LOVE BEYOND - a New Musical

Our few days away last weekend was very special. The show and our hotel etc., but for this post I am concentrating on  the show

A musical telling the story from Genesis to Revelation. It was written and produced by one of our local church worship leaders who we know, and at the end I will include his story of how it came into being. Inspirational.

Report from the Brighton Argus newspaper

New stage musical Love Beyond, performed to an almost full house at the Brighton Centre on Sunday, received rapturous applause and cheers from the audience.

Written by Richard Haley and directed by Brighton resident Israel Oyelumade, Love Beyond tells the story of the Bible, from God’s creation of Adam and Eve,  through to the to the resurrection of Jesus Christ – the theme of love running throughout.

The musical score and lyrics were powerful and, paired with stunning vocal performances from the ensemble cast, goose bumps were guaranteed. Love Beyond managed to be simultaneously emotional and uplifting.

The acting was enchanting, sincere and dramatic. When Adam and Eve surrendered to temptation and ate the apple, the atmosphere in the venue could have been cut with a knife.

A large LED display was used throughout the show and made a big visual impact, featuring graphics such as stars and flying birds. Other than this the set was minimal, with just two raised areas, meaning there was no distraction from the drama.

Standout performances included The Voice 2012 contestant J Marie Cooper, who was mesmerising as Mary Magdalene. Jesus, played by Simon Shorten, who has previously played Jean Valjean in the West End version of Les Misérables, and God, played by Kevin Jones, both displayed excellent range, power and vocal technique.

The choreography was simple but effective, executed enthusiastically and in perfect unison.

A highlight of the evening was the appearance of baby Jesus, played by a particularly cute baby who was welcomed with a squeal of delight from the audience.

Far from preaching, Love Beyond successfully combined entertainment and accessibility, telling its story simply and beautifully and ensuring that the audience left the Brighton Centre with smiles on their faces.

 I booked in March so we had great seats right in the centre in front of the steps down from the stage into the auditorium 

Although the above newspaper report is excellent there was more to the show than mentioned here. It began with creation which was very cleverly done and moved onto the creation of Adam and Eve, followed by the temptation  in the garden and the subsequent fall of man.

It continued with the consequences of that through to the birth of Jesus, his life, his miracles and teaching to his crucifixion and resurrection, culminating in the wedding of all time when He sees his Bride.

The acting, music and singing was exceptional, some of the cast having played lead parts in the West End in shows like Les Miserables and Phantom of the Opera. All the cast being Christians keen to share their faith in this way.

So a few random photos to give you a taste.

God pleased with His creation

Adam and Eve in the garden

Eve being tempted with God in the background

Satan offering the apple

Eve's distress and despair having taken it

The depiction of the Fall was electrifying

part of the chaos that ensued

and the enmity between man 

Jesus is born

and grows a little

and becomes a boy

Satan tempting and sneering at the believers

the man Jesus healing the blind woman

the celebrations afterwards

Mary singing at the crucifixion

had to be seen and heard - beyond words

The crucifixion scene (although a cross was not used) was so emotional and the whipping of Jesus made me wince and gasp

This was down to a great sound team that had the acting and sound so synchronised that is seemed real 

Mary Magdalene at the tomb having previously met with Jesus and distraught that Jesus is behind the stone and not her

Again an outstanding performance

the coming of the Holy Spirit depicted in the most sensitive and moving dance

Jesus sees His Bride along with His Father and The Holy Spirit 

Tabitha Webb taking the production into its finale

Tabitha played Christine in Phantom and Cosette in the film of Les Miserables and has many other parts to her name. She did not take a lead part in this show as she was assistant producer 

The orchestra were all professional musicians

Just a taster of a wonderful show

The three faces of Jesus

and Richard during rehearsals

Insights into the personal journeys of the Love Beyond team

Richard Hayley, the man behind the Love Beyond concept, has a unique blend of technical and creative expertise. On one hand, a musician by passion – happy to improvise. On the other, a design engineer by training – driven to seek logical solutions to technical problems. But in Love Beyond he is finding an outlet for these diverse disciplines.

Following a lifelong fascination with how things worked and how they might be improved, Richard found himself, aged just 26, managing a vehicle design consultancy. By 32 he has completed many successful design programmes for clients such as Rolls Royce, Jaguar and Ford. Several years on and Richard had joined forces with an American company and worked on defence vehicle programmes all around the world.

