Infinity and Beyond

Catching up on some moments from last week...

My Infinity cast is simply amazing. Vocally, they are wowing everyone! It is SUCH a treat working with them. And...they all love each other and get along like crazy. THANK YOU, GOD!

Adam and Jenn wail on "Someday" from West Side Story

One of our incredible and talented Russian dancers

Laura from Scotland

Scott (in the red) has worked for us in years past. He took a few years off from ships after getting married and having a daughter. He and his wife met doing a contract for us on a ship. Melissa is from England. They've been dancing together for a while now.

Scott is about to leave for 6 months (so hard!) and so when his wife and daughter came to town last week, we offered to keep Molly so they could go on a date. Molly is absolutely delightful and the girls LOVED her!

One other story from the weekend-- I was in a bookstore in the DFW airport and asked the young woman behind the desk if they had Shane Claiborne's new book Jesus For President. (I've heard it's awesome) She started to look it up in the computer and said, "How do you spell Jesus?"

As they say on ABC's Nightline, "It's a sign of the times."

Tulsa

We flew back from Tulsa tonight. It was a great weekend...although I really missed Sheryl. Darcy Chapman from Orlando, a long-time friend of Sheryl's and mine came in her place. She did a GREAT job! Go, Darcy!! She will also accompany us to Pepperdine in Melissa's place this year. (Darcy and Tim are dear friends--their blog link is over to the right)

We sang at the arena two times on Saturday and then led at Memorial Rd. this morning where Terry Rush delivered one of the best sermons I have ever heard.

As always, we met some amazing people, had an awesome time together and laughed until we hurt. Here are some pics from the weekend--


(Back row L-R) Philip Organ, Zach Wilson, Phillip Duncan, me, Peter Wilson
(Front row L-R) Darcy Chapman, Melissa Kirby, Amy Westerman, Karin Hensley

Sat night at the arena

Darcy Chapman and me. Darcy and her family live in Orlando. We're looking forward to Malibu when Sheryl will be there too--TIM, you SHOULD come to Malibu! We would have a blast!

ZOE guys--Philip, Peter, Zach, Phillip and me. We had sound check at 7am Sunday morning. We were looking rough. Strike that... I was looking rough.

It's great to be home! Thanks to everyone in Tulsa for their hospitality and warmth...especially to Shane Coffman for being a great event manager! Also, thanks to our own manager and friend, ENO!!

Gary and Ellen Musick

It's been a great day---an awesome lunch with Jason McArthur, a great rehearsal today, an exciting meeting at the William Morris Agency about some projects we're working on, and then a fun night with Gary and Ellen Musick. The Musick's came over tonight and we laughed ourselves hoarse. I am so thankful for the friendship we've developed with them over the last year. It is a pure joy to have them in our lives.

God is so good to bring people of great substance and quality into our lives at the perfect time. We feel that way about Gary and Ellen. They have been a true blessing to us. I lay my head down to rest tonight so grateful for God's provision for us over the last 6 months. The Musicks have blessed us personally but I am also SO GLAD to be working there. The morale, the sense of team work, the respect, the sincere love for each other is so astounding. It's a welcomed gift!

Infinity Run-Through

Today my Infinity cast did their first full run-through of the Broadway shows. They were fantastic!!! I was SO proud of them!

West Side Story section

Les Mis section

A Chorus Line--"One"

Thank You, Jesus!

I believe in Jesus Christ. I believe He is the Son of God and that because of His life, death and resurrection, I have a Hope that is indescribable. I believe His mercies are new every morning. I believe God is the author and authority on grace and new beginnings. I believe that no one is beyond His reach. I believe He loves us when we're unlovable and sees us as we could never see ourselves. I am so grateful for the sustaining power of the Love of Christ!

Happy Easter, friends!

Easter Part 2

More Easter pics from Arkansas! Sheryl kept the kids entertained today with more face paint and we all went down to the river to try and catch crawdads! We also had a big egg hunt at Meemaw and Paw-paw's! It's been a fun day! It's so awesome seeing the kids have so much fun with their cousins, Sierra and Canaan.

Easter Part 1

We had "Easter Wednesday" at my mom's house last week since we are in Arkansas this weekend with Sheryl's family. It was a lot of fun! Here are some pictures from that night...



