Peretti ‘fuming’ over Broadway version of This Present Darkness

Lark News ^ | July 2008 | Joel Kilpatrick

[Alex Murphy]

NEW YORK — The angels are familiar, and the demons with the yellow sulfury smoke rising from their nostrils — but the plot, well, not so much.
    The stage version of This Present Darkness, this summer’s Broadway sensation, is raking in profits but has rankled the author and many Christians expecting a faithful re-telling of the book.
    "It’s a pale, watered down representation of my novel," says author Frank Peretti who sold the rights to two longtime producers but is now urging Christians to boycott the show.
    Renamed ‘Dark,’ the musical depicts demons in Cats-style costumes and 12-foot angels in billowing costumes swinging from cables. The show, aimed squarely at Lion King and Wicked audiences, boasts dazzling choreography and a pop song libretto and score with songs by Michael W. Smith and Faith Hill. "It’s spiritual warfare meets West Side Story!" advertises one brochure.
    But instead of drawing sharp lines between evil and good, the show blurs the differences, portraying both sides as sympathetic and flawed. Angels have vices and regrets, and the demon gang leader, a misunderstood ghoul, sings an unexpectedly beautiful song that goes:
   
    I’m a demon, yeah, a gruesome sprite,
    I’ll try to keep you up at night,
    But truthfully I’m not so bad,
    Sometimes even I get sad.
   
    Peretti says the spiritual point has been "ripped out and forgotten."
    "Sympathetic demons?" he says. "Angst-ridden angels? That isn’t my story."
    The producers disagree.
    "We portray the central point of the book, that internal battles are taking place all the time within the human heart," says one. "You’re either following your best impulses or your worst impulses."
    Some Christians are buying it.
    "I think angels can have flaws," says Sandy Wheeler, 34, a mother of two who saw the show on vacation from Iowa. "Otherwise, how did the devil fall? Not just that, but the special effects were amazing."
    Peretti insists that "demons and angels are real, and demons are bad, no matter what the producers say."
    "Go next door to Young Frankenstein," he says. "At least it’s true to its source material." •

[Constitutionalist Conservative]

I love the satire of Lark News -- it nails the evangelical pop culture so well.

[Mr. K]

I want to take my kids to New York for a weekend to see a Broadway show - good idea? or no?

Any recommendations?

( I want to give them things to remember in their childhood )

[sarasota]

Uh, he sold the rights and lost all control. This boycott bit will only draw more attention to it.

[RichInOC]

Kelsey Grammer. “The Screwtape Letters”. Now. Do eet!

[BenLurkin]

“First published in 1986, Peretti’s book set a suspenseful standard in spiritual warfare story-telling that has rarely been met by his contemporaries. Set in the apparently innocent small town of Ashton, This Present Darkness follows an intrepid born-again Christian preacher and newspaper reporter as they unearth a New Age plot to take over the local community and eventually the entire world. Nearly every page of the book describes sulfur-breathing, black-winged, slobbering demons battling with tall, handsome, angelic warriors on a level of reality that is just beyond the senses. However, Christian believers and New Age demon-worshippers are able to influence unseen clashes between good and evil by the power of prayer.” Amazon.com

[enat]

You are in “time out” as far as my prayer list is concerned. You should have warned us on this one, it is sooo “au courant” it is believable!

[savedbygrace]

But I had to google around first to make sure this was just satire.

[raynearhood]

My favorite one, so far, because it reminds me of my the changes that are going on in my old church back in Ohio:

DENVER — Connection Metro Church, which used its foyer coffee bars to attract visitors to its eight satellite churches in the Denver area, has decided to abandon ministry altogether to focus on coffee. "People liked the coffee a lot better than the ministry, according to congregational surveys, so we’re practicing what we preached and focusing on our strengths," says former teaching pastor and now chief marketing officer, Peter Brown. Many in the congregation seem downright relieved. "The sermons were okay, but the vanilla frappes were dynamite," says one woman who regularly attended the church for two years so she could enjoy the special brews. "I even brought my Jewish neighbors and they loved them."

[Constitutionalist Conservative]

DISCLAIMER

LarkNews® is a satirical newspaper published by Joel Kilpatrick. LarkNews uses invented names in all its stories, except in cases when public figures are being satirized. Any other use of real names is accidental and coincidental.

IOW, it ain't real.

[Eepsy]

How old are they? Have they ever been to a 3 hour sit down event before, like a circus? You might want to find a community production to try them out on before stepping out on the Great White Way.

Also, it will be more expensive than you think, especially if you’re eating out, too.

Lion King is always a fun production, great for the six and up set. Mary Poppins was more enjoyable than Little Mermaid.

For a little older there’s Blue Man Group, Hairspray, or the revival of South Pacific (might be too boring). Wicked is family friendly, but don’t go if your kids tend to pick up books on their own initiative. Wicked was a decidedly un-child-friendly novel. Teens might enjoy the spoof of The 39 Steps running at the Cort.

Though it stars Harry Potter, avoid Equus, for easily deduced reasons....