What the Church Can Learn from Pixar and Disney

(The power of story)

As we’re racing through this year toward December and are currently in the process of planning how we will impact the church and our community during the Christmas season, we may do well to stop long enough to really think about exactly what we’re trying to accomplish. The answers could be:

“Create a memorable worship experience for attendees”

“Create an effective outreach to the community”
Plan a program/event of significance that will draw visitors back to our church”
“Entertain and evangelize”

There are as many answers as there are people, however, there is one ultimate goal of all church Christmas productions that is undeniably obvious no matter the church or the style of the program – and that is to tell a story. THE STORY. The story of how God himself came to earth, in the form of a human baby, in order to redeem mankind from sin and restore fellowship with the ones he created. It has been called (and justifiably so) “The Greatest Story Ever Told”. So how do we go about telling this incomparable story? What is the goal of our telling it? Is it not to impact the heart and eternal destiny of at least one struggling human being who may attend your performance? Is there one way to tell it that is more effective than another? I have become convinced that there is, but first, a little background.

Having worked for 30 years in the Christian music publishing industry, I personally created or oversaw the creation of more Christmas “musicals” than I can count. Almost all of them were fashioned with the same basic format, scripture, same “church-speak” language and many times the same songs (with possibly a different arrangement.) If anything was truly different, it was the songs, but even they had a certain sameness about them. There was a basic pattern or formula that rarely varied. Though there were a handful of dramatic musicals (drama with songs thrown in), 99% of them were cantatas. Today’s church cantatas are basically a collection of pop-styled songs threaded together by narration. The primary focus of such a work is the music, which is sung by a choir – with an occasional solo or two. The format and musical style of these productions can take on the feel of a concert with little but the music to engage the audience.  In our spectator culture, it’s too easy to sit in an audience, disengaged from introspection and thought, and  let ourselves be entertained by the music.

What is missing with concerts and cantatas is “story”. Story is what engages each audience member one-on-one and draws them in to the heart of what’s happening on the stage. Through story, the mind is engaged in thought, analysis and  a wide range of emotions such as sadness, joy, empathy, compassion, etc. This was made vividly clear to me the first time I wrote and published a Broadway-style musical(One Bethlehem Night). The comments were unanimous and all had a version of the same response: “I’ve never seen the Christmas story in this light. It has given me a new appreciation for and insights into the trials of Mary and Joseph as well as a deeper understanding of God’s sovereignty and divine will. I saw them as real people – just like me. ”

So, what is it about story that illuminates the mind and tugs at the emotional core of our being? In Story, considered the definitive book on screenwriting, Robert McKee states, “The world now consumes films, novels, theater and television in such quantities and with such ravenous hunger that the story arts have become humanity’s prime source of inspiration, as it seeks to order chaos and gain insight into life. Our appetite for story is a reflection of the profound human need to grasp the patterns of living, not merely as an intellectual exercise, but within a very personal, emotional experience.”  I believe story elicits an emotion response like nothing else can. As Steve Pederson, director of Drama at Willow Creek Community Church  explains, “Drama has the potential to reduce people’s defenses. All of us, Christians and seekers alike, often have psychological walls of protection around us. Unless those walls are penetrated, unless we are somehow opened up and made vulnerable, God’s truth will not hit the mark. …Drama can disarm by getting us to laugh at ourselves, or it can ambush us when it reflects the darker side of ourselves.” Story and drama go hand in hand. It’s one thing to tell a story and quite another to see a story unfold before your eyes.

Disney and Pixar know the power of story. If you’ve seen “Toy Story”, “Monster’s Inc”, “Finding Nemo”, “Up”, or Disney’s “Enchanted”, you know the power of story as well. Think about these films and remember how you were moved as the character’s tale unfolded. Did you cry? Did you laugh? Can you identify one or more emotional responses in each of these films? If you’re not a robot, the answer is yes. That was no accident. The stories were written and designed to create those emotional responses in you. The writer purposely wanted to make you feel something. Did you hurt for Woody when Andy replaced him with a new toy? Did you feel Nemo’s lonliness when he was lost? What about Sully’s affection for Boo? It’s our emotions that can break down those walls that Pederson described and allow us to experience deep, personal feelings that the walls, created by the batterings and bruisings of life, have built around our hearts.

