Tales From The Yellow Brick Road

8:02pm - Well it’s a few minutes before round two! We’re back in the green room putting the finishing touches on everything. There’s a rumor that John MacArthur will be here tonight… YIKES! Anyways, time to prepare and get the energy going.

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8:30pm - First Act is almost over! Here is a picture of Lady Bracknell giving Mr. Worthing the third degree…

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9:06pm - THAT WAS AWESOME! I got a big laugh and slight applause on my first entrance! They are never ready for my ridiculousness! It so cool to hear people laughing and enjoying themselves. I have some down time before my next section so I’ll see if I can get some research done for a project.

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9:53pm - Another great night! This crowd was the best ever! They laughed at parts that the last night’s audience missed! I found out we had about 15 seats left which is still almost a sold out crowd. Well I am going to get some much needed sleep… got two shows tomorrow and I gotta keep the energy up!

7:48pm - Well it’s a little less than 20 minutes before the play begins. The doors opened 11 minutes ago. From what I’ve heard, people have been out there since 7pm. I’m in the green room. Makeup is still being applied, hair is being sprayed and there is an air of excitement.We had a close call earlier today. Dr. Jones, who plays Lane the Butler in the first act, is a professor in the science department and today in a lab something exploded on him and hit him in the eye. Fortunately, he was able to flush it out right away and his vision is not affected.

Well gotta go… time for company call… I’m going to be sharing a verse tonight.

36For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.
-Romans 11:36

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8:09pm - It’s On! Professor Horner is doing the intro!

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8:42pm - Intermission! The crowd was eating it up. I’m not in the first act and I can’t wait to get out there!

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9:11pm - My first section went well! I have a long break and then my ridiculous part begins!

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9:24pm - Getting ready to go on for the second part. The audience is NOT ready for this!!! I’m on for the rest of the play so I’ll give you the wrap up once it’s all over.

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10:30pm - Wow! What a great first night! I found out that we only had six seats left at the end of the night! What a great way to start this series of performances. Our Director was so happy and so proud of us. A lot of the guys on my wing came tonight. It was great to feel so supported. Several of my professors came up to me afterwards to let me know that they had a great time seeing me make a complete fool out of myself… even more of a fool than usual that is!

After a 10 year absence from the theater I am once again in a play.

The Importance Of Being Earnest was written by Oscar Wilde and has been made into several movie versions. It is a pretty funny play and I am lucky enough to have a minor role. I am playing Dr. Canon Chasuble, a priest who’s interests lie not just in studying the Good Book but in the fair haired Miss Laetitia Prism.

I have had so much fun preparing for this role and working alongside some very talented actors. Our Director, Tricia Hulet, is (to use one of her words) fabulous! Not only have I had the opportunity to play a part, but I’ve also been helping out with the graphic design as well. I made the above poster and will be helping out with the program as well.

If you’re in the Santa Clarita area, and would like to see the play, call the number on the poster above and order your tickets soon!

The Bucket List (2007)
Writer: Justin Zackham
Director: Rob Reiner

The media of film has been called the modern day pulpit. Thousands of people spend hundreds of dollars each year to see films that communicate everything from moral and social change to family values and spiritual ideals. Here Cliff Ames Jr. and his friends discuss their take on films of the past, present and possibly the future. Welcome to an new/old* feature called Theology And Film.

A few weekends ago my family and I ventured out and saw a movie together in the theater. If you know anything about me and my family this is not something that is a regular occurrence. In fact the last time we went to the theater as a family we saw My Big Fat Greek Wedding back in 2002! At any rate with all that our family has been through lately we’ve decided to go to the theater once every three months to enjoy a film together. That being said here is my review…

The Premise

Two hospital roommates, diagnosed with terminal cancer, are given a short time to live. Edward Cole (Jack Nicholson) is a semi-eccentric billionaire while his roommate Carter Chambers (Morgan Freeman) is a mechanic. Carter devises a list of things he wants to do before he kicks the bucket and Edward enables them to happen as they both embark upon a journey that will prove to open their hearts to what true life really is.

