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12/25/2008
This has been a
year of changes. We even have a new address. The
Lord has blessed and continues to bless in
interesting and amazing ways!
This last spring we
finished working with Southwestern College Repertory
Theatre due to time and finances (we were putting
75% of our time into 10% of our income). We felt it
was time to focus on MoezArt completely especially
now that we have our 501c3 (non-profit status).
“Till We Meet Again” which Leeann, Sharon’s sister
wrote, incorporating songs from the World War II era
began the spring as our dinner theatre. Michael
made his acting debut at only a month and a half in
that show. However due to his “artistic
temperament,” he only made it onstage for half the
performances. That show was followed by what we
consider to be the pinnacle of our theatre career,
“The Scarlet Pimpernel.” I got the job of making a
working guillotine. I found plans for an illusion
where the actual person’s head falls when the blade
falls, but the college got a little nervous about
that so we had to convert it. However I was still
able to use some illusionary tactics and I even had
some people ask when or if the person’s head was
ever changed out. Both shows were great hits! We
will miss working at the college and with the
students. However so many college students and
adults wanted to do theatre with us that we decided
to do our own community theatre. We kicked it off
in the fall with “Father Of The Bride” which was a
big hit and are currently in rehearsals for “Steel
Magnolias” — which will be presented in January so
be sure to come and see this fabulous show!
Our regular MoezArt
classes showcased our talented students in “You’re A
Good Man, Charlie Brown,” “The Music Man” and “Godspell.”
I reprised my role of Jesus for three different
casts in a three week span. It was fun to be able
to do the illusions I created for the original
production we did a couple years earlier, but it was
hard constantly changing between different sized
casts that ranged from 9 to 24 students.
Our Summer Theatre
Arts Academy has expanded to two areas and we are
getting a lot of interest for next year already.
Due to the economy our enrollment has been low, but
with a few donations we were able to scholarship a
handful of students to round out the casts of
another musical by Sharon’s sister, “Stand By Me”
which features many hit songs from the 50’s. We
will probably be continuing the Summer Theatre Arts
Camp, but with some minor changes to tighten up our
financial belts, making it more workable.
The big news over
the summer is that we hired a part-time (though she
puts in enough for a full-time) business manager.
That has alleviated a lot on my plate as president
and technical director for the shows. It has been a
huge help to both Sharon and I as Mrs. Osten also
helps with props and scheduling. She is our staff
photographer as well and took the great picture on
page one.
Now that we have our
501c3 (see above) our fundraiser was a great hit
with the people who came as they ate pizza, bid at
an auction, won raffle items and gave generously to
MoezArt. We were able to raise over $5,000 in one
evening and we still have donations coming in. The
Lord is blessing tremendously and we look forward to
what He had for us the rest of the school year.
Over the fall we had
our middle school classes do “Charlotte’s Web” and
our high school students do Neil Simon’s “Fools.”
As of this letter we are half way through production
of “Fools.” I would encourage you to come out with
your family and see it one night — it’s an hilarious
play that you will just laugh all the way through.
We were short of students in Scottsdale so I (Steve)
am playing Dr. Zubritsky December 12 (7 PM) & 13 (2
PM) at Covenant Community Church. Visit our website
at
www.MoezArtProductions.com
for more information. Hope to see you there!
So many changes and
so many things happening out of our control this
year have really left us exhausted. Sharon’s purse
was stolen out of a church parking lot in October so
we’ve been dealing with a lot of paperwork. We
moved to a duplex that was 1/3 less in rent and
slightly larger than our apartment. However a lot
of things have been breaking lately (two washing
machines, a garbage disposal, the computer, leaking
faucets, minor car trouble, etc.) and with our busy
class schedule it’s been hard to find the time to
repair it all. But enough griping about the
present, lets see what we have planned for the
coming year.
This spring we plan
on starting an inner-city program. One of our
student’s fathers works there and had us in for a
fundraiser where we performed “Father of the
Bride.” It was a great success and he felt that
getting the youth involved in community theatre
would be a great benefit to them. We also plan on
starting up an elementary theatre program so we are
holding workshops around the Phoenix area to see the
interest and what we could do to raise up the
younger kids in Christian theatre.
Michael Christian,
jr. has been doing well. He is a delightful child
and God has really blessed us with him. Although
there are some hard days as we try to balance
MoezArt with parenting, we are glad to have such a
good baby. I’m writing this on his first birthday
(December 1, 2008). We are actually having a party
for him with just the immediate family tomorrow, but
we have received gifts from many wonderful people.
Michael is standing on his own and is working hard
at walking by himself. He likes grape juice,
strawberry yogurt and anything that makes noise and
lights up. He absolutely adores his mom and dad
(sometimes a little too clingy, but we’re trying to
appreciate it while it lasts). Stop by sometime and
play with this delightful chap — he likes visitors
too!
We hope you all have
a fabulous Christmas and a great New Year! May God
bless you in immeasurable ways!
In God's amazing hands,
Michael Christian
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