It is characters that convey emotion. It is characters that we identify with. It is characters who let us see ourselves in their lives. A true Broadway-style musical is about characters telling a story. Even the songs are character-driven. We hear in their songs, the longing of their hearts, their frustrations, their musings, and their pain. Is it more effective to hear a song about God’s forgiveness sung by a choir or to hear a character singing to God the details of how God’s grace delivered him from the depths of his sin and rebellion? It’s that one-on-one personal level that connects the character – through the song – to the individual listener.  The powerful combination of great music combined with lyrics expressing the personal emotion of a character in conflict, in pain, or in self-discovery packs a double punch.

So, back to this year’s Christmas musical… How are you going to reach the hearts of church members and your community this Christmas? I would readily concede that the Holy Spirit can work in any situation, however, it should be noted that Jesus illustrated the power of story to communicate truth through the parables he told his followers. Wouldn’t He have chosen the most effective method of reaching individual hearts?  It might behoove us to follow his example in using story to communicate the truth of the gospel. Broadway-style musicals combine story and music in a very focused way that effectively reaches the emotional center of the human psyche.

This Christmas, consider taking the road less travelled. Cantatas are less work than a Broadway-style musical production. Jesus said “the fields are white unto harvest, but the laborers are few”. Note that there is labor involved in harvesting souls. Musical theater does take more work, more time, greater energy and effort, but I firmly believe that it also reaps greater rewards in the long run.

Ed Kee is a 30-year veteran of the Christian music publishing industry and owner/CEO  of Church Musicals, Inc. (www.churchmusicals.com)  , which develops and licenses Broadway-style musicals for churches and Christian schools.

What the Church Can Learn From Pixar and Disney

(The power of story)

As we’re racing through this year toward December and are currently in the process of planning how we will impact the church and our community during the Christmas season, we may do well to stop long enough to really think about exactly what we’re trying to accomplish. The answers could be:

 

“Create a memorable worship experience for attendees”

“Create an effective outreach to the community”

Plan a program/event of significance that will draw visitors back to our church”

“Entertain and evangelize”

There are as many answers as there are people, however, there is one ultimate goal of all church Christmas productions that is undeniably obvious no matter the church or the style of the program – and that is to tell a story. THE STORY. The story of how God himself came to earth, in the form of a human baby, in order to redeem mankind from sin and restore fellowship with the ones he created. It has been called (and justifiably so) “The Greatest Story Ever Told”. So how do we go about telling this incomparable story? What is the goal of our telling it? Is it not to impact the heart and eternal destiny of at least one struggling human being who may attend your performance? Is there one way to tell it that is more effective than another? I have become convinced that there is, but first, a little background.

Having worked for 30 years in the Christian music publishing industry, I personally created or oversaw the creation of more Christmas “musicals” than I can count. Almost all of them were fashioned with the same basic format, scripture, same “church-speak” language and many times the same songs (with possibly a different arrangement.) If anything was truly different, it was the songs, but even they had a certain sameness about them. Though there were a handful of dramatic musicals (drama with songs thrown in), 99% of them were cantatas. Today’s church cantatas are basically a collection of pop-styled songs threaded together by narration. The primary focus of such a work is the music, which is sung by a choir – with an occasional solo or two. The format and musical style of these productions can take on the feel of a concert.  In our spectator culture, it’s too easy to sit in an audience, disengaged from introspection and thought, and  let ourselves be entertained by the music.

