The Swingles' Dramatic Developments

MasterWorks is off to an amazing start!

2009-06-25T21:59:00.001-04:00

The students we have this year at MasterWorks (http://MasterWorksFestival.org) are amazing! Their gifts and talents, as well as their hearts for the Lord are just mind-blowing.

What do I do?

2009-06-20T23:09:00.002-04:00

Last night I performed The Acts at the downtown Orlando Salvation Army. Afterward a gentleman in a Salvation Army Adult Recovery Center (ARC) came up to me and said, "So what do I do?" I asked him what he meant, and he said he'd prayed the prayer during the close of the play to commit his life to Jesus, and he wanted to know what the next step was to grow in his relationship with the Lord! There was another ARC resident who got a degree in theatre before getting off-track. I'm putting him in touch with a dear friend who went through the ARC program in NYC, and is now working in the arts full-time.

The poster is for the next event where I'll be performing The Acts. Appreciate your prayers that it will help bring about more life transformations.

In the shadow of justice there is Compassion Corner

2009-06-20T16:44:00.001-04:00

I taught a sociodrama (www.RichDrama.com/WorkShops) master class at the Christians in Theatre Arts (www.CITA.org) National Conference in Orlando. We started the class at the conference, where I taught the history and basics of the dramatic/therapeutic form, then we took a free (thanks Orlando!) public bus to Compassion Corner, shown here, across the street from the courthouse. It's an ideal location for them, since their prime focus is helping clients move through the legal system as they look for jobs and housing. It's given them great visibility, and they now have volunteers from 14 churches and at least 9 denominations (off the top of the leaders' heads).

We had an amazing sociodrama with their clients. Our warm up was done in four small groups in which they had to come to concensus on a shared dream. Two of the groups had a dream of greater compassion in the world. They beat out dreams of family and a home.

The scenario was a rich man (played by a client) walking past a homeless woman (played brilliantly by a CITA member). Someone gave her a back pack, which she put on her back. The clients said, she wouldn't be wearing it because she'd have been carrying it too long. So we put her on a park bench. On the first pass the rich man moved away from her with a grunt. Then we talked about how the rich man could show more compassion. He took some suggestions from the group, and stepped back into the scene (this time played by a second client who tagged in with some great ideas). The rich man struck up a conversation, and he happened to comment on her sun glasses. She said she got them at the Salvation Army, and he said he used to go there. We talked about how we all have had low spots in our lives, so we prayed that people would be less inclined to look down on people who are there right now.

Orlando

2009-06-19T06:53:00.000-04:00

I'm at the Christians in Theatre Arts Conference (www.CITA.org) in Orlando. This morning I'll be doing a master class on sociodrama, which will start at the conference, and then move down the street a few blocks to incorporate Compassion Corner clients, who are working to get their lives back in order. Sociodrama's a tool to do just that, so I'm expecting miracles... Literally.

Star Lake

2009-06-17T12:51:00.001-04:00

I just arrived at Star Lake, where I'll be working with the cast of CAST, the Salvation Army's Creative Arts Service Team. What a joy to work with actors, where the only Star is Jesus. That's quite liberating!

Now we're on lunch break, and I have to say that they're quite a talented bunch. We're having a ball!

In the fiery furnace

2009-06-11T22:06:00.001-04:00

Linda Braaten, missionary to South Africa, spoke to our church tonight.

She shared how her pastor was called to minister in a place quite closed to Christianity. He went to call on a leader in that place, and the security guard asked him why he was there. He told the guard that he was there to share the Good News of Jesus Christ. The guard told him to throw his Bible in a furnace before entering the house. The pastor told him he couldn't do that because God's Word was too precious to him The guard said, "Then put your arm in the furnace." The pastor did, and when he pulled it out, it was unharmed. Not a hair was singed. The guard had him put it back again and again. Each time the arm was unharmed.

Pray for God to do even more work in South Africa and around the world, including the US.

Don't miss King David!

2009-06-11T15:04:00.001-04:00

We got to hang out with the miraculous Sanborns today.

Art, who was paralized from the neck down, was telling us how (before he worked his way up to 150 push-ups and 6 mile runs) he couldn't even communicate with anyone but God after his swimming accident. Now he's grateful for those extended periods of connection with his Healer.

Ellen reminded us how, as an 18 year old she turned down the opportunity to have a West End credit when she read the script of the show in which she'd been cast: Hair.

David, who has miraculously overcome death and other ailments, continues to perform his one-man musical, King David (KingDavidMusical.com) through the end of June.

Don't miss it!

Read my review, posted here on 6/6, which includes a link to Art's book.

Living as a Called Person

2009-06-10T20:58:00.003-04:00

While prepping for MasterWorks, which starts in a matter of days, I decided to recommend Chapter Five of Gordon MacDonald's Ordering Your Private World: "Living as a Called Person". I first read the book when I was the students' age. Back then I set out to read at least part of the book every year. Rediscovering this chapter makes me want to get back on that pattern.

