Two performances only!
Wednesday, May 14, 6:00pm at the Blakeford
Sunday, May 18, during the 10:30am worship service
From idea to ark: The making of a musical
If you ask four young people and two adults, “How in the world did you decide to write a children’s musical about Noah in just seven months?” you’ll get a variety of answers! Here are in-depth interviews with the composers, producers, and dreamers behind the project. As one child put it, “When you share your different ideas and compromise, you can add to each other’s ideas to create something more amazing than you could alone.”
Amy Cooper
The idea of creating a musical came about because one of the children in the Chapel Choir came to me with the idea of writing a musical. Soon, the other three children heard about it and wanted to join.
I am honored that they cared so much about writing the musical that they were willing to show up at an 8:00am breakfast brainstorm and take time out of a Saturday to meet for lunch and more planning. They had ideas, characters in mind, and even a couple of tunes in their heads that Amanda and I used to create the songs. Amanda tirelessly worked on the accompaniment, as well as the vocals and lyrics. She and I wrote many of the songs, and some she wrote solo. She propelled us forward, knowing that three of the four children would be graduating in May and would be going to the youth choir.
The song from The NOAH Musical that I’m partial to would be “God Is Faithful Still.”I feel like God uses the story of Noah to demonstrate faithfulness on both the part of Noah and his family as well as God’s love for us.
Amanda Dembiec
Amy came to me in the fall and said that four of the kids in Chapel Choir wanted to do a musical this year and they wanted to write it – with our help, of course. I honestly hadn’t done anything this big before – or this fast – so I wasn’t sure we would be able to pull it off at the beginning, but I’m pretty happy with how it came out. The kids chose to do the story of Noah, and they really wanted to focus on being kind…and I think they wanted to do something fun with the animals. For me, Amy said we could do a glitter rainbow, and I was so in!
I have been involved with church choirs since I was the kids’ age and can’t ever remember a time where we wrote, staged, and performed a musical. I think this is a very rare feat we are trying to accomplish, but the kids were so excited about this possibility that I wanted to do everything in my power to make it happen for them. They will always have that moment to say, “Remember when we created NOAH?” and hopefully that will give them the confidence to be as creative and determined as they move throughout the rest of their choir careers and their lives in general.
My absolute favorite line in the musical comes at the end of “What’s a Cubit?” when the character of Ham says, “What’s a dictionary?” That said, I think my favorite songs are “Bad Days” and “God Is Faithful Still”. Those are the ones that stay with me, and I find myself humming at weird times. I also enjoy Chores – I’ve never seen kids be more excited about chores!
I have two pieces of advice for other kids who might want to do something like this. First, I would say be brave and jump in. Just because something is a lot of work, doesn’t mean it’s not worth doing. Take that first step and see where it goes. And second, find adults that can help make it happen. The idea to do NOAH came from the kids, as did several of the songs, but the final project was definitely a group effort with Ms. Amy, Ms. Brittany, Ms. Katie, Ms. Donna, Ms. Jennifer, Mr. Larry, myself, and the parents contributing our gifts as well. It might be trite, but team work really does make the dream work.
Elliott
The idea for creating a musical came about because Mrs. Cooper said, “I think we should do another musical,” and so we decided to do it. We thought Moses or Noah would be good stories so we all researched which story would be best. We thought about how many characters each story would have, which story line was clearer, and how it would progress. We used this information, along with the skills and talents that each one of us could bring, and decided that Noah was the better option.
It’s fun to be part of creating this musical; it’s something that other churches should be doing. Having this opportunity is really special. I’m normally on stage, so it’s been great to see the other side of it- the process of creating a musical from scratch. We all put our creative ideas into the pot, someone will pull them out, we all share our ideas, and something amazing is created. My favorite song from NOAH is “God Is Faithful Still”. It means a lot and is really powerful.
The advice that I’d give to other kids who might be interested in doing something like this is that if you have an idea, present it; if it gets shut down, find a way to incorporate it into making something else. Hopefully, you have adults in your life who will listen to your ideas because kids are so creative. Don’t back down. Don’t stop trying.
Benjamin
After “The Truth About Ruth,” we all wanted to do another musical, so we asked Mrs. Cooper if we could, and she agreed. There was a choice between the story of Noah and the story of Moses. I thought that Noah was a great story because of the promise of the rainbow and all the animals.
It means everything to me to be part of creating this musical. It feels incredible that I can come up with an idea and then make it come to life. I don’t really have a favorite line or song from the musical. They are all really great!
I’d like other kids to know that they should do whatever they want, even though it seems like there are limitations, they should always try. They can come up with ideas, and it is incredible to see them actually happen. Be creative.
Lillian
This past summer we wanted to do a musical, and Mrs. Cooper said we could. “The Truth About Ruth” was the first time I was the main character in a show; I really liked doing that. I really wanted to make a musical about Moses because, in 2nd grade, I did a skit with my Sunday school class about it and really liked the story, but everyone else wanted to do Noah. I did a lot of research about the story of Moses. There were a lot of character options; it is a really interesting story. We did a Bible flip (similar to a coin flip) and it was decided that we would do Noah. Even though we didn’t go with the story I was hoping for, I am happy with how it has turned out. I like making musicals; it makes me feel proud.
If I had any advice for kids who might want to do something like this, it would be to do it with a group. You can share all of your different ideas, compromise, and you all can add to each other’s ideas to create something more amazing than you could alone.
Matthias
Coming up with the idea to create a musical was actually simple. We liked “The Truth About Ruth”, so we just asked Mrs. Cooper to do a new musical, and she agreed. When we were deciding which story to base our musical on, I wanted to do Noah more than Moses because I thought it would be more enjoyable. It felt like a more positive story, plus it has all the animals.
My favorite line in “The NOAH Musical” is from one of my characters: “This is your Action 5 Meteorologist, CUMULO NIMBUS!!!”
I really enjoy performing in musicals, so getting the opportunity to create one is a dream come true. The two pieces of advice that I would give to other kids who might want to do something like this is to do your best and remember, it’s just about having a fun time!
Behind the scenes
The ark-itectural dream team of Jennifer Bagwell and Niels Olson has been hard at work crafting the perfect set for The Noah Musical! Jennifer’s creative design makes it easy for lightweight pieces of the ark to travel to The Blakeford on Wednesday, May 14, at 6:00pm, and to the sanctuary on Sunday, May 18, at 10:30am.
Tap-tap-hooray! Former Belmonters Rick and Mary Barr built a portable tap dancing floor just for The Noah Musical! Come see how the tap dancing leopards bring it to life on Sunday, May 18—you won’t want to miss a single step!
Rehearsals