 What is missing with concerts and cantatas is “story”. Story is what engages each audience member one-on-one and draws them in to the heart of what’s happening on the stage. Through story, the mind is engaged in thought, analysis and  a wide range of emotions such as sadness, joy, empathy, compassion, etc. This was made vividly clear to me the first time I wrote and published a Broadway-style musical(One Bethlehem Night). The comments were unanimous and all had a version of the same response: “I’ve never seen the Christmas story in this light. It has given me a new appreciation for and insights into the trials of Mary and Joseph as well as a deeper understanding of God’s sovereignty and divine will. I saw them as real people – just like me. ”

 So, what is it about story that illuminates the mind and tugs at the emotional core of our being? In Story, considered the definitive book on screenwriting, Robert McKee states, “The world now consumes films, novels, theater and television in such quantities and with such ravenous hunger that the story arts have become humanity’s prime source of inspiration, as it seeks to order chaos and gain insight into life. Our appetite for story is a reflection of the profound human need to grasp the patterns of living, not merely as an intellectual exercise, but within a very personal, emotional experience.”  I believe story elicits an emotion response like nothing else can. As Steve Pederson, director of Drama at Willow Creek Community Church  explains, “Drama has the potential to reduce people’s defenses. All of us, Christians and seekers alike, often have psychological walls of protection around us. Unless those walls are penetrated, unless we are somehow opened up and made vulnerable, God’s truth will not hit the mark. …Drama can disarm by getting us to laugh at ourselves, or it can ambush us when it reflects the darker side of ourselves.” Story and drama go hand in hand. It’s one thing to tell a story and quite another to see a story unfold before your eyes. Disney and Pixar know the power of story. If you’ve seen “Toy Story”, “Monster’s Inc”, “Finding Nemo”, “Up”, or Disney’s “Enchanted”, you know the power of story as well. Think about these films and remember how you were moved as the characters’ tale unfolded. Did you cry? Did you laugh? Can you identify one or more emotional responses in each of these films? If you’re not a robot, the answer is yes. That was no accident. The stories were written and designed to create those emotional responses in you. The writer purposely wanted to make you feel something. It’s our emotions that can break down those walls that Pederson described and allow us to experience deep, personal feelings that the walls, created by the batterings and bruisings of life, have built around our hearts.

It is characters that convey emotion. It is characters we identify with. It is characters who let us see ourselves in their lives. A true Broadway-style musical is about characters telling a story. Even the songs are character-driven. We hear in their songs, the longing of their hearts, their frustrations, their musings, and their pain. It is one thing to hear a song about God’s forgiveness sung by a choir and something else entirely to hear a character singing about the details of how God’s grace delivered him from the depths of his sin and rebellion. It’s that one-on-one personal level that connects the character – through the song – to the individual listener.  The powerful combination of great music combined with lyrics expressing the personal emotion of a character in conflict, in pain, or in self-discovery packs a double punch.

So, back to this year’s Christmas musical… How are you going to reach the hearts of church members and your community this Christmas? I would readily concede that the Holy Spirit can work in any situation, however, it should be noted that Jesus illustrated the power of story to communicate truth through the parables he told his followers. It might behoove us to follow his example in using story to communicate the truth of the gospel. Broadway-style musicals combine story and music in a very focused way that effectively reaches the emotional center of the human psyche.

This Christmas, consider taking the road less travelled. Granted, cantatas are less work than a Broadway-style musical production. Jesus said “the fields are white unto harvest, but the laborers are few”. Note that there is labor involved in harvesting souls. Musical theater does take more work, more time, greater energy and effort, but I firmly believe that it also reaps greater rewards in the long run.

Ed Kee is a 30-year veteran of the Christian music publishing industry and owner/CEO  of Church Musicals, Inc. (www.churchmusicals.com)  , which develops and licenses Broadway-style musicals for churches and Christian schools.

THE EMOTIONAL POWER OF "STORY"

 

This post is a follow-up to Bobbette Buster’s enlightening Q talk on “The Arc of Storytelling”. 

http://bit.ly/pDuHId Its message is extremely relevant for those of us who create or produce musicals with the intention of using them for outreach to the community.

First, let me make a significant distinction about the term “musical”. In the church world, the word “musical” is used to describe interchangeably, cantatas (songs threaded together with narration), concerts (a collection of songs on a theme), and traditional musical theater (a story which is told and advanced by character-driven songs). It is this last kind of “musical” that I believe is the most powerful in reaching unchurched audiences. It is a musical that tells a character-driven story that Ms. Buster talks about. Her focus is Hollywood films, but the principle she expounds upon is extremely applicable to the Christian message of redemption.

