Last evening Stacey and I went to a line rehearsal for a Sharkey dinner theater production playing this weekend at Open Door Fellowship. I am unable to be at the shows so Bob Ryan hastily convened another run through. It was magical! Sharkey Productions aka (OpenDoor@Nite) used to be at the very center of my world. We had a season of privilege to weave plays of astonishing laughter and gravity, touching the deepest places of the heart, and spin them out all over the city. At our best, we showed God face, through characters of weakness; all produced for those unwittingly being drawn to Gods love. It was one of the very most innocently delightful and profound times of my life. Dang, we did some brilliant work! Some nights, when we got it right, once and awhile, we were the very best ticket in all of Phoenix. Last night was transcendent! There they were, again sitting around a table, still delighting in just being together. The protectors of the flame...trying to reel in lines, catching last second changes, all for the chance to again risk everything on that highwire without a net. E Stewart Black, Buzz Carr, Barb Kindermann and Bob were again plying their stunning ability to make me believe they believe; allowing me to time travel back back to when anticipated each others moves, lines, nuances and love to leave audiences spellbound and asking questions about God they may had never thought before they stepped into that theater. If only they could have all been there. Anita Case, Savanah Case, Cary Case, Linda Larson Thompson, Miranda Mertz, Patrese Collins, Randy Thompson, Mike Roberts, Steve Larson, Chris Andrews, Patti Johnston Holien, Elizabeth Cowles, Chuck Platten, Rand Mozingo, Jeff Carlin, Marcia Kuyper Stephanie Johnson, Sarah Greenwood Hoskins, Mark J. Williams, Nancy Roberts, Louisa Percudani, Dallas Ryan, Tim Morari and a handful of other heroes I will think of too late, who protected this sacred performing community for all those years. Maybe only Patrese knew what she was doing. We were all bluffing; pretending we could pull off these shows. Wed never written plays; most of us had never really acted, directed, or built stages. But because we knew each other so well, the audiences bought it and let us transport them into wheezing laughter, pain and hope. Bob has held this legacy together with his love, brilliant writing, acting, producing and unwillingness to let it be dishonored into nostalgic memory. And so they are still pumping out brilliantly funny dinner theater to allow teams to go to Bosnia and China and the rest of the world. Its this weekend. I imagine they might still have several stray seats. Call 602-242-4414 and they could help you figure out if you were in time to capture this delight yourself. Im not sure this will happen again. Or perhaps we will rally the old heroes together once more and write a God-inspired piece of weakness to take back out into the city. It could happen. Either way, it has been nothing short of God-autographed all these years. I am one of the lucky ones. I got to be part of this community. And last night, I was reminded again, how beautiful a gift it was. Thank you my God. Thank you.
Posted on: Thu, 03 Apr 2014 17:09:26 +0000
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