Algonquin Road in South Barrington is pretty far off-Broadway, but during Easter Week, locals in the vicinity of Willow Creek Church may very well think they wandered onto the Great White Way.
Easter services are a big deal at many churches, but at Willow Creek, it’s Tony Award time.
During the week leading up to Easter, Willow Creek will once again stage its own original musical about the last 10 days of Christ’s life on earth through the Resurrection.
The production consists of an original musical score, created last year by Willow Creek music director Rory Noland of Schaumburg, and Greg Ferguson of Barrington. The play was written and will be performed by members of the congregation, with multimedia images on a giant screen serving as part of the backdrop.
One difference from last year’s debut production: This year the musical score has been pre-recorded. There is no room for a live orchestra in the church’s auditorium, and last year the musicians were stuck down the hall taking their cues from a giant video screen, with their music piped into the auditiorium.
The show’s first run was a roaring success, with more than 30,000 people attending eight shows last Easter season-this year there will be 10 presentations, and Assistant Pastor Lee Strobel estimates the audience could reach 45,000.
“It’s rare we repeat anything around here,” said Noland, who admits he was surprised when Willow Creek decided to stage the Easter drama a second time. “But it’s the best thing we’ve ever done, and so the decision was made to do it again.”
Although the volunteer cast-about 35 on stage and another 165 or so behind the scenes-was happy with last year’s show, Noland said this year’s production is just a tiny bit different.
“We’re all perfectionists, and we wanted to make it even better, so we improved it a little.”
According to Nancy Beach, Willow Creek’s programming director, the church had shied away from an elaborate Easter pageant in the past. Not only is the focus at Willow Creek normally very contemporary, but there was concern about trivializing the Easter story.
“Whenever you put somebody on stage playing Jesus, it’s pretty risky,” she said. “We hesitated for years.”
But Noland said he looked over some of the bits and pieces of Easter week celebrations and decided what Willow Creek had was its own “musical in the rough.” He rounded up some writers in the congregation, and the show came to life.
Noland guarantees that what you’ll hear and see will not look or sound like a typical Easter church service. But then it’s not a localized version of “Jesus Christ Superstar,” either.
“I guess my favorite musicals are `Les Miserables,’ `Fiddler on the Roof’ and `West Side Story,’ and we let those be our models,” Noland said.
Tickets for the show, which runs from April 1 through April 9, are available at the church in advance or at the door, for $5.
“We just break even, but we wanted to cover our expenses rather than take money out of church funds,” explained Beach.
Spelling test
Somebody at the Hoffman Estates Park District either needs a course in remedial spelling or has a pretty peculiar sense of humor.
A Park District sign in front of the Teen Center on Higgins Road near the intersection with Golf Road proudly proclaims “March is Red Cross month-dedicated to helping you respond to emergencies. Thank you.”
Getting to know you
It’s going to be a big week for the Salvation Army in Crystal Lake.
The combination church and social-service agency just purchased the former Evangelical Free Church building, at 290 Crystal Lake Ave. and will turn it into the Salvation Army Corps Community Center.
Soldier Jim Anderson said the 29,000-square-foot building will give the Army “plenty of room to grow.” The new center boasts a three-quarter size gym, a fellowship hall, a church sanctuary, a large kitchen and plenty of meeting rooms.
Anderson said the building will be the site of Golden Diner meals for senior citizens, as well as activities for the Army’s version of Boy and Girl Scout groups, church services and band concerts.
The Army is planning “getting to know you” sessions next week at the center for the community. At 7 p.m. Monday there will be a women’s open house; at 4 p.m. Wednesday there will be a Kids’ Club Roundup; and on Friday there will be a interagency breakfast for 250 representatives of area social-service agencies.
“We want to share our vision for the center with other groups,” said Anderson.
March 27 is the biggest day for the new center. At 7 a.m. there will be a men’s breakfast, followed by an open house for the whole community from 2 to 4 p.m., featuring jugglers, clowns and music. That evening there will be an “appreciation dinner” open to the public (with reservations) at 5 p.m. At 6 p.m. there will be a concert by the Oakbrook Terrace Salvation Army band.
