The Promise is a musical drama with a book by Jan Dargatz (with additional dialogue by Chuck King) and lyrics and music by various songwriters (several arranged by Gary Rhodes and also by current Director Chuck King) based on biblical texts. The musical follows the life of Jesus Christ, including his birth, life, death, burial, resurrection, and ascension. The musical score is in the style of Christian pop music.
The piece is performed outdoors and originated in 1989 in Glen Rose, Texas, where it is still performed on a large scale each year. The work has enjoyed a number of other productions in the United States and around the world.
Background
Outdoor religious dramas such as passion plays have a long tradition. In 1633, the residents of Oberammergau, Germany vowed to continue presenting their local passion play every ten years as a vow to God in return for being spared from the plague. The United States has had passion plays for over three quarters of a century. These have included The Black Hills Passion Play in Spearfish, South Dakota and The Great Passion Play in Eureka Springs, Arkansas.
In 1984, Dargatz and Rhodes began to develop The Promise in cooperation with Word Music, Inc. and Kingdom Development Company, making way for a new type of passion play that effectively blended Christian popular music with the timeless story of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Production history
This original version of The Promise opened in November 1989 in Glen Rose, Texas.
Glen Rose
Designed by Peter Wolf of Dallas, Texas, to take advantage of the rolling hills near Glen Rose, as a backdrop, the musical is produced outdoors on a large scale each summer at the Texas Amphitheatre and is performed from September until November annually. It features a Greco-Roman set with arches and a six-story archway towering over a 65 x tri-level stage. There are approximately 3,200 units of stadium seating in the amphitheatre. A moat separates the stage and the seats, and during the show, the moat is used as a proxy for the Jordan River at times, and the Sea of Galilee at others. It also boasts a rain curtain which adds dramatic effect during the storm scene. The cast exceeds 100 actors and includes live animals such as donkeys, sheep, horses, doves, and camels.
The 2020 season is currently in production, with rehearsals running until the end of August. Chuck King is the current director joining the show in 2017. Michael Wilcox is serving as Assistant Director and Associate Producer. James Dornan is the Operations Manager of the Texas Amphitheatre and runs the Front of House Operations for The Promise.
Synopsis
Based on the 2020 Glen Rose production. Note: Songs labelled with § have been added to the Glen Rose production since the original production.
Prologue
A young shepherd boy, Reuben, appears looking frantically for his sheep and encounters Chaya the shepherdess who tells him of David tending flocks in the same fields. She assists him in finding his sheep through song ("Psalm 23") Act I A mother and daughter, Tirzah and Abigail, prepare dinner for father and son, Reuben and Ephram, who are returning from a long day tending their herds in the fields, while the young boy Caleb rests on a bed, he is crippled. After family greetings and excited talk of the upcoming Passover the mealtime prayer and Sabbath evokes questions about Gods covenant and Reuben explains its like a promise. Like the promise God made to send the Messiah. ("A Promise Is a Promise")
The lighting then shifts to revel on the main stage the prophets of the Old Testament, who are foretelling the coming of Christ. Reuben continues to narrate the telling of the story from the family home in a small upper room located off the main stage that is illuminated only during those parts. The Archangel Gabriel announces the birth of baby Jesus, and shepherds and three Magi travel to Bethlehem to worship Him ("Saviour"). At this point the Nativity is revealed Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus in the manger ("Son of God"§). The townspeople and children gather singing their praise to the newborn king. Reuben rushes to confirm the saviours arrival.
Reuben explains to the children that Herod decreed that all male babies in Bethlehem under the age of two must be massacred, but just in time, an angel warned Joseph to flee to Egypt with baby Jesus. After Herod dies, the angel directs them back to Nazareth, where Jesus grows up but it is not long before his parents find him teaching in the Temple. ("Sh'ma Israel"§)