Concert on Sunday

2009-06-10T19:58:00.001-04:00

There will be a concert this Sunday at Union Theological Seminary in the James Chapel beginning at 6:30PM.

MasterWorks students (from left to right) Caroline Chehade, Paulina Papölöne and Laura Hairgrove will be performing. The concert will be a fundraiser for a tour they're doing with a number of other MasterWorks students later this summer. They will perform in Finland and Hungary.

Donna East returns to Westchester Chapel

2009-06-10T12:22:00.002-04:00

Christian Comedienne, Donna East (DonnaEast.com), will perform at WCCC on Saturday, June 20 at 7pm. She'll be bringing clean comedy for the entire family. Speaking of which, she's got plenty of fresh material based on her new role as mommy.

Get prepared for the healing art of the belly laugh.

Send your friends to WestchesterChapel.org/DonnaEast.

Admission is free, and an offering will be collected.

Directions: WestchesterChapel.org/Directions.

May we be like the ESB

2009-06-09T12:24:00.001-04:00

> Here's a visual prayer that we will shine God's love around this
> city, which can be so dark at times.

We're rooting for David Lander!

2009-06-07T18:19:00.002-04:00

Our friend, David Lander, was nominated for a Tony Award. Just being nominated is a great honor, and the plaque they gave him is huge, but we're hoping his name is called tonight.

The nomination is for his lighting design on 33 Variations, which featured Jane Fonda.

David was the lighting designer for our Off-Broadway run of Beyond the Chariots, paired with my friend Roger Nelson's The Man from Aldersgate.

The People's Choice: Irena's Vow

2009-06-06T22:14:00.002-04:00

Irena's Vow won the People's Choice award for best Off-Broadway Play (for its pre-Broadway bow), and Tolvah Felshuh won Best Actress for her portrayal of Irena: BroadwayWorld.com Announces Results of the 7th Annual Theatre Fans Choice Awards 2009

I was sorry our friend, David Lander, didn't win for his lighting design on 33 Variations, but we'll be rooting for him Sunday night when they're handing out the Tony's! David's plaque for his Tony nomination is HUGE! GO DAVID!

King David Sanborn

2009-06-06T18:27:00.003-04:00

We saw our friend, David Sanborn's one-man musical, King David, Off-Broadway at The Promise Theatre.

The New York Times was right! It's a "first-rate" production. He does impersonations of one Hollywood superstar after the next. As fun as the impersonations were, there were moments where he was deeply emotionally connected. Despite having performed it since April (quite a nice run for these parts), there were times that his face was drenched with tears. At other times he's like a little kid playing in a sandbox.

In these days of so many distractions I always feel so rewarded by the intense focus and energy it takes to perform a one-man play. David made me appreciate it from another angle: I forget it takes focus and energy to follow a one-man play! We become so used to the artists providing all the details, but there's something akin to reading a novel that happens when the brain gets a chance to fill in some of the gaps in solo theatre.

David and his mother, Ellen, chose their cuts judiciously from Christian and Jewish translations of First and Second Samuel, and they've found a great dramatic arc from his confrontation with Goliath to the birth of Solomon. They've interspersed it all with Davidic psalms set to music which delightfully foreshadows the Sanborns' musical, Judah Ben Hur, advertised as coming to Broadway in the fall of 2010.

David and I recently saw Irena's Vow on Broadway. He took inspiration from how Irena's daughter came out and spoke after the play. David (Sanborn) came back after a robust applause to briefly tell how, like King David, his life had been impacted by G-d's relationship with man. He then went on to tell how his own father, Art, had been paralyzed at the same level as Christopher Reeve, but Art now runs six miles a day. Then he invited people to stick around in the lobby (don't miss this!), where they begged him to tell more details. He talked about the accident, the recovery, starting with the miraculous movement of a pinkie, to his three repetitions of one push-up, to his three reps of 50!

When I arrived in Singapore to perform in the world premiere of Judah Ben Hur in 2001 the accident was quite fresh. Everyone was abuzz about his near-drowning and the recovery. I was told that I would have no idea to see him that he had been completely paralyzed below the neck. Because I have experienced miraculous healing in my own body and in the lives of those I know well, I was on high alert. But it wasn't until I was in conversation with him that I discovered that was Art!

The whole story is told in Art's book: Walking Miracle.

Going public

2009-06-02T09:33:00.003-04:00

I got to perform an excerpt from Beyond the Chariots ( http:RichDrama.com/BeyondtheChariots ) and The Fall ( http:RichDrama.com/ShortPieces ), from Les Misérables, in a public school just outside of Washington DC.

In the District

2009-06-02T09:33:00.001-04:00

Now I'm hanging out and seeing sites with my brother and his wife.

Times Square is still closed

2009-05-25T19:23:00.000-04:00

Memorial Day celebration continues...