Despite this success, however, another passion was stirring inside him, competing to find expression – the desire to make and write music.

Richard had always been a fan of progressive rock and in particular the concept albums of the 70s, such as Rick Wakeman’s Journey to the Centre of the Earth and Jeff Wayne’s War of the Worlds. So as soon as he was earning a wage he was investing in the latest synths and keyboards. As a self-confessed ‘geek’ this gave him the opportunity to tinker and make music at the same time!

Having become a Christian in the early 1980s the idea began to form that one day Richard would pull together a musical concept piece on a similar scale to the albums he had enjoyed in the past. One day he sat down and wrote a piece of music that took the biblical Creation story as its theme. A friend heard it and commented that it sounded like musical theatre. The seed of something had been sown…

For a long time Love Beyond was just a dream. But gradually, the dream, ideas and scraps of music-staved paper began to come together to form something of substance.

The journey begins
A meeting with West End actress and singer Tabitha Webb nudged things forward and the dream began to take shape. Creative Director, Israel Oyelumade (accomplished film and TV actor turned director) added another vital dimension, as did the addition of talented arranger/producer Robbie Webb.

Since then Richard has been amazed by the wealth of talent that has joined forces to form the Love Beyond creative team and cast – West End stars and world class musicians. At the time of writing the national premiere at the Brighton Centre is just a few weeks away. And the momentum for a national tour in 2014 continues to build. Richard’s technical and creative skills are being put to full use as he oversees and guides this unique project, which is sure to be a momentous event.

Autumn Roses and an exciting Venture

Blue skies make everything look different

The above photographs taken at the beginning of the week

and this is how the garden looks today (Friday)

A drop in temperature from Tuesday 68f to 41f this coming weekend and looking outside we have gales and torrential rain

Sunday will see us down on the South Coast in Brighton for a couple of nights.

Going primarily to see the premier of a great new musical called

Love Beyond 

written and produced by one of our local worship leaders who we know, and starring lead singers from West End shows like Les Miserables, Phantom of the Opera and Chess who are all committed Christians sold out to sharing the gospel in this medium

It is the story of God's love and salvation from Genesis to Revelation

The vision is to take it around the country and to the West End

From all the promotional clips I have seen I had better be stocked up on tissues

Our hotel is right on the seafront and it is going to be cold and windy but dry so some good walks anticipated

On the home front this is what is left of the large central shrub area in the garden. All grassed over and getting the ground prepared for the new roses late November

a lot less work for the future

After a Summer holiday, day trips, weekends away, conferences and Grand children I am quite looking forward to getting back to some routine after this weekend

Having said that it may not be until after our school Autumn Fair  next weekend

One of the tasks I have been given is to make a Scarecrow!

Last Week's Conference

Last week's weekend conference, Understanding The Times,  was inspiring and thought provoking
 and the guest speakers came from as far afield as San Diego, Toronto and Scotland
Our English speaker was a barrister and founder of Christian Concern so she is able to represent in court the people who are being persecuted for their faith

All sessions began with a time of worship

The gentleman on the left is our local Member of Parliament who we have a close connection with. Members of our church initiated the local Conservative Christian Fellowship in order to have a Christian voice in our town council with one of our members standing for election at the next poll

The weather was good so when I was enjoying the fresh air, complete with my i-pad, decided to take a couple of photos.

Here we see the front garden of the building which is our school and also serves as our church meeting place

Looking across the road (behind the hedge) at the fields opposite and beyond our local country park

House Church Weekend Away

Revisiting our recent house church weekend away for this post

We met in these lovely oast houses in East Sussex

I have been here before so I knew what to expect

a great Christian Retreat Centre

Hops were grown throughout the area some decades ago and the oast houses were where the hops were dried.

The funnels at the top swing round (like a weather vane) to catch the direction of the wind

With modern technology these oasts  are now not needed so they are dotted around Kent and East Sussex and used for many different purposes 

Our lovely meeting area

see two of the oasts in the background

These two were used as bedrooms.

