Just after Christmas 2021, our family spent a fun week in New York City. We were able to see Central Park, get cannoli in Little Italy, and experience New Year’s Eve in Times Square. The best part was seeing our friends perform on Broadway. We saw Meghan Picerno, John Riddle and Lindsay Roberts-Greene in “Phantom of the Opera,” Tamar Greene in “Hamilton,” and watched Dan Micciche direct the orchestra for “Wicked.” It was an experience we’ll never forget.
Broadway had reopened in the fall after being closed for 18 months due to covid. Shows instituted rigorous testing regimes to keep cast members healthy, but more and more performers began to test positive as the omicron variant swept through the country. Some shows like “The Music Man” closed because so many actors were ill. David Byrnes’ “American Utopia” morphed into a Talking Heads concert. “Hamilton” cancelled several shows. When we saw “Wicked,” the two lead actors were out, so their roles were played by Jennifer DiNoia, the standby for Elphaba, and Celia Hottenstein, the understudy for Glinda. Both ladies were magnificent, and we could not have been more pleased. Dan introduced us to Celia as she was leaving, giving us the opportunity to share how much we enjoyed her performance. If not for standbys and understudies stepping in for others, our week would not have been nearly so lovely.
Throughout the Bible, you see God unexpectedly calling people to play a bigger role on the stage of human history. Jacob was a grifter; Moses a murderer. A Canaanite prostitute, Rahab, hid the spies Joshua sent to Jericho. Her great-great-great grandson, David, was the youngest and least of his brothers, yet God chose him to understudy King Saul before becoming king himself. He united the tribes of Israel and made Jerusalem his capitol. In the New Testament, Paul went from persecuting Christians to the greatest evangelist the world has ever seen.
How is God calling you to center stage?
– Chris Lambert, Director of Meals on Wheels
