July 12: Openinig Weekend Continued

Now onto part 2 of the whole saga of the opening of the pageant. I've got several experiences and stories that I need to write down as soon as possible.

First off, my parents were in town from Thursday night until Sunday night. They arrived two days after Mel and I had to back off, and I worried they wouldn't understand the separation that had to be between the two of us. But it never turned out to be a problem. They came during our dress rehearsal with Red Cast. It was a worrying event. The cast just wasn't coming up with the energy to take the pageant into the laps of the audience. The next day was spent draining the juice out of everyone to get it to where it needed to be. I felt so freed up in my performances, to a level I hadn't felt since the first night of the pageant. David told me after that first show, "That's it!" And I haven't felt like I approached that until the the performances opened. Good thing it came to be for the performances. Friday then came and was an inspiring night. The energy was all it needed to be, and it has been since. I saw a photo that Larry the photographer and recorder of the show had taken during the evening dance as Brigham is presented as the actor for the Incan priest of "Pizarro." The red cast was just full of joy and life and I was so proud of them. Larry has taken some incredible pictures. I hear we will receive a cd of pictures--I'm very excited. The colors and composition of the shots is incredible.

Also, Satureday night we opened the sociable. The response to it has been so positive. I love this show very much. The message, the music and the script is something to behold. We perform in the convention of the debate duo scene style, where both actors look straight ahead and connect through the audience in a sort of horseshoe way, thereby catching the audience in the middle of what they share. The sociable takes familiar scenes of everyone's life and strings them together with music and dialoge that shows the poignancy of each moment and presents them like an old radio drama, with actors doing foley effects and everything. It is powerful. Saturday night saw us perform for the casts of the show, and then Sunday night we took the show to Keokuk.

Keokuk's Grand Theatre used to be an old Vaudeville theatre, and since its restoration it resembles that, with all the gaudy decorations in greens and golds. There is a balcony with box seats even. The space itself is still rather small, and I doubt the house would seat more than 4 to 5 hundred. The audience flowed in, however, and I worried that perhaps the Joseph Smith part would not be well received from this non-member audience. David instructed us to act more in the tradition we were used to before coming to Nauvoo and we had a hard time doing that. How do we go back to being "theatrical?" we all wondered. I also worried because my illness had taken hold of my voice, and I wasn't able to clearly sing everything I needed to because I could either cough or crack at any time. I found this out as I tried to sing in a dressing room.
Yet the reception couldn't have been much warmer and no one's performance much better. It was our finest performance of the piece. Everyone's voice sounded perfect and I had an easier time hitting my high notes than ever before. And as Dallyn finished his Joseph Smith song, the audience cheered louder than for any other song. At the end of the show, the audience, especially non-members, leapt to their feet. I was absolutely amazed.
And that has been our reception pretty much the entire time. Youth of Zion opened with neither me, Melinda or Wally having a voice and it just came out to a great reception. Go Ye into the World had to have two performances every time so far to accommodate all the people coming to see it, and the others have all been well attended. It's been a wonderous experience, and I feel so much better spiritually and personally now that the real work has begun. I realize how important it is for me to be involved this way in the work, whether it's just me having a teaching calling or no.

Well, Missionary Moments:

Melinda, normally shy, prayed for a missionary experience, something she had never yet done. That night she sat near a man who sat alone after the pageant for a while. He was very emotional. She asked him a question and he turned, and thanked her for the show, again and again, hardly able to speak. They simply cried together.

I asked for a missionary experience, and at the Sunday Sociable I met an old mission president of the Tokyo North Mission. We chatted for Japanese for a second, until he started saying (in Japanese) "I haven't been able to speak Japanese for a while..." then in English "Thank you." and he was overcome with emotion, I'm thinking because of the show, and embraced me.

Also at the sociable, some members and missionaries had brought an Australian family to the pageant. This family had decided for professional purposes to move from Australia to Keokuk, Illinois, of all places, where they had found their home next to these members. They were overcome by the pageant, and they were invited to the Sunday Sociable in Keokuk. There, only the mother came--he had other things he had to get done. But a few minutes into the show, she grabs a cell phone and calls him.
"Get over here! The talent is amazing! ...I don't care, put on a shirt, and come!" He saw the second half of the show and said, "You are doing more shows in Nauvoo next week, right? I'm SO there."
After the show the Aussie's, the members, the missionaries and the Gudmansons went out for ice cream together. The Aussie's were a bit anxious about missionaries being there, but the elders only stayed about 10 minutes and left, just to say hi and hang out. That calmed things. I heard Brother Gudmanson explain this part of the story and just say that the walls have to crumble down slowly, and I got extremely frustrated. The old missionary came out of me and wanted to say, "Wait for the walls to come down? You've got to knock them down! We don't have time to wait for them to fall themselves!" But at the same time, I realize that taking a battering ram to them might be too much meat at the present time. So I didn't say anything. Brother Gudmanson is right, but I feel like taking that position is being too much of an Uncle Fluffy. We don't have time! Let's be bold! I feel in my heart.

I had a wonderful experience with a non-member myself. I prayed for an experience, and that night as I wandered I met a woman and I asked her about the show. She said that she came for a lesson on Mormon history, as she loves history (teaches it), and her sister was a member. She said that now she feels she understands her sister much better.
"Well, was there any part of what you saw that you have questions about or you'd like to know more about?" I asked.
"No, not really," she said. "I guess I'll just have to borrow my sister's Book of Mormon."
My heart soared, and I testified, "That book is real. You must read it. Will you do that for me?"
She responded in the affirmative, and I said thanks, although this was not at all for me, which I stated directly afterwards. It was the natural thing to say because that's how we had said it in Japanese, but my old Branch President's lesson of not saying please or for me or thank you. Ah well.

Brother Gudmanson also had a great experience with an old friend from Nauvoo. He was over because it was Nauvoo Appreciation Day, where the best seats were roped off for Nauvoo residents. Before the show they were served a catered dinner. This friend leaned over to Brother Gudmanson, who up till now had just hung out with them, and he said, "You know, if it weren't for one thing, I think I could join your church. I just can't get over that you have to be part of a church to get into heaven."
"Everyone will be saved, but if you want to live with God Himself, there are some things that He's asked us to do."
"Well, that makes sense, but if I could just get over that one thing..."
More walls to fell yet.

Stick pull fun!
I have started doing the stick pull in the preshow. Jared taught me a trick. You just stick your legs out straight right away and the opponent can't pull you up, something he then used on me to wallop me. I faced some high schoolers the next day and I used it on them. They were large football player types. I'm just a scrawny lurpy tall thing. But some friends I met some nights before encouraged me to go play, and then I saw the football players. I thought I was sunk. But I kicked out my legs and no one could heft me. They pulled and pulled and grunted and gave me dirty looks but they couldn't pull me. I couldn't pull them either, but my grip held on longer and they eventually let go. I was 3-0. Not bad! I'm not used to doing so well in stuff like that, so I have to write this down.

So that's the basic goings-on. As significant events come up I'll write more stories like those above. Melinda is good to me. Last night she writes, "Sleep well, dearest. And thanks. For everything that you are!" Well, how can I not be full of joy to be spreading the gospel in the company of a friend like her.