Auditions were held on Thursday, June 19th, 2008, and rehearsals soon began.
We rehearsed each Tuesday and Thursday evening for 4 weeks.
We worked a lot on learning actions for the songs.
Everyone was involved with the actions, for it really helped draw the audience in.
There were solos to assign - Katie did a beautiful job,
as did Jubilee,
Mr. Kevin, and each of the other singing/speaking characters.
Jesse probably had the longest one, and he did wonderfully!
Mr. Rob made a wonderful Josephus, the famous historian who doubled as the narrator for the story.
There were a lot of props to make, including many scrolls made by the Pace family.
The Scribe had a lot of work to do! =)
The Page delighted in finding new words to memorize the definitions of. =)
The General had to work on developing a "tough" voice and manner.
Jehoshaphat was a wise and loving king.
The Levites had fun acting high-and-mighty!
Mr. Kevin had to practice being quite rotund! :-)
We had to figure out who would get which flag or instrument, where they would stand, and how they would enter.
It was fun involving the entire family, including mothers and small children!
They did a great job, and added a good dimension as the townspeople of Judah.
Some scenes quickly became favorites,
especially the running scene!
We just had to make sure no one got trampled in the excitement!
We had to work on speaking loud and with good expression, standing in such a way so that the audience could see well.
We also had to work on standing at attention!
We worked with a wide range of ages, from 5-year-old choir girls, to 6-year-old soldiers, to those in their teens, to some adults!
We had fun with the dramatics, being able to over-exaggerate the funny parts!
There was quite a long line to march or skip down the aisles!
The army had to work on marching in step. It was hard, but Mr. Rob drilled them into disciplined soldiers!
The whole musical was about the power of prayer.
It was a lot of fun to work together!
The army liked their swords. =) I had to make sure they didn't fight with and break them, though! As a cast present, they got to keep them at the end.
Costumes added another dimension, helping everyone feel truly like their character.
The king had to get used to his big belly when he was the fat Jehoshaphat!
He just barely fit into the throne!
Josephus was quite the scholarly type!
Mr. Rob played the part very well.
Each group enjoyed acting together! There were special parts to define each one.
The soldiers had to work hard at paying attention and not messing around.
The Page had to play the "know-it-all" type.
The Chief Priest had to maintain the proud look the entire time.
"He's fat fat Jehoshaphat, what a good good king is he... 'Cause fat fat Jehoshaphat loves the Lord!"
Each group had their own special stance, from the choir,
to the Levites,
to the army.
"What do we say? He's J-E-H-O-S-H-A-P-H-A-T!" Pom-poms added a fun part to the choir director's cheer!
"Yeah... Jehoshaphat!"
"Let's not say it again, let's sing it! One, two, three, four!"
David, who played the messenger, did a great job!
The messenger had to run quickly to deliver his terrible news
"A great army is coming against you from beyond the sea!" *the choir screams in terror, the Levites discuss the matter, and the army rejoices*
"The Meunites? Now that's a different story! Quick everyone, run for your lives!"
"First you pray, the second you see a problem come your way. Most of the time its last on your mind, but first you need to pray."
The big belly came in useful as a desk for the king to write his proclamations! =)
"Hear ye, hear ye! A proclamation from King Jehoshaphat!"
"We are fast-asking, we need an answer please, we're staying on our knees seeking in the Lord"
"We are fast-asking. We realize, we've gotta keep our minds on Him"
"It's so hard to concentrate when food is everywhere, but we've got a prayer that must be heard..."
Everyone had to stay in character as they prayed.
The Page had some great expressions!
It's the flat Jehoshaphat! He lost a lot of weight while fasting and praying.
The priests are interrupted from their high-and-mighty prayer.
"God doesn't want you to pray from your mind, but from your heart. He doesn't care how smart you are, just how sincere you are."
God wants you to pray using simple but sincere words
like "I love You. I need You. I trust You Lord."
Everyone gathered together to pray.
"People came from all over Judah to ask God for help."
"Suddenly the spirit of the Lord came upon one of the men standing there."
"The Lord Says..." "Yes? Come on Jahaziel, tell us what He said!"
"Don't be afraid, for the battle is not yours but it's God's."
Everyone joined in!
It was hard to get everyone to step-touch in sync, but it looked really neat!
"Soldiers will you fall in line?"
"Yes sir, we will fall in line!"
"Now the singers move out front." "Now the singers move out - what?"
The sissy singers led the way, singing praise to God. They skipped out with the choir director leading them in "hup, two, three, four!"
The Levites stayed home, praying for God's protection and victory.
The Page took the extra time to practice up on new definitions.
The Scribe caught up on documenting what had happened.
She also made sure the calender got turned to the right day.
Josephus told about the battle, where the Ammonites, Moabites, and Meunites fought against and killed each other!
Everyone came back to Jerusalem, singing praises to God!
"Give thanks to God for all He has done! Our hearts overrun with praise! Give thanks to God, for His love will last from age to endless age."
Some things still needed to be directed even at dress rehearsals.
"Problems aren't problems when you pray. They become the way God can show His love for you."
We had great help behind the scenes! One of the dads ran the lights,
and my dad ran the sound. We couldn't have done it without their help!