Technical Merit

Technically this film is well put together. Although there’s no complicated or fancy artistic lighting theme or motif to speak of, it works. As far as the various special effects shots I would have liked to have seen some better compositing especially in the pyramid scene. The actual location shots were good and had some grandness and majesty that was needed to convey the environment they were in. The overall cinematography was nothing ground breaking but allowed the view to feel connected to the characters without intruding.

Performances

Of course with Morgan Freeman you know what to expect. A strong character with a therapists point of view on life. Instead of stating the facts he asks questions and this character in particular is very similar to Cliff from Cheers with his “little known fact” motif. A bit contrived at times in order to move the story along and get through exposition, and it could have been better connected to who he was. Then there’s Jack Nicholson… I never know what to expect from him and sometimes it’s downright dangerous to go to one of his films because I have no clue where’s he going to take the character. He spends the majority of the movie in his usual self-righteous over confident skin but something very shocking happened toward the end of the movie… he became vulnerable and emotional in a way I’ve never seen him before in any other movie. Frankly, it was pleasantly surprising. I think the supporting cast held their own considering the star power they were up against.

Theology

At about 45 minutes into the movie Carter and Edward have an awesome spiritual conversation on an airplane. It may not have reflected the views of either the writer or the director but I know for certain that there was nothing ambiguos about the outcome of the conversation. I won’t give it away… you’re just going to have to see it. Spirituality and facing death are definatly themes that run strong throughout the whole film so in that way this is a very strong film.

Morality

The language used in this movie is mostly gratuitous and so you’ll need to have a strong conscience in that area. I could blame it on Jack Nicholson but I’m sure the writer and the director could have their say if they wanted. There is no nudity but there is some sexual innuendo. As far as other moral messages in the movie I may need a second pass to find the less obvious ones but for the most part, the characters that make poor moral choices are not portrayed in a positive way and characters that face temptation and resist are not portrayed in a negative way.

Final Thoughts

Over all I really enjoyed watching this film. It was funny on many different levels but it was also serious when it needed to be. I think if this subject had been taken to seriously we would have ended up with a Lifetime movie of the week. With my Mom’s illness this movie hit really close to home for us. It helped us all to take a comedic and serious look at living life with an eternal perspective.

*It use to be a podcast but is now an online feature of this blog.

Since we first found out in October of 2006 that my Mom had been diagnosed with Stage 4 Ovarian Cancer our family has been through some tough days. Today was probably the toughest yet. As some of you know we found out last week that the Cancer has been spreading again and resisting the latest treatment. Today my Mom’s oncologist had to tell us what we never wanted to hear. Essentially, there is only one other chemo option left before her quality of life on the chemo would be worse than living with the cancer. The Doctor told us that with the way things are going he expects that my Mom may only have 6 months to a year left here on earth. He was very honest and told us that he doesn’t like to tell his patients things like that because “no one knows the future” but he thought it best to warn us as a family to be prepared. This of course is not the news we wanted to hear, rather it is the news we knew might happen someday.

Over the next few weeks as my Mom transitions to this “last” option we will need your prayers, we will need your support and most of all we will need the Lord’s guidance and peace. Hopefully in the next few weeks we’ll be setting up a website that will be updated regularly by our family and will be able to keep you posted on how things are going. As soon as it’s ready I’ll let you know.

I want to close with one last thought. In 1 Samuel 7 the prophet Samuel has called the Israelites back to the Lord after they had been disobedient. Despite the bad circumstances and the bleak outlook for the future Samuel does something incredible.

“Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen and called its name Ebenezer; for he said, ‘ ‘Till now the LORD has helped us.’”
- 1 Samuel 7:12 (ESV)

Although my Mom’s illness is not God’s punishment for sin, nor is it consequences of sinful behavior, our broken messy world and our frail earthly bodies are all subject to the consequences of the fall in the garden. Thank God for His Son Jesus Christ, who was sent to put enmity between us and the Accuser, to pay for our sin, to Rise again, conquering over death Hell and the grave, and to Ascend into Heaven so we know that our eternal hope is secure.

God has brought us this far, He is not going to let us go.

Here I raise my Ebenezer;
Here by Thy great help I’ve come;
And I hope, by Thy good pleasure,
Safely to arrive at home.