Two prayers of my heart from twenty years ago were answered!
I play James Smith, an historical abolitionist, in Henry Box Brown, a musical that tells the story of a slave who ships himself in a box from Richmond, Virginia, to Philadelphia and freedom in 1849.
Though it's not one of my one-man plays, this musical is answering my prayer of two decades, because we'll be performing at CCC three times:
February 11, 8 AM and 10:30 AMHope you can see this miraculous production online!
20-minute version
Directions at www.CCCInfo.org, where you can live-stream the 10:30 AM Eastern service.
February 14, 7 PM
20-minute version streamed
www.CCCInfo.org
Feb 15, 10-1pm
Full musical
Click here to register (first come first registered)
February 17, 6 PM
20-minute version streamed
www.CCCInfo.org
The other 2-decade-old prayer that was answered was working with Tony Award-winner, Ben Harney. He wrote a sketch in which I played Jesus for the Easter Parade on Fifth Avenue, Manhattan, in the mid-90s. My prayer to work with him was answered, as he stepped in as director.
The performances went miraculously well! Though Joyce had already seen it five times, she got up at 3:30 am, after going to bed after midnight, to be an on-site intercessor for our performance for students. She prayed over all 3,000 chairs, and the students, representing more than a dozen public schools were remarkably well-behaved. The Q and A was rich, deep and long! I pointed out that Scripture was used to support slavery, but slavery was mentioned in Scripture because it was a man-made institution that needed to be addressed. God commanded in Exodus 21:2, "In the seventh year your slave shall go free." When I said, "The Lord never intended for the lifelong ownership of a fellow human being," they burst into applause! It may have been the first time some of them heard that Scripture.
The Geneva gown I'm wearing in this photo was my grandfather's PhD robe. During the Reformation Protestants refrained from wearing liturgical garments, and since most of them were scholars they wore their scholarly robes, which turned into the liturgical garments of the Protestant clergy.
Grandpa was a pastor, missionary, and history professor. He's one of the people who inspired me to do historical plays that have ministered in 29 nations so far: www.CliffMillerPhD.Blogspot.com.
As Trevor the Treasure Seeker I answer some of the questions raised by some of the children in our cast:
https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZyC5o9M8FbE
You can see my Facebook Live announcement by clicking here.
Another reason I'm excited to be a part of Henry Box Brown is that I've been performing my own one-man play about an abolitionist since 1995. A Clear Leading tells the story of John Woolman, a Quaker who spoke against slavery a century before our Civil War.
The performances went miraculously well! Though Joyce had already seen it five times, she got up at 3:30 am, after going to bed after midnight, to be an on-site intercessor for our performance for students. She prayed over all 3,000 chairs, and the students, representing more than a dozen public schools were remarkably well-behaved. The Q and A was rich, deep and long! I pointed out that Scripture was used to support slavery, but slavery was mentioned in Scripture because it was a man-made institution that needed to be addressed. God commanded in Exodus 21:2, "In the seventh year your slave shall go free." When I said, "The Lord never intended for the lifelong ownership of a fellow human being," they burst into applause! It may have been the first time some of them heard that Scripture.
Grandpa was a pastor, missionary, and history professor. He's one of the people who inspired me to do historical plays that have ministered in 29 nations so far: www.CliffMillerPhD.Blogspot.com.
As Trevor the Treasure Seeker I answer some of the questions raised by some of the children in our cast:
https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZyC5o9M8FbE
