Ambitious
musical debuts at area church
Posted
Mar. 05, 2005
By
Warren Gerds
wgerds@greenbaypressgazette.com
It’s
not every church that puts on an original, 16-song musical written by a member
who uses a computer to compose as well as to serve as the foundation for a
cast recording.
The
12-congregation Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in
“Hidden
Treasures: A Musical Revue of the Parables of Jesus Christ” will be
presented starting Wednesday by a church and community cast of 12 soloists,
a large angel choir, one child soloist and 100 children.
One
of the people surprised at the scale and complexity is cast member Tasha Fischer,
20, of Ashwaubenon. A newcomer to the area, she’s been in musicals in
the past.
“When
a stake in that area would put on musicals, it usually wasn’t something
that was original,” she said. “This is a new experience that I’m
very impressed with.”
Written
by Wanda Sieber of
Sieber
completely re-orchestrated “Hidden Treasures.” It includes pop,
gospel, jazz and rap music. Sieber uses 26 types of instrument, including
specialty percussion sounds.
“I
love the harmonies — very crunchy, very jazz-oriented harmonies,”
said cast member Lynna Burton, 58, of Howard. “I find them incredibly
fun to do.”
“I
like the fact that it is really wholesome family entertainment that anybody
could bring their child to,” Lynna Burton said.
Bruce
Burton has sung in the Green Bay Chamber Choir and Pamiro Opera’s chorus.
“Hidden Treasures” requires ensemble teamwork of a different kind.
“At
any given time, we may be a soloist or part of a chorus or maybe a silent
actor — or maybe a goat,” Bruce Burton said.
The
cast generally wears modern clothing.
“We
kind of breeze through 12 parables that are highlighted,” Sieber said.
“Some parables take more than one song … Sometimes we sing through
the parable or sometimes we act the parable and sing the explanation.”
James
Marker, 49, of
“It
struck me that the core talent is comparable in all of them,” Marker
said.
He’s
among the people who like where the show goes.
“We
want to present a kind of inspirational message that will leave people with
a smile and feeling like they’ve had a pleasant evening,” Marker
said. “I think we will do it. We’ve done it in the past.”
Many
performances in the previous production played to a full house. Sieber chatted
with audience members to see what they liked.
“By
the time the run was done, every song had been picked as, ‘Oh, that
one’s my favorite,’” Sieber said.
“It
seems there’s something that resonates with everyone. Sometimes its
on the level of ‘Gosh, that was funny. Can you believe that?’
That would be our ‘Judge Bad Rap’ parable.
“Other
times when they leave, they’ve been crying. We have excellent source
material, so we’re way ahead of the game.”
It’s
been a while for a Sieber show. She set composing aside for eight years, in
part because of she and her husband, Bill, have six children and in part because
Bill was ordained as bishop of a congregation.
“Hidden
Treasures” also has a cast CD. Sieber created one based on requests
from previous shows. CDs will be available for purchase after performances
at Storheim’s Frozen Custard,
If
you go
•
What: “Hidden
Treasures: A Musical Revue of the Parables of Jesus Christ”
•
When: 7 p.m.
Wednesday-March 12, 16-19, plus 2 p.m. March 12
•
Where: The Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,
•
Admission: Free,
but reservations requested. (920) 434-2010 or e-mail to ticketconfirmation@hotmail.com
•
Note: Live translation
is available into American Sign Language, Spanish and Hmong