This and That:
The Drama Ministry at Our Lady of Grace Moves Many Hearts
Well it was another four-performance smash as The Youth Theatre of Northern Baltimore County did a production of Godspell. The following are some letters received from folks who attended one of the performances. If you do not think that a theatre production can make a difference in a person’s life in terms of his or her relationship with Jesus Christ, read on.
Fondly,
Father Nick Amato
Dear Rev. Msgr. Nicholas Amato and Leaders of Our Lady of Grace Parish,
I just couldn’t go to bed this evening without thanking you for the beautiful gift of Godspell this afternoon. I got dragged to this show by a friend who raved after seeing it this past Thursday. I really didn’t want to come, but since I had turned this friend down on two previous invitations I felt compelled to be cooperative. Little did I know what a gift this invitation would become. To say the performance was incredible would not give it the justice it deserves. I for one, was stunned at the professionalism of what I saw onstage. Who would have thought it possible to inject this much vibrant exuberance and artistic imagination into a beloved old warhorse nearly done to respectable death by high schools and church groups for almost 30 years? I certainly would never have imagined a small rural theatre would have the ability to do what was done last evening. Godspell’s timeless message has always been about finding your quiet, unshakable faith amid a very loud, cold and shallow modern world. And anyone who did not find faith in last night’s performance must have been deaf, blind or asleep. Mary. Miller’s unbridled imagination revived Godspell’s freshness, humor and unapologetic decency. She deserves much credit for harnessing the incredible talents of this cast into a coherent whole. Her inventive twists couldn’t help but delight those of us overly familiar with the show. And to pull it off without overshadowing or diluting the sincere message of humanity, goodness, compassion and God’s love is simply ingenious. The ensemble – every last one a talented performer – exudes life, energy, humor and joy with full-throated voices that raise goose bumps a dozen times during the show. The young gentleman who sang “All Good Gifts” [Danny Baird] had me in tears. And the song, “Tower of Babble” had me speechless. Rarely do you see this song performed because of its difficulty. It is a very difficult song to play musically as well as sing, especially when you have 8 different parts with different words singing acapella. It was incredible! The entire production was unbelievably tight. I can easily see this production making lifelong theater and churchgoers, even for those of us lucky enough to get dragged to this show kicking and screaming. One last note about something that really touched my heart. I was sitting near the back and had the privilege of watching Mary Miller throughout the show. I watched her cheer her actors on, I watched her shed tears and watched her hug each and every actor as they came up for bows. What struck me most was the deep respect and genuine love that passed between her and each of the actors as they stepped up to receive her hug. I think for both of them that hug was more important than the bow. I hope Our Lady of Grace can truly appreciate what this woman has brought to your community. I don’t think any of us will ever realize exactly what a treasure she is or the value of what she has given.
Thank you for a wonderfully memorable evening which rejuvenated my passion for Christ and my commitment to be one of His disciples. Where do I get season tickets?
Dr. Steven Whiting
Dear Rev. Msgr. Amato and Mary Miller,
Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for Mary Miller and the Youth Theatre have done it again! By sharing, dancing, hoping, feeling, laughing and singing you traced the outline of life’s bounty and mystery. Ms. Miller I don’t know how you do it, but you were able to honestly, creatively and vividly translate Godspell without losing its basic simplicity, warmth, vigor and message. For the audience last night’s performance was a graceful free fall into life, laughter, and love. But most of all, it proves that we can be the happiest of all creatures if we will just dance to the rhythm of His word and our own comic songbook souls. The cast was brilliant, uniformly strong: talented, committed and infectiously endearing. Each and every one of them added something important to the show. John the Baptist was extraordinary and Jesus, well, what can I say, he was simply put – amazing. Mary Miller you are a blessing to us all. May God Bless you with health so we may enjoy many more Miller productions to come.
Sharon Timmons
Dear Father Nick,
This letter is about 5 months late but as they say “better late than never.” I just saw “Godspell” and was blown away at the talent and message of the show. But more importantly I wanted to share with you the impact Mary Miller and your theatre ministry has had on my life. First, a little background. More years ago than I care to admit to I walked away from church and became immersed in law enforcement. I found it was easier to deal with the criminal element than attempting to deal with the individual shades of grey found in the church pews. I found myself being drawn back to the church (St. John’s) in spite of my desires or my preference. At first it was simply to keep my wife happy. She had held steadfastly to the idea of having her husband sit beside her in church. My logic was it was worth giving up a few hours on Sunday morning to keep peace in the family. Well, the best laid plans of mice and men. There was one center point in my rebellion against God. I quit praying. It was an easy enough thing to stop. There were always other things to keep me occupied for the time I had normally set aside to pray. Even on Sundays I worked hard to ignore the preacher only allowing him into my conscious world on occasion. That is until I saw “Treasures of the Heart” this past December. This musical helped me to take a long hard look at my life and the many blessings that had been bestowed on me. After the show I spoke with Mary Miller, the director and thanked her for the beautiful words both spoken and sung in the musical. She was gracious, but gave the credit to God, thanking him for giving them to her. I encouraged her to take credit for her own words and she said the only credit she would take would be for listening when God spoke. It was obvious to me by the look in her eyes when she said this that she truly meant every word she had spoken. Frankly, her humility stunned me. Most people I know are eager to boast about their accomplishments. I asked her where this humility came from and she said, “Look at the cross.” That was it! That was what I needed to hear; what I was missing. The following Sunday as I sat with my wife trying to ignore the sermon being preached I took a good long look at the cross. And although I was able to somewhat tune out the sermon, I was not able to ignore that cross. Every Sunday after that I sat and stared at the large wooden cross mounted high in the front of the church. It was then that I finally found myself being drawn back into prayer. I’m not going to say it was easy because I kicked, I screamed, I fought and even became angry at the thought. But whatever I did I found myself talking to God. I didn’t know why. The one thing I did know was that I was being inexorably pulled back into a conversation with God. Deep down I knew I was being called home. It was then that I realized why Mary Miller’s musical touched me so deeply. It was because I had been homeless. I had been wandering aimlessly – hungry, cold, and yearning to find my way home. This past Friday evening, watching Godspell, I was once again motivated and inspired to be truer to God. I saw Mary Miller after the show once again and told her that the model of love for God that she is able to show for the youth of this theatre and for all of us in the community is so amazingly beautiful and stunning. What a gift she shares with us all. Once again she praised God for all of this. I have such awe and admiration for her, so much that it is far beyond my understanding. It went even further when someone told me that she suffers from a terminal illness. Thank you for allowing her to share this ministry with the poor souls of this world.
