Something new is coming...

Hey friends!
We just wanted to let you know that we're still here, and we're in the process of coming up with a new name for the company. It'll be something fun and creative, for sure. But mostly, it will be a sign that we are continuing on, moving forward, and will keep developing new shows. Lee will always be a part of the life and story of this company, and we hope to honor his memory in whatever we do next.

Watch for the new name, along with a new look for the company, to be coming in the next couple months! We're excited to have you on this journey with us... We hope you know that your prayers and encouragement have helped keep us going!

Until next time,
The Ted & Company team

BUILDING AN ICEBERG: Behind the Scenes at a Ted & Company Video Shoot

By Ed Zinkiewicz

My wife and I had an interesting, exhausting, challenging, and joyous time on our summer vacation as we watched the filming of two plays.

Does that sound like fun to you? It didn’t particularly appeal to me. In fact, I brought work along because all I had were images of endless rehearsals, moving stage sets around, cameras being intrusive, and on and on. However, now I’d go back and do it again. And again. And over again. It was wonderful. (And I didn’t get a lot of work done!)

I couldn't help but think of an iceberg while I watched all this happen. Many folks will only see a small part of the iceberg. I got to dive "under the water" and see what a mammoth effort it takes to support this small, visible part of the iceberg, the end result, the DVD. So, please bear with me and I’ll build this iceberg for you one piece at a time. I hope you get as excited as me.

First, though, I’ll "set the stage" for these events. Last spring, Ted & Lee accepted a commission from Abingdon Youth Publishers to create video vignettes for the Bible study of a new Sunday school curriculum for youth, Claim the Life. Last week was the filming of the scenes from Fish-Eyes and Creation Chronicles, two of Ted & Lee’s more popular productions. Other new material will be added in November. Ted & Company will have new versions of their shows on DVD, and Abingdon Youth will have new material to supplement their study.

My wife is the editor for Claim the Life and came to Virginia to see how the production was coming. I got to tag along; I was on vacation. Now, where were we? Oh, yes, at the iceberg. Let us dive in.

The Cast

One layer of the iceberg has to be the cast. Ted has met countless performers as he and Lee perfected this ministry of biblical interpretation and humor. After Lee’s death, Ted called on this community to find just the right mix to make up the "& Company" part of this new ministry called Ted & Company TheaterWorks.

Jason Hildebrand played Andrew to Ted’s Peter in Fish-Eyes. As Jason put it, "I want to explore the irony, the depths of this Andrew." And he did so all the way through the closing line, "Do you think there will be enough?"

Curt Cloninger, McNair Wilson, and Jeff Raught played various roles in the survey of the Old Testament called Creation Chronicles. As the "chronicles" unfolded, I saw the gifts brought by the new talent:

Jeff played the "shy," but proud "President of the glee club."	Curt was the "Old Judge" who got to say, "I told you so."
McNair, as the angel Gabriel, was a delightful "sidekick" for God.	Jason played the ever elusive, Jonah, who carries a life preserver now for security.

All these bits that make up Creation Chronicles bite hard! You’ll never think of these Bible stories without thinking about what you’ve seen these actors do in these skits. From now on I will always see…

…the explosion of surprise on Abram’s face when he gets the news about God’s first requirement: circumcision.	…the bugle player every time I hear the song, "Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho."
…Abel carrying a slingshot.	…Solomon with a quill.

And we cannot forget Ted. Among other amazing characterizations, Ted has permanently transformed Jeremiah for me and, I hope, anyone who hears his "shorts" story. Ted has totally redone my image of Aaron who looks particularly good in a yellow Hawaiian shirt, don’t you think? Did we mention these were funny? Oh, yeah.

"God" shows off things that will scuttle when creation is done!	And that’s my shorts story and I’m stickin’ to it!
A Tower of Babel workman examines his efforts.	"Party Hearty" Aaron celebrates with the Israelites.

Knee-slapping funny, yet challenging and faithful, the sketches themselves proved to be as strong as ever even though told with new faces and actions.

Getting Ready and Taping

Who knew? You can put five cameras, one of which is on a 20-foot boom, into a high school auditorium and still have room for an audience to see the performance!

