CATHOLIC priest Father Richard Ho Lung is pleased with last weekend’s staging of the musical King David.

Produced by Ho Lung and Friends, the production is currently at the National Arena in St Andrew.

“It was really a wonderful and beautifully presented. There were some 6,000 people,” Ho Lung told the Jamaica Observer.

Ho Lung said King David’s reviews so far have been encouraging.

“I have been receiving flattering remarks from many people… They have been saying ‘this is a world-class production’ and that ‘it has made Jamaica proud’,” he said.

Patron Fay Findlay told the Observer she was delighted with the musical.

“The music was great and so too was the production. I really, really enjoyed it,” she said.

The money raised from King David will be used to feed, clothe, and take care of the nearly 700 sick, abandoned and homeless that are being housed in Ho Lung’s Missionaries of the Poor facilities. He said it costs US$1,000 per person.

“The money collected will go a far way,” he said.

International recording artiste Shaggy used his star power and his talents to assist Ho Lung’s cause. He recorded Rise Up, written by Ho Lung, with a team comprising Tarrus Riley, drummer Sly Dunbar, keyboardist Steven ‘Lenky’ Marsden, and singer Chevaughn. The track is part of the musical.

“Even though I knew the work that Father Ho Lung was doing with the Missionaries of the Poor, it was not until I went down there that I realised how big it was. It’s huge. You’re looking at everybody in Jamaica that nobody wants, he takes. The mothers with AIDS, the kids with Down Syndrome, the homeless people and the ones with mental illness, they’re all there. They have their meals and medication and he monitors that,” Shaggy told Observer in a previous interview.

King David stars Wynton Williams, Sean Michael Harris and reggae singer Chevaughn. The team includes Jon Williams, who is responsible for the music; director Greg Thame, Robin Baston as the technical director, choreography by Paula Shaw; and set design by PJ Stewart.

“You’ll really see some extraordinary talent,” he said.

King David traces the Biblical story of the shepherd boy who would later become king. It is scheduled to run today until Friday at 10:30 am.

The musical continues on Saturday, 2:00 pm and 7:00 pm; and Sunday, 2:00 pm and 6:30 pm.

“Come out and see it. If you miss it, you’re gonna cry,” he said.