Chuck “retired” to work full-time for Oh Pray. Once he completed the orchestration for the kid’s videos animated by Karen, they turned their focus to the Daniel musical originally performed at Brunswick Church in Troy, NY. Little did they know when God put it on their heart to begin to write this in 2007, how relevant the story of Daniel’s faith and persistence in the face of persecution would be in 2023 when it was produced on the professional stage!
This Daniel project continues to be a walk of faith with God watching over them. In his timing, doors continue to open to the right people – just when they need them.
First Chuck worked with Gary Tash in Albany, NY to create a full-orchestra sound for several of the songs from the original musical. They used church friends to sing the vocals. These first professional recordings gave them a taste of where their musical creations could go! Once in SC, Chuck continued to develop his own digital orchestrating skills by adding full orchestration to the rest of the original songs from Daniel and helping the church Praise Band record an album. Meanwhile, local musical talent, Rachel Premo, worked with Chuck to create a professionally scored libretto. Apparently professionals want more than a few chords written on the top right hand side of a page of lyrics!
Over fifty people participated in the creation of the first professionally mastered Cast Album. Volunteers with amazing voices came from all over the area including: neighbors, work friends, their Bible study and worship team at Northwood Church in Summerville SC, as well as from performance groups like S.H.E.E.P. and House Theatre. Yes, they even walked up to people after concerts and said, “Wow, you have a great voice! Would you like to come sing for us?” and soon to be friends would say, “Sure!” This original cast album was a critical step in attracting others to be interested in this project. In the meantime, Karen reworked and expanded the original script which led to the change of the name of the play to Daniel and the Kings. Their goal at this point was to try to get the full libretto released by a distribution house or publisher.
What they soon discovered is that unless they could get the play up on its feet by having it performed and videoed in the new format, no publishing house or distributor would even look at their libretto (script/music/lyrics). Since Chuck and Karen were at a new church and no longer in charge of music programming, they needed to find someone else locally to work with. None of the groups they reached out to were interested in piloting the musical for them. The Smith’s still believed their story needed to be told and decided they had come too far to turn back.
Their only choice was to try to rent a community theatre stage and produce this themselves, even if their friends and family thought they were crazy. They began looking at theaters around the area and putting in applications for dates for the following year. Several wonderful dramaturges stepped forward to review their libretto, which led to the first of many rounds of revisions to tighten the script. Songs were cut, new ones added, and the first of many rounds of libretto revisions were made. The first formal reading brought great input and encouraged them to keep pushing forward; but also revealed the how much work was yet to be done.
It was around that time that Chuck was able to make contact with Brad Moranz, a former Broadway actor, tour circuit actor, director, producer, talented musician and writer in his own right who just happened to live in the Charleston area. He and his wife Jenny, a former Rockette and Broadway dancer, and choreographer, took a liking to Chuck, and were kind enough to give them guidance from time to time on the project, though they told the Smith’s they were not interested in producing it themselves.
The Smith’s knew they wanted to take the music to another level and prayed for God to send them the perfect person. His name was Abdiel Iriarte, an incredibly talented musician-orchestrator from Venezuela. When they first met, Abdiel shared that he was praying for a faith-based production to work on. It was instant connection and friendship. Abdiel began working with Chuck to expand the music and create orchestration worthy of a pit orchestra; bringing originality, pace and a sound that rivals Broadway productions!
A funny thing happened on their way to the next step. Karen was almost killed in a motor vehicle accident a block from home. She suffered major life changing injuries and due to the long period of recovery, lost her business in the process. To make matters worse, the doors to every one of the small community theaters closed to the Smiths. There was only one theatre that would even take their call, but it was the largest venue in Charleston. Realizing that tomorrow is never a guarantee, they decided to go all in, walk through the open door and do something no one ever does. They decided to dream big and release their new musical, Daniel and the Kings, as a worldwide premiere at a professional level!
With Karen still in the wheelchair, they rolled into the North Charleston Performing Arts Center and in an act of faith, booked the venue for following year. As a result of being committed to the NCPAC and Abdiel’s involvement, the North Charleston POPS orchestra agreed to join and participate in this new project from local writers.
Brad Moranz, probably realizing the Smith’s were now way over their heads, offered to dramaturg and began meeting with Chuck, Karen and Abdiel twice-weekly, reading and rereading and honing the script, lyrics, and adding, “Pace, pace, pace!” The goal was to create a memorable high-quality professional production, with an engaging storyline, at times funny, other times moving and powerful, with a relatable message that maintained scriptural integrity.
Remarkably, a team of professionals all with Broadway level experience came together along side of Chuck and Karen. One great production team person led to another.
Thomas Keating, chair of Charleston Southern University Theatre department, who worked on Broadway doing sets, stepped in to help as Consulting Producer. Thomas led them to Nicole Campbell, Lighting Designer who had an amazing resume doing productions around the country; she not only has a love for hanging from the rafters, she is creative and has heart for God! She led them to Kayla Arrell, Scenery Designer in PA, who worked for Sight and Sound and little things like the MTV awards and the Super Bowl. Kayla, Zoom-ed her way onto the creative team and provided the blueprints for TTS studios; a set builder for International and Broadway tour groups that just happened to be headquartered in Charleston. Costume Designer Janine McCabe, Chair of College of Charleston Theatre department, had worked on Broadway doing costumes and just happened to be going on sabbatical so had the time to work on our project; no small task as it was close to 100 costumes! Janine led to Jonathan Wentz, a new faculty at College of Charleston with a rare Masters in Prop design, who created exquisite and authentic looking set props. Friend Kris Meade of Meade Agency, not only helped with video promos, but arranged for the 4K videography of the production… after all that was the initial goal; to see Daniel and the Kings up on its feet!
It was an incredible moment when Brad Moranz agreed to officially direct their production. His unique set of talents as well as his contacts with professional performers and dancers from Broadway, Off-Broadway, and top local talent, made all the difference! Brad set up two formal readings; each of which helped guide casting decisions but also led to major rewrites. Changes in the libretto were made right up to opening night. In the end, seven of the original songs from Daniel never made it to Daniel and the Kings. Eight new songs were created including Something More, Worth a Statue, He Drew Me In and Queen of Babylon, mostly in the final months leading up to the show. And just about every one of the original songs were changed along the journey.
To make the final production happen, they needed stage managers, make-up and hair crew, costumers and seamstresses, prop managers, audio engineers, video photographers, choreographers, lighting crew, stage hands, places to rehearse, help building small sets and props, parent volunteers for backstage, social media experts and publicists. Even the performers and their families stepped up to help with marketing and ticket sales. Christian radio and local TV channels helped. Daniel and the Kings grew like a whirlwind of positive energy because the message of Daniel and the Kings is worth sharing. Everyone involved felt they were part of something important.
Post production, the work continues with God opening the door to a litany of others… professional Video Editor, Jeff Warren of Neato Pictures, Colorist/Video Editor Peder Morgenthaler of Frame Linear, and Mixer/Mastering Sound Engineer, and Elliot Elsey from Truphonic Studios. The next step?
God is good.
