As we get ready head to the fall and the cooling temperatures, it is awards time in the Chicago theater community and the Jeff Awards committee has made their selections for the 2007-2008 Equity Awards.  Once again, Provision Theater Company has garnered a nomination.

This year, Brad Armacost was nominated for best solo performance in C.S. Lewis on Stage, performed at the Royal George Theater.

This one-man show captured the personality and writing of the author of THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA and SCREWTAPE LETTERS so well as Brad gave us an intimate look at the Oxford man who could make his audience think as deeply as he made them laugh.  Congrats to Brad!

This represents the 6th nomination (7th total) for this highly-regarded Chicago theater company in its short four year history.

Provision Theater Company burst onto the Chicago theater scene in March 2004 with the opening of Harry Chapin’s off-Broadway smash hit Cotton Patch Gospel, which played to packed houses and unanimous critical praise from numerous publications, including: Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, Chicago Reader and more. The production was also nominated for a Joseph Jefferson Award.  Provision Theater Company followed that with two more Joseph Jefferson Award nominations for their critically-acclaimed production of A Christmas Carol. Other highly praised and Joseph Jefferson nominated productions include: The Boys Next Door, The Spitfire Grill, The Gospel of John and Beast on the Moon. Check out their 2 minute promo video to learn more about the company.

Previous Awards and Nominations for this excellent theater company include:

• Joseph Jefferson Award Nomination for Best Actor in a Musical (Timothy Gregory), 2004 – Cotton Patch Gospel
• After Dark Award for Best Actor (Timothy Gregory), 2004 – Cotton Patch Gospel
• Joseph Jefferson Award Nomination for Best New Adaptation (Timothy Gregory and David H. Bell), 2006 – A Christmas Carol
• Joseph Jefferson Award Nomination for Best Actor in a Musical (Bradley Armacost), 2006 – A Christmas Carol
• Joseph Jefferson Award Nomination for Best Supporting Actress in a Musical (Susan Moniz), 2006 – The Spitfire Grill
• Joseph Jefferson Award Nomination for Best Actress in a Principal Role (Tiffany Scott), 2007 – Beast on the Moon

I was greatly touched by JR Kerr’s message yesterday about grace. As an example, he told the story about Sara Tucholsky of the Western Oregon University softball team, who hit a home run in a game against Central Washington this year, but as she was headed to first base, her knee buckled and she went down. It’s against the rules for your own team to help you around the bases, so since she was unable to run herself, it looked as though the home run wouldn’t count. But, two players from Central Washington actually picked Sara up and carried her around the bases stopping on each base so she could touch the bag with her foot. This selfless act of grace moved Sara’s teammates to tears, but it also cost Central Washington the playoffs because they were disqualified. But, doing the right thing was the only thing to do.  Central Washington may have lost out on the playoffs, but their character was stronger than ever and what grace they showed.

It reminded me of an act of grace at Park a number of years ago that shows what the body of Christ should be — read and be inspired:

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Joe Barrett — His unusual donation saved a life — by Christine Tatum

(reprinted from Today’s Christian, September/October 1997)

Brad Szczecinski was looking for God when he wandered into a prayer meeting at Park Community Church in Chicago back in 1996. He figured the Lord owed him a few explanations for the troubles in his life. Chief among them, kidney failure. Joe Barrett, the group’s leader, took one look at the pale, chisel-cheeked visitor and wondered how to help him. Prayer seemed simple enough, so he invited Brad to stay after the group dismissed.”I had never considered myself the type to be able to sit down with another guy, hold hands, and pray,” Brad said. “But that’s what we did. And that night at church changed my entire life.” The Lord rattled Joe Barrett, too. He went home with Brad’s health weighing on his heart.

“I kept praying for healing for Brad,” Joe said. “Then it occurred to me that God has infinite ways of solving problems, and with his help, I had the power to be one of them.”Two weeks after their first meeting, Joe offered to give Brad one of his kidneys. But because five relatives already had volunteered to become donors, Brad didn’t think he would need to accept his new friend’s offer.  He was wrong. Doctors ruled out Brad’s mother, aunt, and uncle right away, focusing instead on his brother and a cousin. The testing process took months; Brad was put on dialysis three times a week. Joe spent much of that time at his side, reading the Bible and praying. Brad’s younger brother seemed to be the ideal match until doctors discovered an undiagnosed heart condition. The day after that announcement, Brad’s cousin was rushed to the hospital with gall bladder trouble. She, too, was an unsuitable donor.

“I was going nuts and called Joe just to say I was pulling my hair out,” Brad said. “He had been my sounding board and knew what I was going through.”Joe wasted little time. Tests showed he was a suitable donor, and doctors performed the kidney transplant in November 1996. But, Joe admits, the operation never would have happened two years earlier.”I would’ve felt sorry for him and maybe wished him luck and then gone about my business,” said Joe, the owner of an international finance company. “Because that was my life—business. Being very self-centered, I did what I wanted. But that was before Christ entered my heart and changed my priorities.”Both men spent much of the winter recovering from the surgery. Brad successfully fought episodes of organ rejection. Joe said the pain he endured cannot compare to the joy he feels every time he sees a spring in Brad’s step or color in his cheeks.  “God’s love has so powerfully moved this entire process,” Joe explains. “At first, I just prayed for him to perform a miracle and heal Brad. But that would have had such a limited effect.”We tend to think miracles are things that happen to others, not us,” he adds. “But I’m here to tell you that isn’t so.”

Our greatest fear is not that we are inadequate,
but that we are powerful beyond measure.

It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us.
We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant,
gorgeous, handsome, talented and fabulous?

Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.

Your playing small does not serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking
so that other people won’t feel insecure around you.

We were born to make manifest the glory of God within us.
It is not just in some; it is in everyone.

And, as we let our own light shine, we consciously give
other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our fear,
our presence automatically liberates others.
—– Marianne Williamson

My kids and I watched “Akeelah and the Bee,” last week, in which an 11-year-old, African-American girl comes to embrace her talent as a speller with the help of a mentor played by Laurence Fishburne. His character uses the Williamson quote to help inspire Akeelah toward her quest of becoming a spelling-bee champion. What a great reminder on this Friday that we are fearfully and wonderfully made.