working with translators to create a Ukrainian version in addition to the French and German ones already being performed in Europe.

And the show won’t be stopping—at least for quite a while. “The great thing about playing a guy that’s two thousand years old is that I’ll never be too old,” McLean says. “But there’s going to come a time when I can’t do [the show]. So I want to treasure every moment that I have to do this."

To read McLean's interview with LDS Living, click here.

I Am a Believer, But I Don’t “Just Believe”

Tue, 30 Aug 2011 10:08:00 -0600

source: keepapitchinin.org

Mormon Life says: An insightful article by an LDS historian, who reconciles difficult truths about LDS history with faith. I am a believer, but contrary to the Tony award winning Book of Mormon musical, I don’t “just believe.” My convictions derive from a more complex blend of study and faith than the musical suggests when the fictional Elder Price sings, “I am a Mormon and a Mormon just believes.” In addition to being a Mormon, I am also an historian who teaches and researches Utah history, Mormon history, and the history of the U. S. West. I am a believer, in part, because of my profession, not in spite of it.

I fully recognize that there are those who delve into the Mormon past, poke around in the sources, uncover inconsistencies, unsavory actions on the part of past leaders or followers, find too much human and too little divine, or otherwise encounter aspects of LDS history that disturb them. For some a messy historical record overpowers belief and convinces them to abandon their faith. Some even suggest that knowing the “truth” about Mormon history undermines the very foundations of Mormonism and inevitably will lead any rational person with a devotion to empirical evidence outside the fold, never to return. Those who stay, according to this version of things, either ignore the evidence or are ignorant of it and “just believe.”

Virtual choir to allow singers to sing in the tabernacle—without leaving home

Wed, 17 Aug 2011 00:07:00 -0600

by Kim Egginton
source: ldsliving.com

Mormon Life says: This Christmas, people can sing in the historic Tabernacle on Temple Square without even having to come to Utah. Robin Solman lived in Salt Lake City for most of her life but never had the opportunity to perform in the Tabernacle; few singers do. Now Robin lives in a tiny little town in Australia. The 2006 census lists its population at 186—a far cry from Salt Lake City in every way.

And yet, this Christmas, along with many others around the world, Robin will be singing with composer Lex de Azevedo and performing his Christmas oratorio Gloria! in the Salt Lake Tabernacle on November 26th, the weekend of the lighting of the Christmas lights on Temple Square, without actually going to Utah.

While Robin, and any other good singer with the means to travel, is more than welcome to travel from Australia to Utah to sing in the Tabernacle with the live choir, sometimes such a trip is all but impossible. But with the miracle of technology, singers can sing “in” the tabernacle this Christmas anyway—virtually.

The novel idea is creating a buzz of excitement among choral singers worldwide. Wherever they live and whatever their faith, those wishing to participate can also join the Facebook Group “Virtual Millennium Choir” to communicate with Lex and each other about Gloria! (See Lex de Azevedo's personal invitation here.)

Hope for Gloria

The history of Gloria! includes disaster and triumph.

Gloria! debuted in 1999 in Israel with the Jerusalem Symphony, Millennium Choir and two choirs from Israel in the Citadel—with Gabriel (George Dyer) standing on the actual ruins of the ancient city wall of Jerusalem. The video recording of that event was hosted by James Earl Jones. Carole Mikita of KSL-TV Eyewitness News (Salt Lake City) hosted The Making of Gloria, a video documentary, back in 1999 and will be reporting again on our historic combination of live and virtual choirs in the Tabernacle this Christmas.

Then, just last Christmas, it was scheduled to be performed in the Provo Tabernacle, but that historic building was tragically destroyed by fire the very day of the concert, along with several priceless musical instruments and a staggering amount of sophisticated video, sound and lighting equipment, beautiful Christmas sets and costumes. Thankfully, no one was hurt.

Almost immediately, the choir moved to the Alpine Tabernacle and feverishly procured replacement equipment and costumes—a monumental task. They were even able to add a third performance at Utah Valley University as a very reverent and sobering tribute to the Provo Tabernacle, thanks to the generosity and tireless efforts of many caring volunteers.

This Christmas, Lex de Azevedo hopes the virtual choir will be a new page for Gloria! while many around the globe unite to sing the oratorio on the weekend of the lighting of the Temple Square Christmas lights.

What is a “virtual choir”?

A virtual choir is created when the voices from all the singers’ videos are mixed together and the videos are arranged in a beautiful visual montage. Darrell Polka, from Wisconsin, submitted video #355 in a virtual choir that included over 2052 singers from 58 countries. (Watch one of several astonishing videos for that virtual choir here.)

Being part of a virtual choir was extraordinary, Polka said. “We [choir members] have felt so welcomed, so accepted and included in something so extraordinary and so friendly it breaks down all barriers of race, religion, geographic differences and other beliefs…I have felt nothing but humility, openness, genuineness and a real sense of being part of a family. It's unlike anything I've ever experienced”.

Polka is eager to continue that experience with Lex de Azevedo’s Virtual Millennium Choir. “I can’t wait to submit my video now that I’ve heard the music on the website. It’s really wonderful.”

For Gloria!, participants will enjoy an added twist: the Virtual Choir and the Live Choir will sing together—in the Tabernacle—for the first time in history.

