new church life: september/october 2015
He related the entire show to me from memory. Chris is a very earnest and
animated guy, and he has a way of drawing you into his dreams.
“By the time I had finished my cheeseburger and fries I was absolutely
convinced that such a musical should be made. However, inwardly I was
skeptical that such a production could ever reach Broadway. I left thinking,
‘Blessed are the dreamers and the risk takers.’ I’ve never been happier to be
wrong.
“As the Associated Press recently observed, ‘A serious musical with epic
themes doesn’t come to Broadway that often.’ I recommend this musical to
anyone who believes in the reality of personal spiritual redemption – and
everyone who loves a really good show!”
Ed has maintained contact with Chris Smith, who submitted this account
of his experience:
“For years I served the Bryn Athyn community as a police officer and then
later as a producer of documentaries about historic buildings and the people
who made them. All the while I was working on a crazy dream, a vision of
bringing something completely new to Broadway. I wanted to have the central
plot of a major musical revolve around the spiritual and moral redemption of
an actual historical person.
“That person is John Newton, the 18th century slave trader turned
abolitionist, hymnist and preacher. His journey from the docks and back
alleys of Chatham, England, to Sierra Leone and Barbados turns this story
of personal character development into an epic saga, complete with storms,
sinkings and battles on land and sea.
“His journey back to the simple faith his mother bequeathed him, and that
of Mary Catlett, his childhood sweetheart and the girl he would eventually
marry, provide a very satisfying love story as well.
“I wrote the music, lyrics and book of the show. My mentor and co-author
Arthur Giron helped guide the story process and my development as a writer,
something for which I had no training and no professional experience.
“My dream became a reality on July 16th and I hope (people from Bryn
Athyn) will get to experience it for themselves at New York’s Nederlander
Theatre.”
Bret Bostock, Assistant Director of Glencairn Museum, traveled to New
York for the first matinee of Amazing Grace with his wife, Jessica, who teaches
dance at Bryn Athyn College and works as a choreographer throughout the
region. He offers these memories:
“We got to attend the show through interesting circumstances. Jess has been
working with Dr. Joseph Ohrt on shows at both Bucks County Playhouse and
Central Bucks West High School for the past year. Through this collaboration
she learned that he has been working with Chris Smith on Amazing Grace for
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