CODE West

CODE WEST in Hanford, CA, went extremely well. The Hanford High School Theater was once again the location for CODE West. Clinicians taught Acting 101 - 201, Directing 101 - Advanced Directing classes like Splash (This is a new class session that's loud, active and explosive.), Stage Design, Monologue, Playwriting, Improvisation, Dinner Drama, Street Theater, Musical Underscore, Flats, Props, Marketing Your Event and more.

The evening drama revues featured drama teams from all over the state of California, Neveda, Texas and Arizona. God blessed each day with his presense and everyone was inspired and anointed before they left to take what they learned back home.

We performed Dance of the Broken Bones on Friday evening. What a night of anointed drama. The script will be available on the website at howitiller.com in a few days.

I performed Wild Oats and Checkers as the finale on Saturday morning. There wasn't a dry eye in the house. This script is already available.

Up next: Vacation with my son and friends....fishing, boating and jet ski.

CODE West

Well, the first day of CODE West went awesome. A great mix of sign language, stand up comedy, monologue and drama. People from Nevada, Texas, Arizona and of course California came together for the seventh annual CODE West.

The trip here wasn't the best. It started when flying out of Omaha an hour late. Arrived in Phoenix just in time to walk off one plane and step right on another to LAX. I asked about the luggage, but was assured that the luggage would also make it. Well, upon arriving in LAX, the luggage didn't make the trip. Did the typical counter report and was assured that the luggage would be at my hotel in Hanford CA the next morning....not on your life. I still don't have it and won't have it until tomorrow around ten o'clock. That's not all...I arrived at my hotel at 2:30AM only to find out that my room had been canceled. Finally found another hotel...got in bed about 4:00am...got up early to teach a youth group the song by Kirk Franklin and Toby Mac called Lose My Soul...we act it out. Anyway, all is well now...well except I don't have my luggage yet, but hopefully that will be remedied by 10.

English and Spanish Father's Day

Well, the weekend in Stockton, CA turned out to be quite an experience...especially for me. I'm always encouraging students to be stretched...well, I was stretched a bit by doing two services on Father's Day...not the two services, but one of them being in Spanish. Imagine doing a monologue with an interpreter. I did a monologue called "The Bible" with an interpreter. It took a little longer, but was still performed in a good amount of time. For me the highlight was performing "Watch the Lamb" and "Crucified With Christ" to spanish vocalists. The words are a little different, but it worked well. I had to sing the words in mind, so I wouldn't get ahead or behind. Overall, I'm glad I took on the challenge and now can do those two songs in Spanish. We are trying to add more sketches in spanish on our website at howitiller.com. Right now we have one Christmas play in spanish and one Easter monologue (Obvious) in Spanish.

What An Incredible Day

Had an 8 hour session today in Stockton, CA. I taught a group 30 people how to do Crucified With Christ and Still Her Little Child with dowel rods. Then I experienced a first...I learned to do Crucified With Christ in spanish. Then practiced Watch The Lamb (By Ray Boltz) in spanish. Wathc the Lamb is a song I do a interpretation to...it's part acting, mime and intrepretive movement.

Well, tomorrow will be a long day. The english speaking service starts at 9:30am...then the spanish speaking service starts at 11:15am. Should get out service about 1:00, go eat, drive an hour to Sacrmento, catch a flight to Phoenix, connect to Omaha and arrive at 12:30am on Monday morning. Stay home for 2 days and return to Hanford, CA for CODE West. It never stops.

Drama tip

Directors, you need to be the expert on the script. You should have read the script 5-8 times before you invite others to do your first read through. The more answers you have secured concerning the stage design, blocking, prop demand and any technical issues the easier your rehearsal management will be. The more answers you have determined, the more control you will have in rehearsals. Techs want to know if you've thought the process through. WIll you have all the answers?...No...but the more you have, the better respect you will receive in rehearsal sessions. Be in control of the rehearsal without being controlling. In church drama, actors are volunteers and they won't appreciate you being bossy, but they want to see you masterfully conduct each and every rehearsal with authority concerning the script, but not their life.

Deal with late arrivals with professionalism. Don't publicly embarrass your actors or techs. Wait till a later time to deal with why someone is late. They may have a very good reason. Treat everyone with respect and they will respect you too.

Stockton

Wow! What an awesome night we had in Stockton with about 100 youth. I've been here in Stockton working with a group of 20 teens...taught them dowel rod songs Arise My Love, Presence of the Lord is Here, and 2 song interpretations, If We Are the Body (Casting Crowns), and Lose My Soul (Kirk Franklin and Toby Mac). I mixed what I do as a dramatist and the just learned pieces at last night's youth service. The youth leader said kids that have never come to the altar, came last night and God visited us with a special touch. Kids who have been abused, neglected...from split up homes, runaways all came to start a relationship with Christ. It was incredible. Tonight starts the process of teaching the leaders how to establish an on-going drama ministry, directing, acting, street drama, dinner theater, rehearsal management and more. Friday and Saturday will continue the workshop. Father's Day should prove to be a day the youth will never forget.

Stockton, California

Wow! What a week. I flew home from Anderson, SC. on American airlines at 6:00am Monday. Arrived in Omaha at 9:00am and spent the day with my family...looked at houses as we are in the market. Repacked Monday night and flew to Sacramento, CA...drove an hour to where I am until Sunday night, when I fly back to OMaha. I'm working with youth all this week and doing drama services in English and Spanish. Father's Day should prove to be an exciting day for me doing English and Spanish. I'll let you know how is goes.

CODE East

CODE East was a great success. It was the first CODE hosted in Anderson, South Carolina. 70 registered from Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia and even Louisiana. Drama teams from these regions performed Thursday and Friday night. Some performed sign language songs, some dowel rod, illusion, monologue, and comedy. I ended the Thursday evening night with my signature piece called, "Letting Go". It's a compilation of my mother's struggle with Alzheimers and life's main events where we learn to let go. Friday night was high lighted by the gospel stomp and segue into The Presence of the Lord is Here. If you haven't performed that song yet...your drama team is missing out. Visit our site at howitiller.com. You can read more about CODE at dramacode.com.

CODE East

We're here in Anderson, SC preparing for the first CODE of the year. 90 to 100 hundred are registering for a three day all out drama camp/conference. Registrants from South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia and as far away as Virginia are coming to learn the process of drama evangelism...not just the technical and theatrical elements of drama. Drama teams will perform dowel rod songs, sign language interpretation and interpretive movement as well as traditional dialogued sketches. Watch for pictures on this conference on the our website after this week end. We are planning a DVD or 2 to be available soon. If you have any questions about CODE please visit the CODE site at dramacode.com.

Global impact

We've been in the drama ministry for many years and there's no telling what chain reactions have been set in force. I was perusing youtube yesterday and typed in christian drama...many of the video presentations of dowel rods were actually ours. Drama teams who have bought DVDs from our site are getting out on the street and using it outside the four walls of the church. Street drama is catching on everywhere. If you want to get started in your own drama ministry...visit our site at howitiller.com. It's just waiting to happen.