We are here in Arkansas now with Sheryl's parents and sister and her family. We're celebrating life all around us. The kids playing with their cousins, the laughter of family sharing stories and memories, and watching spring break out in colorful blooms and in the warmth of the sun. All creation testifies to the power of new beginnings!

Christ Jesus has paid the debt--we are saved! We are a new creation because of His sacrifice. What a gift!

I Love My Kids!

Here are a few recent pics of kids. The face paint was done by Sheryl!




This is typical Sam....obsessed with Spider Man and shooting webs from his wrists! LOVE IT!

A Whole New World

Last night as Sheryl was looking through the pictures I posted on Blogger she laughed and said, "Have you considered how different your posts must look these days to bloggers?"

After I thought about it, I completely agreed. It must seem strange. The subtitle of this blog is important right now. People who aren't familiar with the arts have their own impressions of what that world must be like. I have to admit, not all of those impressions are wrong. But, what's cool is people always surprise you. There are many truly wonderful people working as performers...people who have big hearts and who are searchers. There are those who are truly giving, truly grace-filled.

Sheryl and I are in a cool place on our journey. We're having conversations with friends and co-workers that we only talked about having before now. God is bringing new opportunities and relationships into our lives...while strengthening old ones. We are maneuvering these new waters...sometimes frightening, but it's an amazing ride when you know Who's driving the ship. (so to speak!)

Meanwhile, I began with my new cast today---the cast of Celebrity Cruise Line's Infinity. We're working the Broadway show this week---big sections of West Side Story, Phantom of the Opera, Les Mis, and Chorus Line. Whew! Our cast is very multi-cultural with people from England, Hungary, Russia, USA, and Texas (yes...it's a whole other country!!!!!!) :)

Next weekend ZOE will be in Tulsa. I am looking forward to seeing some of you out there. Have a great week!!

Back from the Spirit

I got home last night from my install of shows on the Spirit. I was SO glad to be home and see my family! It was a long and gruelling two weeks, but the cast did a fantastic job! We opened both shows to great crowds who gave them standing ovations at the end. I was so thrilled for them!

The ratings came back yesterday and the shows were through the roof...the top rated shows in the entire NCL fleet and a record for that particular ship. YAY TEAM!!

Here are some pictures of life aboard the NCL Spirit...


This was the pool in the back of the ship--the perfect dream pool for kids only!

The cast worked so hard in rehearsals. Many nights we were in the theater until 2am.

Have you seen the commercial where the little girl secretly put a small stuffed monkey in her father's briefcase as he went on a trip and he takes pictures of the monkey everywhere to send back? Love that! Ella and Maddie sent Peter Rabbit with me. There were many Peter Rabbit pictures! In fact, Ella emailed me one day and said, "Daddy, I miss you so much...but I sure do miss that bunny!!"

Sheryl came out for a few days. It was SO AWESOME having her there!! Even though I was mostly tied up in rehearsals, we did get to have some nice time together. It made the two weeks much more palatable!

Our first week on board, the old cast was still there doing shows while we rehearsed day and night. To my surprise, one of their principal singers was a girl I had worked with YEARS ago also for Norwegian. Her name is Ketsia. We had such a great visit. She was very active in the Christian community on board the Spirit.

This is a shot of the vacant theater

Claire, Mindy, Gary and I went to see the old cast perform their last shows. Mindy and Gary left a week ago and Claire and I opened the shows with our cast.

I must say, it is a pure pleasure to work with these people. They are some of the brightest, most genuine, truly talented people I've ever known. They have amazing hearts and are a light to everyone who meets them. I am a better person for getting to be associated and working with them.

Right now things are crazy back in Nashville. We have the Norwegian GEM cast here as well as the Celebrity Constellation. And tomorrow, the Celebrity Infinity cast comes in (I am teaching them). Though it's busy here, it's fun to be back and see everyone.

Below are some more pics....since I didn't get to post pictures out there I had to catch up!! I miss all the cast folks from the Spirit and pray that God will bless each of them.

"On Broadway"

Here are some pictures of the Broadway show we opened a week ago tonight. It's a great show and was well received--

The cast (minus Candice) on opening night backstage

"On Broadway"

"Mama Mia" section




"Wicked"




"Swing"


"Hairspray"