Popping out of each high-definition camera snaked a cable that joined its fellows at the bottom of the auditorium for a romp out the back door, a sashay across the back yard, and one final hop into the video truck.

I just love toys. You should have seen the electronic wizardry in that truck where the crew could transform the input from the live cameras and all the audio feeds into a single whole with amazing transitions. And it turns out not all the electrons were going out the back door! From the truck, the video director could tell the camera crew in the theater where to focus a camera to catch a new opportunity for visual magic. Lowell Ulrich kept all these toys cooperating throughout.

Darren and Assistant Director Travis Harder monitor the monitors.

The master video wizard was Darren Niesley. He stirred the caldron and whispered his incantations to have cameras leap to his bidding back in the auditorium.

Point of fact, however, while there was wizardry involved, it was the camera crew responsible for all the action – "zoom here," "pan left," "catch the fishing net at this angle." Of course, had David Vogel not provided the lights at the right time the cameras would have filmed nothing!

Camera crew Marty, Gil, and Rob ready for dinner

One of the cameramen was the owner of all this equipment, Richard Hiett, from Harrisonburg. The other camera folks came with Darren from Chicago: Rob and Marty Stewart, Gilbert Sebenste, and JoeKean Tang. Professionals all, these Chicago folks regularly volunteer to film services for Willow Creek Community Church. All five were on vacation, too; they donated their time.

Brian Buchanan and Wayne Deering caught all the lines and, yes, the audience laughter on the soundtrack on a computer with a screen that looks like a soundboard.

God's throne was wonderful. Peter and Andrew had a boat small enough to push around but big enough for a crew of two and 152 fish! Then there were walls for Babel, doors for judges and prophets to go through, as well as backdrops—nice, billowing "firmament" things and draped netting as in a fishing village. And all this was designed by Dave Vogel and Jeff Warner and built, shoved around, and painted by a stage crew including Jeff, David, Shannon Dove, and Mike Martin.

Essential Folks

You can’t have a production this large without support from essential people. So part of our iceberg has to be devoted to directors, managers, musicians, and spouses.








Ingrid De Sanctis directed both productions. Demanding when necessary ("I want you to run your lines this morning."), gracious always (I’m so glad you got to be a part of this."), and, not surprisingly, humorous. The audience loved her practice laughing sessions that started each production. We didn’t get the usual, "you can leave by this exit in the event of an emergency" kind of introduction; we got "laugh as loud as you can. Do we need to try that? Let’s try that!"

Travis Harder was the much needed and valued assistant director in this huge job! He seemed to be in a hundred places at once.

Sheri Hartzler was the production manager. When you needed material for a costume, paper plates for a meal, sunglasses for a performance, volunteers to take someone to or from the airport, cook a meal, or usher, Sheri knew how to find them. And, she got them to the right place at the right time through the five-day labyrinthine schedule. Everyone worked hard; Sheri ran hard.





What a wonderful voice Trent Wagler has, and what an amazing gift Jeff Raught had with his keyboards. Creation Chronicles featured Jeff’s accordion playing as the "President of the glee club." His blues-laden improvisations on the piano especially added a spark of humor there and a hint of sadness there. Fish-Eyes saw Trent—the troubadour—provide an emotive backdrop. Music became a rewarding addition to these productions.

And there were spouses. Don’t you know it was spouses that not only put up with the 12 to 16 hour days this week, but put up with all the preparation, frenzied effort, and heart-bending discussions, organizing, balancing, and planning that took most the summer. "For better or worse" reached extremes at both ends this summer.

The Mennonite Community

I’m an outsider looking in to the Mennonite community. What I saw this week was impressive. I’m reminded about the barn-raisings that I’ve heard about. When the cast and crew needed meals for more than 20 people twice a day, friends and church members pitched in.

Setting up dinner and clean up seemed to go on continuously. One started when the other stopped.
Darren, Sheri, Richard, and Lowell pause to say "hi!"	Rhoda Krause never stopped smiling, no matter how high the stack of dishes!
There did seem to be a lot of smiling customers!
Doing homework, girls? The play will start in a minute. They are in the mood— laughing already! DVDs and music were also available.	The audience awaits When an audience was needed, the church community came; in fact some came to both performances of each of the two shows. The church community provided grace-filled support for the ministry Ted & Lee launched by sending it forward anew through the new Ted & Company. Experiencing this week, even as just a guest, was terrific. I will always be grateful to have been with Ted, his friends, the community, and other witnesses while these events unfolded and all the work of a summer was wrapped up into a little electronic bundle. I can’t wait to see the condensed version, the proverbial "tip of the iceberg" when the DVD is released. I know you will enjoy it too.