The door above is where the hops would have been poured in

The doors into the dining room

swimming pool

a better view of the oasts here

you can see how they have been joined together to form the current accommodation

the other side of the dining room

'chilling out'

Below is a copy of a report that I wrote for our church website

Mid-September found our house church enjoying another weekend away together, this time in the beautiful Oast House in Northiam, East Sussex, with an expectancy of further deepening our relationship with God and each other.

We were blessed in every way with very tasteful and comfortable accommodation in a converted oast house, with more than enough excellent food and great hospitality in a peaceful and restful location. For those who took advantage, I must not forget the heated indoor swimming pool and tennis courts.

As in the past, Friday evening was a time of settling in and relaxing together. These times are important as everyone unwinds after a busy week and gives opportunity for quality time in each other’s company. Saturday morning and evening were times of worship, prayer and sharing while the afternoon was set aside for folk to rest, swim, walk or visit further afield as they wished.

As seems to be the norm, on Sunday morning the pace seems to intensify as everyone is aware that we are nearing the end of our stay. We had a great time of encouraging each other in our various gifting’s and speaking words over each other’s lives.

Our leader Peter shared on the subject of ‘Hope and Joy’ Romans 15:13 and Hebrews 6:19, leaving us with the following questions, the call on our lives being to welcome Jesus into all situations:

1.       What affects our Hope?

2.       What do we believe about God?

3.       Do we really believe who we are in Christ?

4.       How do we see others? Are we honouring and encouraging each other?

5.       What do we believe about our circumstances?

6.       Are we going to live life as over comers as hopelessness is not from God?

As our time drew to a close, the same subject (freedom) came up as it did at the end of our last weekend away together last year.

I personally questioned in my heart why this subject was coming up again, were we not living in freedom? We certainly have moved on in a measure of freedom but the fear of man still hangs around. 

It led me to thinking, what is freedom, believing that is was something we all need to seek God about. As with everything freedom misused has it’s dire consequences. It does not give us permission to just do what we like, when we like. However real freedom, in and under Christ, is liberating for ourselves and others.

So to wrap up, freedom is not just doing what we like but knowing that we are free in Christ to hear God’s voice and do the things that He wants to do through us as he empowers us with His Spirit.

Being one of the last to leave the building it was a real privilege and honour to have the opportunity to pray for those that run the centre and seeing how pleased and grateful they were, as were we when they prayed for us before our first meal together.

The Mermaid Inn, Rye (Pt. 1), East Sussex

I have a reason for pushing this post to the front of the pile

During our recent couple of nights away after our house church weekend, we spent the day in Rye and met a delightful couple from the U.S.A.

They liked the idea of being on my blog so that they could show the photos to friends back home

Rye is a quaint medieval town and a delight to walk around. I will be sharing it with you in future posts

For this post we are going to be concentrating on The Mermaid Inn

Note it was re-built in 1420

Having walked around we decided to have lunch in the inn

Not the restaurant, but the Smugglers Snug almost under the fireplace

This door in the corner leads to what was a secret passage

Alan ordering and note the Hops hanging from  the ceiling

We are now right inside the fireplace and the gaping hole half way up was a priests hiding place

I am just showing pictures randomly as I wandered round waiting for our order

The entrance hall with picture gallery of famous people over the years

The inner courtyard

The Mermaid is a hotel too and here we see one of the staircases

See the ancient clock on the left

Before we arrived we had decided to order fish and chips for lunch.

The greatest crispy batter and succulent Haddock, caught today

accompanied with a pot of Mushy Peas dressed with herbs, a very delicious Caper Sauce and half a Lemon tied up in muslin with a pretty bow

The special paper that lines the basket takes one back to childhood when fish and chips were served in the fish and chip shops wrapped in newspaper (a greaseproof paper around the food)

Now this is Bruce & Becky Milne from Wisconsin with whom we shared a pleasant hour or so

Hi! Bruce and Becky - nice to see you again!

The infinity mirror in the ladies room

The restaurant now closed till evening

Photographs of some of the famous people who have stayed here 

Now the Queen Mother who would not have stayed here because of security did make a visit and other members of the Royal Family

The Silver cabinet

Hope you enjoyed your visit. The fish and chips were delicious, the chips so crisp on the outside and soft on the inside

Hosting a conference at church this weekend so will be away from computer for a few days.

http://www.christianspectrum.org.uk/

for anyone interested