THE PROMISE EASTER PAGEANT 1997 – Present

                                        By Vicki Bubalo….Artistic Director

                                             THE CALL

THE PROMISE EASTER PAGEANT is a dramatic musical production of epic proportions depicting the life of Jesus Christ from birth through Ascension. My name is Vicki Bubalo and I have been the Artistic Director of THE PROMISE in Washington Indiana from its vision through the present day. I thought you might be interested in how the vision became a reality in our little town of 12,ooo.

Let’s begin with a scripture verse from Phil. 1:12. Paul said “But I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the Gospel.” It was evident at an early age that music would prove to play a major role in my life. So much so that I receive a bachelors & masters degree in vocal music education and taught music in the public schools for 15 years. I’ve always been involved in musical theatre productions as an actor and director in whatever community I’ve lived in. It was’nt until 1990 when I suffered from chronic depression and an emotional breakdown that I began to reflect on life and experienced a turning point (a significant moment) in my faith journey. It was then I gained a desire to attend Seminary and became consecrated as a Diaconal Minister (known as  Deacon today ) in the United Methodist Church in the area of music & drama. A Diaconal Minister is one who uses his/her gifts & graces to bridge the gap between the church and the world. I felt by doing this I would be “doing my best to present myself as one who handles the WORD of the Lord correctly.” (2 Timothy 2:15) One could say that my life theme became that as spoken in Col. 3:16 “Do whatever it takes to help others to “Let the WORDS of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another with all wisdom as they sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with an attitude of gratitude in their hearts.” I hope you now glimpse my part in the motivation behind the development of THE PROMISE.

The local PROMISE story began in December 1997 as my 5^th grade Sunday school class & I were viewing a new video( recommended by our local Christian bookstore) called THE PROMISE recorded live in Branson, MO written by Gary Rhodes and Jan Dargatz. During the entire viewing I remember thinking to myself that our community certainly had the talent to produce this same show at this same level of quality. Throughout the following week that thought became relentless. Needless to say those thoughts became A CALLING and are now what I term to be my passion in life.

                                         THE CHALLENGE

A plan was needed and the first step was to meet with fellow thespians, musicians and the Washington Area Ministerial Association in order to gain support and sell the idea as a community-wide, non-denominational project. Then a Board of Directors was developed for decision making purposes. Non-profit status was secured and we began to work on the money factor. I visited a few business owners asking for financial support, secured a line of credit through the end-of show at a local lumber company and wrote patron letters to local churches, businesses and individuals for prayers and financial support. We also took offerings during intermission of each show. The goal was NOT to make a profit but to present free of charge the most creative, credible, historically correct production to the very best of our abilities. The money was used to build sets, obtain hand props, purchase make-up, rental of sound equipment, lighting, backdrops, purchase of music and rental of animals.

Speaking of animals, Clyde (our 1^st camel) was trained to follow his owner with the incentive of a 2 liter bottle of coke (which presented its own set of problems). The difficulty was Clyde had never been inside a building other than a barn. It was a major struggle to drag him through the garage doors of Washington High School at gate 1 so you can imagine what it took to persuade him to go through even smaller auditorium doors. However, the big trauma occurred when we foolishly tried to entice Clyde the camel to walk up the stage steps when right next to those steps was an orchestra pit. Can you imagine watching a 1300 lb. camel fall into an orchestra pit and then visualize what it took to get him out? You haven’t lived until you can say you have pushed on a camel’s butt! We heard the following day the WHS maintenance crew carefully went through the halls with a flashlight trying to analyze the mysterious hoof prints and locate the strange animal that got into the school building over the weekend. It’s easier to get forgiveness than it is permission, I always say! We realized the value of constructing animal planks for entrances and covering the orchestra pit with a false floor after that day. Many such lessons have been learned through the years of taking risks, making mistakes and starting over when needed.

                                               THE CLOSE

The 1998-2000 productions were held in the WHS auditorium and the plot switched from present day to Biblical times. In 2001 a stationary set was constructed, we were invited to move to the new Antioch Christian Church auditorium on Highway 50 east in Washington and the script changed completely to 1^st century Christianity throughout the presentation. In 2005 the Board made the decision to produce every other year. Each year we do try to make changes to script and music to keep it interesting and challenging for cast and crew as well as the audience. It is the greatest hope of the cast and crew that those who experience THE PROMISE will come away from the encounter with an acute awareness that Biblical people, places, things and events are not unlike their modern counterparts. The players and stages change, but the Lord does not. What He does for those in the past, He does for us today. He invites us to participate in the divine drama of the ages. What a joy to do so! Many people make a huge sacrifice of their time and talent so that others might be moved to find a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and experience the promise of eternal life! It’s a wonderful visual aid that allows everyone who sees it to “Let the Word of Christ dwell in them richly”. May God bless you!