Think for a minute. What is the one thing every Hollywood movie has in common? Answer: It tells a story. Movies make us laugh and they make us cry. They can even make us mad (many times because it wasn’t a good story!) Movies are emotional. Whether the story is well told or poorly told, they all share the same elements of “story”. People go to movies weekly in search of that great story, well told. Many times, they come away disappointed, but occasionally, they’ll be moved by a great story to the point that they’ll return to see it multiple times.

Ms. Buster’s premise is that all human beings are in search of characters that go from the ordinary to the extraordinary and that what we look for in all of our stories is the aspect of transformation. She says that the most important theme in storytelling is the story of redemption – “this inexorable force - that everybody wants to experience a change and they don’t have a name for it. They don’t know what to call it. …”They want to see characters become the very best they can be and to discover what it means to be fully alive.”

So how does this figure into the musicals we present in church? I’m sure you see where I’m going with this. What more compelling story of redemption do human beings have than the story of God coming to earth to live as a man – one of us- then to die in order to redeem us and deliver us from the depth and destruction of our own sin? The challenge for us is in communicating that story in a compelling and life-changing way. If you ask the man on the street what Jesus Christ was best known for, he’ll probably say, “He died for the sins of mankind” or something to that effect. Most people know that, but how many have taken that truth to heart to the point that it radically changed who they are?

While anything is possible with God, it’s my belief that musicals, by themselves, aren’t likely to elicit a salvation experience. However, a well told (and acted) story that reflects biblical truth and connects with universal human experience and emotions can be very powerful in softening hearts and overcoming barriers to the truth of the gospel message. 

So many people live lives of desperation and feel as if they are “the living dead”. Their lives are stressful, their situations can seem hopeless, and their problems are perceived as insurmountable – to the point that they long to have more than just an existence. They long for that transformation –that change for the better -   for redemption. If we choose or write our scripts thoughtfully and prayerfully so that they convey the hope of transformation and redemption, the languishing soul will desire that for himself – even if he does not say it out loud. Our job is to use theater, music and drama in such a way as to reach the heart and the emotions, for it is there that defenses are their most vulnerable. It is there – in the heart and the emotions - that the Holy Spirit speaks.  As we carefully and effectively design our performances to touch those emotional “breakpoints”, the heart can be softened and prepared to receive the transformation and redemption it so desperately longs for.  We must do our job with excellence, so as not to hinder in any way the working of the Spirit.

Story, as used in genuine musical theater, is powerful. It takes us along on the journey. It has a transporting and even  - dare I say it – “enchanting” quality that no other style of musical has. By their design, cantatas can only “tell” a story. A Broadway-style musical (one with a story line and character-driven songs) “show” the story. The old adage “A picture is worth a thousand words” is true as well for a musical. Showing is more powerful than telling. If you’re considering what kind of musical to do this Christmas, consider the life-changing power of “story” you'll find in a Broadway-style musical.  

What NOT To Do When Writing Songs For Your Christmas Production This Year

Over the years, I’ve had dozens of musicals sent to me which were an original Christmas production at some church. Upon listening to them, my first reaction was to feel sorry for the poor audience who had to sit through forced rhymes, cryptic lyrics and mangled syntax. The fact is that most people who write songs, never seriously study the craft of songwriting. They mimic what they hear on the radio or try to copy some similar song with no real grasp of the fundamentals of songwriting. (The same thing holds true for praise and worship songs foisted on unsuspecting congregations – but that’s for someone else’s worship blog).

Writing a song without understanding the fundamental craft of songwriting is like looking at a beautifully constructed house and saying “I can build one of those”, when you know nothing about structural support, how to use a miter saw, or which type of fastener to use on the joists. You can just jump in and might get something that resembles a house, but the quality would be questionable at best.