Visit www.millenniumchoir.org and learn detailed instructions on how to participate. The instructions include the printed music, audio recordings of the songs in performance and audio recordings of someone singing each vocal part. Just sing along as you learn it—and as you record it! Listen to the title song, “Gloria”, here, and “Fear Not, Zacharias” here to get an idea of what Gloria! is all about.

Those wishing to be in the virtual choir need only learn the music and submit video recordings of themselves singing the two numbers in the finale, without memorizing them.

Those wishing to be part of the live choir and have the means to come to Salt Lake City will audition by submitting a recording of themselves singing the audition piece. Then, if accepted, they will learn all 15 choral movements the same way, memorizing only the two numbers in the finale. The Live Choir is only required to attend four rehearsals in Salt Lake City, all during the week of the performance (Thanksgiving week in the USA).

And don’t forget to spread the word. The more singers that participate, the more amazing this novel performance will be.

The performance is Saturday, November 26, at 7:30pm, also in the Tabernacle.

English, U.S. Mormons create 'Faith the Musical'

Thu, 04 Aug 2011 10:36:00 -0600

source: MormonTimes.com

Mormon Life says: This might serve as a good contrast to another recent musical we've heard of. In a unique intercontinental mingling of talent and faith, the Cheltenham England Stake and the South Jordan Utah Glenmoor Stake are joining forces to present "Faith the Musical" at the LDS Conference Center Little Theater.

The production opens tonight at 7:30 p.m, with additional performances scheduled Friday and Saturday and again Aug. 9-13 at 7:30 p.m. each evening. There will also be a 2 p.m. matinee Saturday.

The musical is the brainchild of David R. Markham, who, as a member of the Cheltenham Stake high council, volunteered to write a musical to commemorate the stake's 25th anniversary in 2007. Markham drew in part from "Truth Will Prevail," a previous musical he had written in 1987 — just two years after he and his family joined the LDS Church — in observance of the 150th anniversary of the church in Great Britain.

Commentary: "Book of Mormon" musical star thought he would be killed

Mon, 01 Aug 2011 10:57:00 -0600

by Kate Ensign-Lewis - LDS Living
source: ldsliving.com

Mormon Life says: An LDS Living commentary on recent news. I was surprised the other day when, going through the news, I saw a headline saying that one of the stars of the new Book of Mormon musical was worried to take the role because he thought he would be killed for portraying Mormonism in that way.

Here's what he said: "I called up my agent when I first heard. They sent me a demo with a controversial number on it that's still in the show to this day and I said I really love Trey and Matt...but I don't want to die. ...I don't want to get shot and I fell like feel like this is intense material.'" (Click here to see the article.)

I can understand that he thought Mormons would be upset, but TO BE SHOT? "What sort of people does he think Mormons are?" I thought.

Days later, I'm still a little dumbfounded, but it also has me wondering if this is just a misunderstanding of religion in general. There have, in fact, been times when people have been threatened or killed because of their portrayal of a religion or religious figure. So is it surprising to react fearfully? Aren't we Mormons sometimes reactionary toward groups we misunderstand, fearing reprisal for what they see as disrespectful or hateful?

But I also think (or thought) we've done a pretty good job of showing we're pretty ordinary Christians, not fanatics. Maybe we're not there yet.

What do you think? Is this symptomatic of a misunderstanding of Mormonism, or of religious groups in general?

Opinion: Mormons and 'The Musical'

Sat, 30 Jul 2011 14:33:00 -0600

source: sltrib.com

Mormon Life says: I don't agree everything here, but she makes an interesting point about the importance of joining the dialogue in what people are saying about us. Despite the sweep of last month’s Tony Awards, I have noticed that many fellow Mormons, including a few of my open-minded New York City neighbors, have said they do not intend to see “The Book of Mormon: The Musical.”

In conversation and on Facebook, they cite Michael Otterson’s Washington Post column as a reason that they are opting out. Otterson, head of public affairs for the LDS Church, points out that people may leave the theater “believing that Mormons really do live in some kind of a surreal world of self-deception and illusion.” Thus, he has decided not to spend $200 on it.

I have long admired Otterson for his intelligence and refreshing outspokenness in defending the church. And yet, I disagree with him on this one, or those who read his article as a call to boycott the hit show.

A new Mormon-themed musical premieres

Thu, 28 Jul 2011 11:25:00 -0600

source: deseretnews.com

Mormon Life says: Not nearly as big as the "Book of Mormon" musical, but still noteworthy (no pun intended). Brace yourselves, theater-goers. Another Mormon-themed musical is on the way.

"Mothers, Mormons and Monsters," a new one-act, 90-minute musical by 23-year-old Sam Salmond, opened recently in Pittsfield, Mass. Unlike "The Book of Mormon," which is still making news on Broadway with its "dynamic" ticket pricing model, "Mothers, Mormons and Monsters" is a small (only four characters), introspective musical that, according to Variety, "presents itself as an intimate, seriocomic clash of faith, family and fear — but the result is (an) unfocused, uneven work."

Hill Cumorah Pageant attendance down despite national media attention

Thu, 21 Jul 2011 09:54:00 -0600

source: deseretnews.com

As the LDS Church's annual Hill Cumorah Pageant opened two weeks ago, local media outlets were wondering if Pageant attendance would go through the roof in light of the current ongoing "Mormon Moment."

The answer is in: no.

A pageant official said Wednesday that attendance was actually down a little from last year's Pageant — from a seven-performance total of 33,000 patrons last year to about 30,000 this year.