This Sunday, February 26th, at 7 p.m., Trietsch Memorial United Methodist Church (TMUMC), 6101 Morriss Road in Flower Mound will present the production, “Easter: Holiday or Holy Day.” Written by TMUMC member, Marilyn Hurlbut, the thought-provoking play speaks to our society despiritualizing Easter and helps us learn more about the chronology of events leading up to the crucifixion and resurrection. Everyone, family friends and neighbors, is welcome to this free play. This is an hour-long play using split-screen approach to depict a contemporary Christian family preparing for Easter on one side and the actual events in Jesus’s life, year 0033, on the other side.
Easter, also called Resurrection Sunday, commemorates the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. As described in the New Testament, the miracle occurred on the third day of his burial, following His crucifixion by the Romans at Calvary, circa 30 AD. I invited 2 of the characters in the play to talk about the production and the holiday it represents.
Joseph F. Moore, who portrays Jesus Christ, talks about how he auditioned for the role, and explains the significance of Easter. Eric Williams, playing Saint Peter, gives some background on one of Jesus’s most famous apostles, and how he auditioned for the role. The thespians sent the following bios:
“Joseph F. Moore is a human resources executive and former owner of MN HR Consulting, LLC based in Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas. He retired from Verizon Communications where he was Director – Human Resources for the Engineering and Technology Group after holding numerous HR positions of increasing responsibility throughout the United States. He is a two-time recipient of the Verizon Excellence Award, the company’s highest honor.
“Moore is actively involved in philanthropy throughout North Texas and Mozambique, Africa. He is a trained Judge with the Miss America Organization (MAO) and served on the Judges Panel for Miss Louisiana (2013 & 2018), Miss Colorado (2014), Miss Mississippi (2015), Miss Alabama (2017), Miss Tennessee (2017), and Miss Maryland (2019). Moore received his undergraduate degree with Distinction from the University of Virginia and holds graduate degrees from Indiana University at Bloomington and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He resides in Flower Mound, Texas.”
“Eric Williams is a former contributing writer to the News Connection and Lantana Living Magazine. He is currently working in the financial services as a Series 6 Licensed Rep. He and his wife Sally have been members of Trietsch Memorial United Methodist Church since the mid 1990s when they moved to Lewisville. He’s taught Sunday School, worked as a volunteer Stephen Minister and been active in activities for young people here. Eric’s first dramatic role as an adult was as Peter in a version of this play last year. “This year, we have a larger cast — I think it’s up to 31 people — a more dramatic script and a lots of enthusiasm and expertise.”
“I’m ordinarily a little shy in front of audiences, but Marilyn Hurlbut, who wrote the play, asked me to play Peter,” he explained. “I admire that woman so much… her intellect, kindness and marvelous Christian example. There are many at Trietsch, experienced in stagecraft, helping organize this production. They are patient and encouraging with those of us still learning how to put on a good show.”
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