So where do you begin? The first place to start is with the idea or approach. Some ideas are not worth writing. Above all, don’t state the obvious. Don’t let the song describe what the scene was just about. You’ll bore your audience. They want to get inside the character and feel what the character is feeling. You’ve got to look for ways to get beneath the surface. Get down to the emotional level – without being sappy of course. One of my favorite examples of this idea is found in Disney’s musical film, “Newsies”, where one of the newsies, who is an orphan, watches as the other kids go home to their families while he has to spend the night on the street. Sitting there alone, he sings this song to himself. (Here you need to see the lyrics and hear the song:

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UM0vBaS2KEI  - ignore the typos. I wanted this audio version)

The sheer craft in this song is amazing. It works on so many emotional levels. The kid is lonely, but instead of saying “I’m lonely” or “I wish I had a family to go home to”, he says it in the subtext without actually saying it. “Aren’t you glad nobody’s waiting up for you?”
(Subtext: He really wishes someone cared enough about him to wait up for him.) He’s finding his purpose and fulfillment in his dream of going to Santa Fe. This is what I mean by finding an emotional level or statement in a song. You don’t have to use subtext to get there, but you should get down to the heart of the matter. Once the kids left and he was all alone, the audience was aware of his situation, so for him to sing about being lonely or wanting a family would be just stating the obvious. Unfortunately, it's the obvious that most amateur writers choose to write about, most likely because they haven't been trained to look beyond the obvious as a part of the songwriting craft. They built their musical “house” without any craftsmanship and, though it looks like a song and sounds like a song, it is very uninteresting and unappealing with nothing to emotionally connect the stage character to the audience.

Find a solid idea or approach first - one that connects emotionally with the character. Your song will be much better when you do.

A Brief Introduction

Since this is my first blog entry, I thought it was probably best to start at the beginning and give a little background as to how and why this blog came to be.

I worked for 26 years in the Christian music recording and publishing industry – first as Director of A&R for Brentwood Records, then as Creative Director for Brentwood Benson Music Publishing. During that time I wrote and arranged dozens of cantatas and oversaw the creation and production of hundreds more. In the late 90’s I stared going to New York and seeing musicals on Broadway as well as catching many of the touring shows that came through Nashville. As I would watch these shows and be moved by the music and the stories, I kept asking myself “Why can’t we do this kind of musical in the church”? No cantata (even the ones I had written) ever moved me the way a Broadway-style musical did. That was when the dream was born of writing a Broadway-style musical for the church. As time went on, the dream was expanded from just creating a musical to creating a company that produced dozens of them.

I finally started the process of incorporating and creating Church Musicals, Inc. in August of 2002. In November, I was told that my label, Brentwood Records, would be shut down in January of 2003 and they basically turned me loose at that point to pursue other interests. Within 2 days, I was having lunch with the President and VP of Brentwood Benson Music Publishing and was offered a job. It took 6 months to materialize because the company was being purchased by BMG, but it finally happened. During that 6-month period, I wrote, arranged and recorded my 3^rd Broadway-style musical (I had actually written 2 for Brentwood Benson while I was working for the record company.). This time, I owned it – which was a great feeling. I launched Church Musicals, Inc. with that musical, “The Gift” (based on O. Henry’s “The Gift of the Magi”) and I was off and running.

As time went on and I saw how well the musical had been received, I knew I was on to something and that this would be a unique business that would meet a definite need.. Since I was employed full-time at Brentwood Benson, I put the growth part on the back burner and let it simmer. Fortunately, the company just ran itself with no marketing or promotion on my part. People would just find me on the web and commerce would take place. I often wondered what would really happen if I put time and energy into it. I assumed I would do that when I retired – which was steadily drawing closer.

Finally, in January of this year (2011), I left Brentwood Benson and knew immediately what I would do. I hit the ground running and haven’t looked back. It’s been exciting and exhilarating to see things take shape. Church Musicals is filling a definite void in the church music market and, though Broadway-style musicals are a niche, it’s a great niche for a small entrepreneur. 

I was recently interviewed for an article in the Baton Rouge Advocate and the lament from church music directors who were looking for Broadway-style musical was that there was nothing available from the major publishers. (Hey! I’m over here!!!) Anyway, you get the picture. So, if you or anyone you know is looking for high-quality music theater for the church, check out www.churchmusicals.com . The website is brand new and more musicals are on the way.

Of course, with an internet-based business comes all the necessary social networking necessary to promote it. Thus ....a blog! Hopefully, this will be interesting, helpful, informative and fun. Stay tuned......