Times Square closed for our troops

2009-05-25T14:20:00.000-04:00

It's Fleet Week in NYC.

Happy Memorial Day, everyone!

Swingles at District Assembly

2009-05-20T16:32:00.001-04:00

Larry Mancini shot this at the Metro New York Nazarene District Assembly.

NYC: Past, Present & Future

2009-05-20T14:12:00.000-04:00

Drama and Sociodrama in Orlando

2009-05-18T17:11:00.003-04:00

I'll be performing and teaching a master class at the Christians in Theatre Arts National Conference in Orlando next month.

Here's the description of my class:

Sociodrama with the Impoverished MASTERCLASS and Theatre Impact Project
Rich Swingle wrote his masters thesis, The Effect of Sociodrama on a Population of Men in Transitional Housing, in 1997. Since then, he’s led several sociodrama workshops at CITA conferences that either dealt with that study or brought the benefits of sociodrama into acting, directing and even writing. This year, Rich will bring you into the heart of what sociodrama was created to do: help people with social challenges grow through structured improvisation. We’ll start in a CITA classroom, where Rich will give some background, and then we’ll move to Compassion Corner, where we’ll join their clientele in a sociodrama. Class size limited to 15 people.

I'll be performing The Acts at the Salvation Army Orlando Citadel Corps that evening.

King David connection

2009-05-17T19:57:00.000-04:00

This morning I got to share about my friend David Sanborn's Off-Broadway run of his one-man play King David at our church.

Visit KingDavidMusical.com to see the trailer, read reviews (including the New York Times and the newest from Broadway After Dark) and find more information.

For a discount through FaceBook, click here.

Practice for Killing Giants

2009-05-17T19:43:00.003-04:00

Mallory did a phenomenal job leading worship last night. There was a moment that she was speaking of how God's love overwhelms us. I was hoping she'd lead us in How He Loves, and, in fact, she did!

Tony Cruz was the evangelist that followed.

I got to speak about the amazing event this morning in our call to worship at Westchester Chapel:

Here are my notes from his sermon...

It was titled, "Bring the Cheese!" based on I Samuel 17.

The time is urgent. God is raising up believers who will follow Him, whether they're 13 or 30.

He preached about David and Goliath.

He pointed out how Goliath shouted his "usual defiance." Tony said the enemy comes against us daily to whisper his usual defiance and lies that we're not good enough.

God is raising up giant killers.

He pointed out how David used a sling because that was what he trained with when he was tending the sheep. He said nobody practices war during war. We have to practice worshiping, studying the Bible and connecting to God now, because if we don't, then when the battles of life hit us...and they will...we won't have any Power.

The most dangerous people are those who have nothing to lose and nothing to prove. If you have nothing to lose and nothing to prove you are dangerous in the hand of God.

David was the delivery boy. He was sent to bring bread and cheese. The dude was a Dominoes delivery boy. He went from delivery boy to deliverer.

You become a product of whatever you're committed to.

There's a difference between being interested and being committed.

There are giants for you to kill, but you have to bring the cheese: you have to do what you're called to do.

You have to live convinced. It doesn't matter how hard you're holding on but what you're holding onto. If you're holding onto the things of this world, they'll break away. Hold onto Jesus.

Your giant must be defeated if you're to do anything for the Kingdom of God. Cowards think of what they can lose. Champions think of what they can gain. Courage isn't the absence of fear but the absence of self.

There are things in your life that will kill you if you don't kill them first.

David went from running errands to running the show.

What do you need to do to drop everything and follow Him?

After his sermon Mallory and I had a surprising delight: MasterWorks theatre instructor, Patricia Mauceri joined us!

Mallory's Triumph

2009-05-15T16:08:00.003-04:00

Mallory LaBoy was a part of the MasterWorks theatre program last summer. She came to us by way of Aquire the Fire, where she'd performed in front of audiences as large as 35,000, not to mention those that saw the events televised. She had no problem with stage fright. But when it came to leading worship, she was terrified. Through MasterWorks and other experiences, she's been leading worship and has come to NYC to do just that!

Her friend David (on the left in the photo) heard Mallory audition for leading worship years ago. She didn't get picked, but David remembered her voice and recommended her for this event!

For those of you in the area, here are the details:

May 15th Friday @ 8pm
May 16th Saturday @ 6pm
May 17th Sunday @ 8am 10am 11:30am and 7pm
Consuming Fire Ministries
Van Nest Assembly of God
The Bronx, NY
No charge

I'm going Saturday night, so post a comment here if you'll be there then, and I'll look for you.

Last week of Reel Religion

2009-05-12T14:19:00.000-04:00

The Museum of Biblical Art in NYC ( http://MoBiA.org ) is hosting an exhibit of posters from films with a biblical theme through May 17.

It's a great collection, which includes costumes and props from the Ben Hur with Charleton Heston.