April 18, 1991
Warren Gerds
Her musicals have a message
Last show’s success spurs Sieber; ‘He is Risen!’ opens tonight/D-1
Last year at this time, Wanda Sieber was thinking she would “absolutely not” take on another musical soon.
What Think Ye of Christ? was about to be launched at The Church of Latter-day Saints’ meetinghouse.
The
Sieber composed the music, then turned to a computer to put down the notes and produce a soundtrack. Sieber and others also made individual vocal tracks to help singers learn their parts.
Two performances were 10 seats short of capacity. People were please.
“We had good support from the cast, church members both locally and in the area and also from the community,” Sieber said in the joyful manner that marks her conversation.
“There were lots of people that…I don’t know where they came from. It was really heartening.”
A day after the final performance… “The applause was fresh in our minds so, ‘OK, let’s do this again.’” Sieber said, chuckling.
Four days later, Sieber, 28, completed the first song for a new musical, He is Risen!, which opens tonight.
“This is very much on the same recipe,” she said of the 10-song production. “Last year was from birth to resurrection, the story told through eyes of others. Christ never appeared. A narrator tied it together using, for the most part, the King James Version of the Bible.
“This year begins with the resurrection – same day, Easter morning – told through the eyes of others. Lots of apostle work. This is the 40 days between the resurrection and ascension. Lots of angels.”
This musical is more up tempo than the first one Sieber said.
I just love to write gospel songs – oooh, OOOh,” she said, enthusiastically.
The hourlong He
is Risen! will be performed
three times this weekend in
Sieber and Co.’s efforts have caught the attention of church headquarters.
“Last year,
we had to have angels come and drop money in our laps, which was really nice
and a faith-promoting experience in itself,” she said.
“But this year we submitted a request for approval of funds to
The reply: “Yes.”
“It’s nice to actually have a budget, goll-eee,” Sieber said.
The message of
the musical aside,
“Our main
objective here – although having fun and having a great activity are
part of it – is to raise the awareness of the church, that people know
we are Christians, we are in
Mormon doctrine is not emphasized in the play, she said.
“I’m writing shows that a majority of Christian people in the area would enjoy, and even if people aren’t real religious, they would still enjoy it because it’s well done,” she said.
As in last year’s play, He is Risen! has cast members singing over a computerized instrumental music track.
The musical includes
two large numbers, He is Risen and Praise the Lord.
Ballads range from the opening Hold That Child to the closing Where
is Jesus Now?
For Hold That Child, many mothers will appear with infants, including a newborn. The babies are all – Sieber laughingly pointed out – capable of crying heartily.
“When I told the bishop about this (scene), he said, ‘You like to fly close to the trees, don’t you?’”
“I felt during the whole creation of the show like I had a big cloud over my head. I thought, ‘As soon as I get this written, maybe this will go away.’ So I finished (composing) the last song and, ‘Ya-hoo, my cloud is gone, it’s done, it’s done, it’s done.’
“And then I got the feeling of, ‘Uh, now I’ve got to notate it,’ and I had another cloud for notation. And that was done, and then there was another cloud for recording it. As soon as that was done, producing it.”
Sieber is already writing a musical for next year. Two songs are done.
“I just love this,” she said. “This is the best talent in the world to have.”
What:
He is Risen!, original musical by Wanda
Sieber of
When and where:
7 p.m. today – Saturday at The Church of Latter-day Saints First
Ward meetinghouse,
Admission: Free