HOLUNG... this year with Moses I tried to centre the message around 'I am' - I AM THAT I AM - to be, which. is life

When, at the National Arena on April 30, the curtain raises on Father HoLung and Friends' 2004 musical Moses, it will be a spectacular feat - not just in terms of the awesome set, costumes and lighting - but because the journey to opening night has been, for the cast and crew, including HoLung himself, nothing short of miraculous.

Looking into his twinkling eyes and feeling the deep-rooted happiness in his voice, it's hard to believe that Father Richard HoLung, founder of the Missionaries of the Poor, just last year spent months recovering from open-heart surgery. The strain on him and others then, he said, had him wondering for a while if going through with the production of Moses was wise, considering the 68 year-old priest is central to the script and score writing, and to the production itself.

"I wasn't able to walk, I could barely eat and I slept a lot," he says, but amidst the pain and helplessness, it occurred to him that the important thing wasn't that he was sick, but that he was alive.
"Then the thought came - the Lord has saved my life for me to do things, not just to exist, and since he has spared me, it's clear he wants me to do more than exist - to do more for him."

With the help of foundation music ministry actor/singer/songwriter and star of Moses, Wynton Williams, the score evolved, and as Moses grew from a thought to a possibility, the talents of others, such as director Alwyn Bully, production co-ordinator PJ Stewart and more than 50 volunteers, nourished an idea into what may very well be, as they advertise, 'the biggest Jamaican musical ever on stage'.

But as the idea grew, so too did the challenges. To truly tell the story of Moses, who received the 10 Commandments, spoke to a burning bush, and led the Israelites out of the land of Egypt, parting the Red Sea among other miracles along the way, the group would have to convert the National Arena into the ancient Middle East, a seemingly impossible endeavour. Still, with the hard work and ingenuity of the many volunteers, Father HoLung is confident that the show will be on time, on target, and mind-blowing.
On Friday morning when the Observer passed by, the North Street compound of the Missionaries of the Poor was a beehive of activity. In the broiling mid-morning sun, sheep and goats milled about while a team of about 20 Brothers, directed by set-builder PJ Stewart and deft carpenter, Belizian Brother Jesus, were painting, sanding and hammering with wild abandon.

In the far north corner, sculptor Laura Facey-Cooper, creator of the controversial Redemption Song monoliths in Emancipation Park, chiselled relentlessly at an 11X10 foot Styrofoam block that will become a replica of the mask of famous Pharaoh Tutankhamen.
As Stewart explains how the pieces will come together to represent the various bits of scenery designed by Alwyn Bully, it is easy to see that mounting this show will be no walk in the park. A 30-foot replica of Mount Horeb, she says, is being constructed elsewhere, and later will be joined with the gigantic columns and staircase the brothers were painting. According to Brother Raymond, the sheep will be part of the cast, and real snakes too - if he has anything to do with it.

To do justice to what seems to be shaping up to be a magnificent set, Brother Raymond says that a sound system and a lighting system will both be brought in from Miami, necessary, he says to maximise the impact of the musical's many special effects.
With all the various appurtenances, however, Father HoLung (who will be performing as part of the cast) insists that the beauty, simplicity and relevance of the message will not be overshadowed.
The story of Moses was specially selected, explains HoLung, because there are many elements of that part of the Bible that are not dissimilar to the modern experience.

"(In Moses) Jamaicans will find many messages and images that apply to today's world. For instance, the Egyptians at the time worshipped a god named Cyrus, but Cyrus only provided a world that was transitory.
"We too, are becoming more foreign every day, getting caught up in the crassness and materialism of our time, yet, my experience as a Jamaican is that we are a people who love life; and with all our sinfulness, our crass behaviour and our ugly sides, there is that love of life, a sense of that kindness, sweetness and god-fearing-ness that keeps our hopes alive."

Over the past 32 years, Father HoLung and Friends musicals have grown from having a cast of four to a cast of 80; from a small concert to an annual event on the theatre calendar. Last year's show, Jesus 2000, for instance, is still running, with overseas engagements planned over the next few months. But even after many years of doing it, the growth and success of the productions still excites HoLung, who sees the musicals as a vital component of his mission to spread the good news.
"This year with Moses I tried to centre the message around 'I am' - I AM THAT I AM - to be, which. is life. To be alive is the greatest thing, a gift really."
The music and dialogue of Moses, HoLung says, were carefully created to reflect the spirit and sound of Jamaica, and depends heavily on Reggae, calypso, and patois.

"One of my goals has been to make everything Jamaican yet very biblical," HoLung explains, pointing out playfully that in Moses the Egyptians largely speak English, while the Israelites speak patois.
"Music comes from the soul, and so can't carry a message through foreign music - people will not identify with that. Music - and language - are from the soul, so we have made sure that the music is Jamaican, and that the dialogue moves back and forth between patois and standard English."

The funds raised from Moses will go towards the charities of the Missionaries of the Poor worldwide, including the five homes the brothers operate here in Kingston. HoLung is founder of the order, which today has hundreds of brothers running homes in places as close as in Cap-Haitien in Haiti; and some as far away as Uganda, India and the Philippines.

"Many people don't know this, but Jamaica is the foundation for all our missions around the world. Jamaicans founded most Missionaries of the Poor missions, and most of the money used to fund them comes from Jamaica."
In fact, says HoLung, the order is so 'Jamaican', it is a characteristic that the brothers have taken all around the world.

"Everywhere the brothers go - even if they are not from Jamaica - they are known as the Jamaican brothers. That's because this is the centre - all brothers must come here for training before they go to the various missions, and the money raised here through productions like Moses will go to missions all around the world.
"That's why when people say Jamaica is cruel, hard and that sort of thing, I say 'No, it is a country of generosity and kindness'," HoLung added.

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