LEE ESHLEMAN, August 28, 1963 - May 17, 2007

Harrisonburg, VA, May 18, 2007—Lee Eshleman, one half of the acting duo, Ted & Lee, died on May 17, 2007. Lee took his own life after succumbing to a long battle with depression. He leaves behind his wife, Reagan, and their children, Nicolas, Sarah and Gabe, along with countless friends and fans around the world.

Lee has been acting with Ted Swartz, since 1987, when they were introduced to do some comedy pieces for a retreat. Since then, the duo formed Ted & Lee TheaterWorks and have written and performed dozens of sketches and plays, including their most well-known plays, Fish-Eyes and Creation Chronicles, as well as a Christmas show (written and performed with Ingrid DeSanctis) called DoveTale, and their most recent show, Live at Jacob's Ladder, a musical written with Ken Medema and performed with Ken (and Jeff Raught).

Ted & Lee performed regularly at retreats and conferences for just about every denomination, and were featured performers at national events including DC/LA (for students) and Youth Specialties' National Youth Workers Conventions.

Lee was an active member of Community Mennonite Church in Harrisonburg, Virginia, and is remembered by others as a funny, compassionate, thoughtful man who cared deeply for his family and was passionate about acting and sharing the story of God with others in creative and compelling ways. Along with Ted, he performed all over the country and in Kenya and Japan.

Lee performed a wide range of characters in their shows. But of his favorite, Lee once said, “I think it's Nigel Nevilson; just so darned enthusiastic about everything. He's a good-hearted, optimistic and slightly unhinged soul. Anyone who can find God in Green Eggs and Ham is good company. And when I really cut loose in character, Nigel pulses with all the spontaneity and basic sunny-ness that I sometimes suppress in my real life.”

A memorial service was held on Monday, May 21 in the Lehman Auditorium on the campus of Eastern Mennonite University, Harrisonburg, VA.

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Memorials in Lee’s name can be sent to Our Community Place, 901 Parkwood Drive, Harrisonburg, VA 22802. Our Community Place is a “home” where many of the homeless people in Lee’s community find respect, unconditional love, and something to eat. Lee and his children had worked there this spring planting vegetables for the hungry.

TED & LEE DRAMA LIFTS FIVE YEAR BURDEN

This is the true tale of two modern-day brothers, Ted Hughes and Frederick “Sonny” Hughes, two biblical brothers, Jacob and Esau, and how a Ted & Lee TheatreWorks production made something wonderful happen.

For five years, Ted Hughes lived with the memory of wounding his brother in a verbal exchange left unredeemed after Sonny's death. He thought forgiveness was something he could neither receive from his brother nor allow himself.

Read this full story from the Mennonite Mission Network here.

IN THE CAN AFTER 3 YEARS...

For the past three years we've been working on getting our Christmas show, DoveTale, taped and produced as a DVD. Everything finally came together in the first week of January 2007. We couldn't be more excited! The taping took place in our hometown of Harrisonburg, Virginia, and it's officially "in the can," as they say. Along with some fun bonus features, we think this video will be a great resource for churches and ministries during the holiday season. We'll be releasing the video later this year, along with the script—available for the first time ever! Make sure you're on our email list so we can let you know when these things are available.

This was the first time we had a complete set for DoveTale, and we had a blast performing it along with our good friend, Ingrid De Sanctis. This photo, shot by Wayne T. Gehman, shows the three of us in the midst of the fun and drama that is DoveTale. Stay tuned for details on the DVD and script later this year!

PEACE, LOVE, and KALAMAZOO (and a year-end giving opportunity!)

An audience favorite: in utero, the twins grapple to be first-born.