(Name withheld at the request of the writer)
Hello Ms. Miller,
This is Amy Woolf, your “tech goddess.” [Amy was in charge of lighting for the production.] I just wanted to thank you and everyone involved with Godspell so so much for everything they’ve done for me. I really feel like part of the family. This week has been scary and full of hospitals and doctors, except when I got to be with you and the cast. My father passed away peacefully this afternoon around 3:00pm, and although I am new to the OLG Theatre family, I cannot think of any other group of people I would rather be with. I feel like you have more ways than me to get in touch with the cast, so please tell them how much I love them and how loved they made me feel this week. This performance of Godspell will always be close to my heart, because my father’s cardiac arrest was Sunday morning, when I joined you, and he was at peace when Godspell was doing it’s final show. Thank you so much again, you have no idea what you’ve meant to me.
Amy Woolf
Dear Mary and Father Nick,
I attended last evening’s performance of Godspell as a part of the review process for the Kennedy Center. Once again, you have amazed us with your creative direction. What struck me even more than the musical was your relationship with the actors. It was very touching to see the love pass between you and the youth. Often times the directors we see are untouchable dictators. Your smile, warmth and obvious love for these actors warmed my heart. It must be an awesome experience being under your direction. I will report back to the review committee tomorrow with once again highest recommendations for having you direct “Treasures of the Heart” at the Kennedy Center for either the 2008-09 season or the 2009-10 season. There are still a few more committees to go through before final approval but you are well on your way. As you can imagine I have seen Godspell umpteen times and never have I seen it done so creatively. Great job! And kudos to the cast, production staff, backstage crew, and band. All around a magnificent job!
(Name withheld at the request of the writer)
Dear Father Nick,
I thought you should know what a wonderful time we had at the Godspell production this past week. We came Thursday night and bought tickets to return Saturday because we loved it so much. We saw last year’s show too which almost made us not buy tickets, but I’m glad we did. Mary was able to make this show very different than last year and the kids onstage were phenomenal. How does she do it with her health problems? Where does she find the energy to be there for all of us? Where does she find the strength to continue to motivate the entire community to follow in the Lords footsteps? I watched her as she hugged each and every one of those kids each night before bows. It brought a tear to my eye. It is obvious that they love her and she loves them. What an amazing combination. Thank you for allowing this ministry to take shape. No offense to you or anyone else but I think this ministry has affected the Our Lady of Grace Community more than just about anything else.
The Haus Family
Dear Youth Theatre of Northern Baltimore County,
All I can say is ….WOW!!! They say that God works in mysterious ways and last night was an example of this for me. It just so happened a friend I haven’t seen in awhile had an extra ticket to your performance last evening. This friend and I had been on the outs over something that now, as we look back, was pretty insignificant. I hesitated about coming because of this, but something compelled me to begrudgingly accept the invite. We didn’t speak much but polite exchanges in the lobby and took our seats with I must admit quite a bit of discomfort on my part. As I sat waiting for the show to start I began regretting my decision to come to the show. After all, I was sitting next to someone who had wronged me and it was “community theatre” so in my mind it was going to bomb!!! Boy was I surprised…it didn’t take more than 1 minute after curtains up before I was completely enthralled. Soon my friend and I were laughing, nudging each other and smiling. During intermission we gabbed like two school girls and the great divide that came between us fell apart. As we were standing in the lobby the director walked by and my friend caught her eye and told her what a wonderful job she had done with these beautifully talented children. She was very gracious but gave all the credit to God and the kids…taking little credit for herself. As she walked away another audience member told us of her long and continuing battle with cancer. Not only did this inspire us more, but it made both my friend and me realize what fools we had been. I write this email to thank Our Lady of Grace, Mary Miller, and all those beautifully talented children for reminding an old woman what it is that Jesus expects of us and how love should lead the way. Love certainly led the way last night and it is my hope it will for a long time to come.
Ethel Martin
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