History of Journey to Bethlehem
Hey there bloggers!
Jon Crowe here, director and creator of Journey to Bethlehem here at Journey of Faith in Manhattan Beach, CA. Now, I really don't take credit for J2B all myself. In reality, it takes over 300 people to create and build and act and teardown Bethlehem every year. I just get the joy of leading them all, and the blame when something falls apart. Trust me, this job is 99% joy!
This is the third year that we have produced this amazing event. Last year we saw 6500 people walk through the park in the four nights we were open. This year we anticipate 8000 or more. With a cast of 170 people, 30+ animals, angels, Roman soldiers and over 40,000 square feet of park, J2B is the largest production I have ever worked on.
In December of 2003, Journey of Faith decided to produce our own Bethlehem experience for 2004. I was the lucky one to direct the endeavor, it all hinging on whether we could build it in time, train the actors, and have it all fold up and fit into a container when we were done. Considering this is year three, I guess you know that we pulled it off.
So planning began in February of '04, and the cast was recruited in June. Set building began in July, and by September, I was sweating bullets wondering if we were going to run out of time. It came down to the week of the event, and all the sets we had built prior came out of the shipping container. Sunday following the last service, the lower parking lot was cleared of all cars, and the mayhem began. 150 volunteers with gloves showed up and started standing walls everywhere. Like ants with one goal in mind, they all literally created Bethlehem in about 3 hours. Ok, well- they created the outline of Bethlehem. It didn't look like Bethlehem though. That took the next 3 days...
65 gallons of paint, 1500 feet of burlap, 200 sheets of lattice, about a mile of jute rope, 300 palm branches and 60 bales of straw helped create the look of the old, biblical Bethlehem we were aiming for. I sat back that Thursday morning and just couldn't stop grinning. I was so proud of all the work the volunteers had accomplished in the past 6 months. It looks fantastic! Like the set of a big budget movie- Journey to Bethlehem had come into existence. Now it just needed to come to life...
So let me jump back in time again, to August of '04. Our cast of 140 had been selected and roles given out. These actors then began attending Actors' Workshops, learning what the culture was like back in real Bethlehem around the time Christ was born. They also learned how to 'stay in character.' This acting technique is crucial to keeping Bethlehem alive. If a cast member was to break character, they ruin the image of really living in Bethlehem. So weeks of training into the late nights had to happen. The cast really stepped up and devoured the material, learning their characters and learning the techniques. Improvisation is really what it all comes down to. When a visitor asks you a random question you are not prepared for, you have to know how your character would answer! Not as easy as it might sound!
So with cast ready, and the park ready, all that was left was getting a production crew ready. We need a highly-trained, well-oiled, smooth-as-butter operating team. We had a handful of volunteers. Don't get me wrong- these are the right and perfect people for the job! It was just that they (nor I) had ever done something this big before! So, you'd think we'd practice it a few times before we opened to the public, right? Of course not! Ha! "Boldy going where other would have rehearsed themselves silly!" Our thinking= Why waste that practice time? Let's just see how it goes! That Thursday, at 5:30pm, the cast showed up, the crew showed up and the line outside the park started growing. I ran through a crash-course in how I envisioned the production cues going, where the exits and bathrooms were, and we sent them out into the park. 6pm hit moments later, and we opened the gates...
Flawless! (Except for the minor fire.) Ok, yes, we had a small fire. And I mean small. One of the stage curtains for the angels landed on one of the hot lights and started smoking. I ran up there, told the curtain pullers to raise the curtain mid-angel announcement. Everyone was puzzled why the curtains came back up covering the angels when they were only half way through their number until the curtain popped into flame! I think all of 10 people actually saw the flames that burnt a silver-dollar sized hole in the curtain before I beat them out with my bare hand. The small scar I have on the back of my hand served as a HUGE wake up reminder about how easy it could have been for everything to go wrong. Needless to say, Journey to Bethlehem 2005 had many improvements, first of all being flame-proofing the entire set- TWICE. I personally sprayed every bit of canvas, the straw, the sets, all of it twice with Fire-Marshall approved flame retardant. We now do this every year. We also improved the angel stage so that curtains can not land on a light. Ever. Our videos for the people waiting in line talk about "no smoking" in or out of Bethlehem. And we now have added emergency exits all over Bethlehem, marked with red flags. We want to be safe!
Ok, so the first year performances went great. We saw about 4000 visitors, and everyone loved it. The second year, we had to beg and plead to get 125 cast members. And I already mentioned we had 6500 visitors. We wanted J2B to be bigger and better from year one to year two, so we also added another 15,000 square feet (the marketplace) to the park layout, bringing it up to the current 40,000 sq. ft. you will visit this year. Do we plan on adding more footage in future years? You'll just have to come back next year to find out, now won't you?
This being the first (and hopefully not last) blog, I'll sign off now. Don't expect to hear much from me over the next two weeks, as I have my hands and head full of the million-and-one things I need to make sure get done, built or solved before J2B '06 can launch on December 7 this year. I've provided some links below with some promotional materials.
I need to get some sleep, so I can get up early in the morning to cut some metal for a new feature to this years' Bethlehem. (You'll have to visit to see what it is!) Then I have to pick up dirt for the brick-makers, and reeds for the basket weavers. Ok, so make that a million-and-four things...
Jon Crowe signing off. Later.
Links
Journey To Bethlehem Official Site
YouTube Video
Journey to Bethlehem's gates
will be open to the public
December 8-10, 2006
6:00pm to 8:30pm
Journey Of Faith Church
1243 Artesia Blvd.
Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
P: 310.372.4641
CLICK HERE FOR MAP