If you’ve been paying close attention to our site over the past couple months, you may have heard about Live at Jacob’s Ladder, the musical we've been developing with Ken Medema since 2001. We’ve recently had the privilege of performing the newest version at Common Bond Institute's "Engaging the Other" conference in Kalamazoo, Michigan. The show revolves around Jacob and Esau’s long journey to peace, and ties into a lot of the international issues of today, which was why Live at Jacob's Ladder was such a perfect fit for this conference on peace.

Ken wasn’t able to join us for the performance (due to a scheduling conflict), but we were able to work with another talented musician, Jeff Raught, who played Ken’s role and added some great new twists.

The week of work we did to prepare for the conference included several local Kalamazoo artists from diverse cultures, including Chinese, Iraqi, Czech, Hispanic, and African American, and even included a group of women called “The Women in Black” who mourn violence of all kinds. The folks at the Fetzer Institute had sponsored this work.

Willing to do most anything for Rachel's hand, Jacob signs on for another seven years of labor under his shifty uncle Laban.

We got great reactions to Live at Jacob’s Ladder, including an Episcopal priest who was “blown away” by the show, and another person who said, “this show needs to be seen everywhere.” We certainly hope for more opportunities to do this show—everywhere—especially since we feel that the content is so important and has the potential to be life changing.

We’ll keep you posted on the future of this show, but for now we wanted to let you know about an opportunity to help “Raise the Ladder” and keep this show moving forward. Tax-deductible donations can be made to further the scope of the show. If you’d like to know more about how you can help “Raise the Ladder”, click here.

F.E. in the U.K.

After a series of friendly e-mails back and forth with us, James Hamilton and Richard Hasnip, both professionally trained actors, mounted a showcase performance of Fish-Eyes in the Dormston Mill Theatre, Sedgley (near Birmingham), England. The showcase kicked off a two-week tour the duo made in the early summer at various venues around the UK.

James, formerly with the Saltmine Theatre Company founded the UK’s first full-time professional Christian Children’s Theatre Company, Red Balloon. Richard has worked with the Riding Lights Theatre Company and is the current director of Saltmine. They worked together formerly on a US/Canada tour of The Cross and the Switchblade.

James sent along an e-mail about the production; here are some excerpts in his own words:

“Well, we had our first performance at the Dormston Mill Theatre on Wednesday evening. We had around 200 in the audience which we were delighted with. To get that many for a Christian performance in a small town with an unknown play, performed by an as-yet unformed company was a good achievement. As far as the performance was concerned we were delighted with how it went. Of course, this was our first performance to anybody, so we felt like we were on a journey with the audience ourselves. It was great to be assured that where we thought there would be laughter, it actually arrived, and also in a few places we didn’t expect... We want[ed] the production to be as accessible to everyone, not just Christians, so to help the audience along we decided to have the title of each scene appear, roughly painted somewhere... So, for ‘the receiving line’ Richard had 'the receiving' written on the back of his jacket, then I walked in with 'Line' written on mine... At the end of the play we actually had a small movement piece where they actually get to the shore and sit with Jesus. Peter is reluctant to sit with Jesus at first, but as he does, Andrew paints the word ‘Forgiven’ on the boat behind him. This was accompanied by some emotive music. It really seemed to work, as you could literally hear the snivels form the audience as the lights went down on this tableau.”

The performance, also accompanied by violin transitions from James’ wife, received glowing reviews. Here are a few:

“I am amazed at how you could take me from the edge of my seat with screams of laughter and eyes streaming, to the edge of my knees with heart breaking and still my eyes streaming. Is it the power of the acting or the power of the story? I think it is both”. Andy Bache

“Moving and professional; a brilliant production. Richard and James both gave moving and flawless performances which brought laughter and tears. . . .they make a perfect pair, painting a powerful picture which draws the audience into scenes.” Derek Weekes – Express and Star Newspaper

“A stunning execution of a powerful play. Thank you! You portrayed the joy, and the pain that following him can be like . . real, very real. Awesome!”
Anon

“The best two Dudley comics at their best. A wonderful production with continuous humour, but sensitivity at all times. Fantastically presented” Holly Snooke

We’re delighted with the success of the piece and with the great ways they have made it their own. We’re also delighted that James, who has brown hair like Ted’s, plays Peter and that Richard, playing Andrew, has sandy hair, just like Lee’s, uh, used to be. Here’s to the tour, James and Richard: break a loaf!