Our first conference was held in a small conference center in San Antonio. It was a few large rooms connected to a shopping mall. The second was held in Houston, using an auditorium and 2 other small conference rooms of a very nice Sheraton Hotel. The third workshop (Dallas) was done in a community center in Plano, Texas. The evening performance was held at a civic center auditorium. It was a beautiful venue – and we nearly filled its 287 seats with family and friends of the participants, as well as a few locals and auditioners.
Each conference started with everyone gathered in one room. Rachel and Dallyn Vail Bayles, Jeff Stevens and I each introduced ourselves and told the kids (and a few of the parents there) our backgrounds. We told the kids what the plan for the day was, and then showed clips from the Liken movies that they would be learning at the workshop. One funny item – when we opened up the Houston intro to questions, one teen cried out, “Where’s Dan Beck?!.” I’m sure next time he’ll be hoping to see Dallyn and Jeff just as much. The youth really opened up to them, respected them, and worked hard.
Dallyn and Jeff taught the kids ages 12-18 from 9 am to 4 pm. They spent the first part of the day talking about the Arts and the Gospel, and how they relate to each other. They also taught about how to audition and some acting basics.
They then had the kids learn the “We Are the Best” song from Alma and King Noah’s Court. After learning it as a group, Dallyn and Jeff held auditions to cast the scene for performance that night. The teens really responded well to Dallyn and Jeff. To me, it felt like an EFY-type conference. It was amazing to see all of the participants coming out of their shell and work hard.
Meanwhile, I was working with the kids ages 7 to 11. I had about 15 kids in two of the ciities, and 25 in Houston. After the general introduction meeting and viewing of the Liken clips, I took the kids into another room and worked with them, usually until 12:00 or so. We played some acting games/exercises, and learned the song “Life Could Not Be Better” from Nephi and Laban. The kids were great, and loved singing that song.
I was quite nervous about dealing with a bunch of little kids, but I had a great time! I think I handled them really well, and they all seemed to have a good time with me. They listened and worked, and seemed to enjoy it a lot. It was so touching each time one of the adorable little girls would come up at the end of the day and say “Thank you for being my teacher.” Or “I had so much fun today!” I really, really enjoyed it.
After working with the kids (and while Jeff and Dallyn were still teaching), I went to visit a store in each area. I gave a free Greatest Hits cd to each employee, a 13-min intro DVD, and the new mailer. I talked to them about what we do (and why we do it) and hyped them about Esther.
In each city, between 2 and 4, we held scheduled auditions for people not participating in the workshop. We had a variety of people audition, and several that I would definitely call back- they were very talented. Annie Edwards, a local from San Antonio, set up all of the audition times, and was very helpful.
Each workshop culminated with performances by the participants (The two songs from Liken), as well as a small concert by myself, Dallyn, Rachel, and Jeff. Our songs were generally broadway standards, and I also sang “Everything We Need” from The First Christmas, and "Sit Down, You're Rockin' The Boat." The participants worked hard and had a great time performing for each other and their parents. After the performances, we showed “Esther and the King.” The crowds LOVED the movie, and it even received a standing ovation.
CHURCH AND FIRESIDESOn Sunday morning, Dallyn & Rachel sang “Consider the Lilies" in Jolene’s home ward. In the afternoon, they put on a fireside for 2 wards all about Joseph and Emma. Meanwhile, Jeff sang a musical number in Sacrament Meeting in another ward, and then taught a group of teens a Sunday school lesson, with music.
That night, we traveled south a bit and all four of us spoke and sang in a stake youth fireside. The message was Living your faith while living your dreams. The stake young women’s president was in tears; she told us that we touched on every topic that she had hoped, and that we talked about just what her youth needed. Many of the youth came up and talked to us – many of them were involved with performing groups, and were touched and inspired by the spirit in the fireside. In all of the occasions, we were announced as actors for Liken the Scriptures, but unfortunately none of us used Liken music on Sunday. Having the sheet music soon will help that become more common.
Jolene, her husband Dave, their family, and the many other homeschooling parents were unbelievably helpful. They did pack our days full, but we always had a ride, food, a place to sleep, and were treated very well by everyone. Jolene even arranged a friend to come who is a professional massage therapist to come give us a massage. We were also treated to the amazing “Blue Bell” Ice Cream (A local Texas favorite) not once, but twice. J (And how can we get the “fast food” chain Taco Cabana in Utah?)
So it was a great trip, hard work, but rewarding. I hope we can do it again!
