A Georgian priest down a path amid the COVID-19 pandemic to inspire his parishioners to maintain religion until they can return to church turned to Broadway for inspiration.
Reverend Lonnie Lacy, priest of St. Anne’s Episcopal Church in Tifton, Georgia, to create a video informing his congregation that, despite the COVID-19 pandemic that continues in the United States, it may not be long before they can gather back to worship.
According to a blog post titled “Behind Hamilton’s Video,” Lacy detailed how the concept for the video was originally intended to entertain church members in his annual skill program, which was canceled due to the pandemic. But beyond entertainment, Lacy said the faithful were almost unseen.
“This was for our annual exhibition of skill in the church, which makes our congregation laugh and is used to raise money for our sister church in the Dominican Republic,” Lacy wrote. “We take a look at the year and the two years, and I’m known for providing exaggerated endings. Go big or go home, right? This year was canceled, so we have become virtual. Without fundraising, just an opportunity to laugh and feel like a parish circle of relatives again. We hadn’t enjoyed each other in 20 weeks, and we’re desperately missing.”
Lacy explained how much he was a big fan of the musical and kept mentioning his enthusiasm when, despite everything, he got tickets to see the exhibition at the Fox Theater in Atlanta.
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Unfortunately, the pandemic halted production and Lacy, along with his family, turned to watching ‘Hamilton’ at Disney, but they were disappointed.
“Then, as the top of the U.S., we first saw it on July 3 Disney. And Lordy. That was. Ended up. Impotent, ” continued Lacy.
As for why Lacy parodies “I’ll Be Be Back”, despite the fact that the song and Jonathan Groff’s functionality made him laugh hysterically, Lacy said he had had an “aha” moment.
“Something clicked and I thought, “Yes! King George considers it a threat, but for us, who lose the joy of worship in person, “they will return” is precisely the promise we will have to listen to. I without delay knew what I was looking to do for my church. spectacle of skill, ” wrote Lacy.
Another convincing explanation for why Lacy parodied “You’ll Be Back” was the fact that he had dresses that perfectly breathed the vibrations he was looking for.
“In addition, I have an elegant red cape (the layer-shaped garment worn on special occasions of the church), so it seems necessary to get an ecclesiastical look George-style,” he added.
The effort took Lacy a full week to create, write the parody lyrics, create a storyboard, and edit and record voices.
“I wrote down the parody lyrics and developed a plan vision in one afternoon,” Lacy said. “The most difficult component was recording and editing the voices. People complimented my voice (really gang?), but this task painfully revealed to me that I am not a soloist. Thank God for the self-balancing at GarageBand. Hours of self-regulation “Hours”.
The editing process was accompanied by a slowdown: Lacy’s paint PC was blocked just as he completed his project.
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“Everything came here in combination at iMovie on my paint computer, which crashed, along the way, just as it was over. It’s no joke,” he wrote. “He’s dead. This task killed my trusty horse painting from a computer that, to be honest, was seven years old. Sign of God? It’s up to you to tell me. I’ve heard a lot of clergy say that computers are failing because of all the video paintings they have to do those days.”
Lacy used an iPhone, a tripod and an ring ring to capture the magic.
“I’ve won countless emails. A lot of humor, a lot of gratitude. But many other people also reveal their souls,” Lacy wrote in the blog post. “There is a pastor who said he was about to lose his religion due to the wear and tear of the pandemic in his psyche, but now he has the idea that he will do it again. A mother who had distanced heed from the Church and now wonders if God calls her and her circle of relatives returned. Dozens of other people who are depressed and alone, but who have woken up, even momentarily, when a clumsy priest with a regime of making a song and dancing reminded them that God is alive and well and that he will lead us through this, one way or another.
Lacy’s enduring lesson from all this delight is hopeful: “I have learned that hope and joy are two of the greatest hard forces at our disposal. Although they appear to be rare, they are summoned without problems.”
While many asked Lacy how fun, encouraging and delicious his video was, there remains one question: Did Hamilton play it?
Lacy said no, and it doesn’t hold her breath, but she had a message for the cast and creator:
“But.ArrayArray Lin-Manuel? Groffsauce? If you’re there, thank you for your contagious joy.”