It’s almost been a month since Al and Barbara Macdonald watched the curtain close for the final time on their production of “Esther, For Such a Time as This.” As for the emotional high they’re on — forgive them if they choose not to come down for quite some time.
The long-time Flower Mound couple teamed with director Scott Werntz and a star-studded cast to produce the popular biblical story through their non-profit, Journey Evangelistic Ministries. The performance was held on October 13 and 14 at the Irving Arts Center and garnered rave reviews from the sold-out audience because of its parallels to the horrific events currently ongoing in Israel.
All three performances were sold out weeks in advance and largely attended by southern Denton County residents. The cast was also comprised of current local high school theater students and former talent who have had successful careers.
“Al and I haven’t come down from the clouds over it,” Barbara said with a laugh. “We had a lot of people looking at the script because we wanted it to be authentic. We didn’t want to misrepresent anything. The entire process was so much fun.”
Al agreed, adding that the positive feedback they received was wonderful.
“The actors were willing to do it because of the message “Esther” has for right now,” Al said while pointing to the Israel-Hamas war. “It’s a story that happened in Israel thousands of years ago that is now being re-enacted before our eyes in real life. There have been several requests for us to do another performance. People were touched by it, and we couldn’t be happier.”
Journey Evangelistic Ministries is a 501(c)(3) corporation that Al started in 1983 under the umbrella of Shepherd Ministries, a national youth organization that produced the Dawson McAllister Student Conferences in the 1980s and 1990s. That initiative took off in convention centers across America and launched several music personalities, such as Mercy Me and Chris Tomlin. They later founded Shepherd of the Ozarks, a 400-acre camp and conference center in north central Arkansas for families and groups to enjoy. JEM’s mission was to provide scholarships throughout these ministries for group home kids and anyone else who couldn’t otherwise participate in these life-changing events.
Producing “Esther” is their latest initiative. And to say that it was a success would be an understatement.
“Esther” is a musical adaptation of the biblical book of Esther, from scripture to script. It’s the exciting true story of a beautiful orphaned Jewish girl raised by her uncle who miraculously becomes Queen of Persia, discovers that her people are to be eradicated by royal decree, and heroically saves a nation. While there were more than a handful of big names in the cast, perhaps one of the more recognizable was Peggy Lee Brennan. The popular actress is known for many roles, including the role of Frenchy in the Broadway presentation of “Grease.” She also played Radar’s girlfriend in “MASH.”
The one-hour, 50-minute show was produced as a jukebox musical, meaning that the majority of the songs are well-known and popular. Examples include Irving Berlin’s “Puttin’ On the Ritz,” “You Don’t Own Me” by Lesley Gore, and “Only Hope” by Mandy Moore.
Barbara said she had been working on the script for five years.
“We had a friend who had said to me one time, ‘It’s so hard to find a family-friendly and clean musical to perform.’ And I couldn’t help but think that there were so many great stories in the scripture,” Barbara said. “I came across “Esther,” and while it was a fledgling idea, I presented it to Scott Werntz. We had so many editors who stepped in to help craft it into a usable script.”
She added, “My sister, Lynn, loved it so much that before she died, she gave a sizable donation to JEM as seed money for it to be produced. She believed so much in the project. Sadly, she passed away before having the chance to watch the finished version.”
Al and Barbara said they were blessed to have so many amazing actors take part. Werntz has been a director for 17 years and called in plenty of favors to bring former students back to participate. Many flew in from California, New York, and Missouri.
There were also local students from Argyle, Grapevine, Bridgeport, and other local schools.
“We were blessed with quality actors and actresses … Scott definitely called in all his favors,” Barbara said. “Trietsch Memorial United Methodist Church in Flower Mound had recently done a presentation of “Esther” and graciously allowed us to borrow costumes and props for our show. It was an incredible blessing to have so many people excited about this project.”
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