“I think an important part of ministry is to bring people together,” said composer/director Laurel Sanders. “And that is my real reason for doing this project. It’s free and a gift to the community.”
The “gift” is the musical drama “The Landowner’s Gift,” composed and staged by Sanders. The musical play will be performed at 7 p.m. on March 27 in the Sanctuary of Grace Lutheran Church, at the corner of Beaver Avenue and South Garner Street. Sanders is the worship and music coordinator and youth choir director at Grace Lutheran Church.
“The Landowner’s Gift” weaves together the Old Testament Story of Noah planting the first vineyard and the New Testament Parable of the workers in the vineyard. “Much like a classical Greek drama, several storytellers and a commentator look upon and describe the action as it unfolds,” Sanders stated. “I have always thought that music must communicate the same message as the lyrics of a dramatic song. I arrange music so that everyone can shine and make a musical contribution.”
For “The Landowner’s Gift,” Sanders composed 14 songs that will be performed by a choir of 25 singers and 12 actors as well as a chamber group of five professional musicians.
Taken together, the two stories at the center of this dramatic piece remind us all that we have been given the bounty of the earth to enjoy, but also to tend carefully.
“The show makes the point that it is important to recognize life and its bounty as a gift to be enjoyed but never taken for granted,” Sanders explained. “True love and grace are boundless and offered equally to all, and we should rejoice when others experience love and grace, even if we feel some people are less deserving than others.”
Sanders has spent a lifetime as a professional musician and composer. She spent significant time plying her craft in Europe, particularly Germany. While she admits that the themes underlying her drama are religious in nature, she believes that “The Landowner’s Gift” will appeal to a general, more secular, audience as well.
Sanders commented that “the landowner represents two figures: the head of the vineyard and also the Creator. The music helps the audience identify with different types of people in the story. These include: those who work eagerly and hard; those who work hard but always wait until someone else takes the lead; those who procrastinate but still expect to be rewarded; and, those who do the absolute minimum to get by.
“All of these behaviors are within each of us at times,” Sanders pointed out. The production includes set and costume designers. “The audience will see a vineyard and a marketplace,” Sanders said. The musical ensemble includes a piano, two flutes, bongos, wind chimes and rain sticks.
Sanders noted that more than 40 people from a half dozen churches are involved in the production.
