A Letter from the Writer of The New Normal

Although The New Normal deals directly with the 9/11 attack on America, its themes resonate beyond that fateful day. The show weaves comments, sermons and writings by spiritual, political and other thought leaders with songs mostly from the American musical theater and a few original ones, too.

The goal of the show is to present practical ideas from many spiritual paths that comfort and heal. There is no attempt to proselytize or convert. Furthermore, the concepts presented in The New Normal are intended to be helpful with any difficult situation not just the effects of 9/11.

It all started when I was asked to put together some entertainment for an employee Christmas party in December of 2001.

I had been reading the book, From the Ashes: A Spiritual Response to the Attack on America (Collected by the Editors of Beliefnet, published by Rodale), which is a wonderful collection of writings by an array of "spiritual leaders and extraordinary citizens." My idea was to use excerpts from this book together with traditional Christmas songs. Soon other sources were added to the text, such as comments from Fred Rogers, pediatrician Dr. T. Berry Brazelton, and various Web sites, including Beliefnet.com and the one I work for, spirituality.com. There are also excerpts from The Koran, The Bible, The New Testament in Modern English, The Power of Now, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, and many others.

As the piece developed, I began thinking of many songs in the musical theater canon that spoke directly to the human condition. I don't know whether the songwriters intended for these songs to be "spiritual" but when put in this context, the spirituality is obvious. That's not to say there aren't songs in the show that are explicitly spiritual. There are. For instance, you'll find an a cappella version of "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel" but in the context of this show, it seems more like a plaintive cry for God's help than it does a traditional Christmas carol. You'll also find "Sabbath Prayer" from Bock and Harnick's Fiddler on the Roof.

In addition, the CD ends with a version of "The Lord's Prayer," which includes text from Science and Health by Mary Baker Eddy. This song follows several short prayers taken from the book, From the Ashes..., which in turn were taken from the message board of Beliefnet.com. (Similar prayers are used in the opening number, "Something New".) All of these prayers, so genuine and so real in a moment of crisis, seem almost non-denominational or, as a friend once said, "omni-denominational." However, The New Normal is a work in progress and since the recording was made, the creative team decided not to focus on one prayer for the finale.

Here are the new lyrics, set to the same music, most taken from the prayers on the Beliefnet.com message board:

Dear God, please show me the way
Father-Mother God be with all tonight
Please bless those who mourn...
Restoreth my soul
Please give us strength.
May we all have unity.

Thy will be done in earth,
As it is in heaven.
Ya Allah. Please, Yahweh. God is supreme.

Lord God let me not fear.
Give me grace for today.
I must pray for my enemies.

And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.
And Love is reflected in love.

Lord, walk with us,
Let's come together.
Deliver us from evil.

O God, heal those in pain,
Lead those who govern.
And delivereth us from sin, disease, and death.

For Thine is the kingdom,
The signs are all around,
And the power,
God help me
And ease my mind.
And the glory,
Forever.

As it turns out, the show was never performed at the Christmas party, but there was a workshop production of a shorter version of the show (with a different title and many different songs) on December 31, 2001 in Boston. The success of that evening led to the concept album and growth to the full-length stage production.

Everyone involved with The New Normal hopes you will find help and comfort in the messages the show's text and music offers. A portion of the live show and album proceeds will go to various charities associated with the September 11th attacks to further help those in need.

Coming soon to this site, there will be a place to share your comments on the CD and the live production. By joining the enspirepromos mailing list you can keep updated on the show's progress and learn more about how you can bring The New Normal to your community. If you prefer, we can also be reached at the Enspire Productions, Inc. office by calling 1-866-583-0167 or by emailing us directly at enspire@myibocs.com.

We look forward to hearing from you.