Not the since the 1970s, when there were regular
music road shows, has the church in Singapore heard the
exhilarating sound of music that was heard on the evening of
March 20.
After
four months of practice and rehearsals, the youth in the
Singapore Stake were able to display their talents as they
staged the musical, “For the Strength of Youth”, written
and composed by Janice Kapp Perry. The cast of 78,
consisting of 26 narrators and a 50-voice strong youth choir
(27 young women and 23 young men) enthralled the audience of
more than 350 people with beautiful choir music, solo and
duets, as well as crisp narrations.
What a resounding success it was!
Even without any applause (the audience was politely
requested not to applaud because the musical was staged in
the chapel and cultural halls), one could see the delight in
the countenance of the audience and in the enthusiastic
congratulations and well wishes after the event.
The
musical is based on the values encapsulated in the booklet
“For The Strength of Youth”. The music and narrations
serve to encourage young and old alike to keep the standards
and live the truths in the scriptures so that each will be
able to do his/her life’s work with greater wisdom and
skill and bear trials with greater courage.
The youth had many spiritual experiences performing
for the musical. Several youth in one ward testified during
the sacrament meeting the next day that they felt the Spirit
very strongly during their performance. They had new
spiritual insights into the standards and values that they
were advocating in music.
A Young Woman President in another ward remarked,
“It was wonderful, wonderful. The girls are still excited
and talk about how they are even clearer of, and more
committed to, keeping the standards. They talk about drawing
strength from each other and how everybody has grown so much
closer together since working on the project. They are
grateful for the support of fellow youth and for the other
people who have helped. They talk about the opportunity to
bring friends. They can’t stop talking about it and
singing the songs. It
is great.”
While the cast basked in the limelight and the
audience glowed in the spirit emanating from the music,
thanks and appreciation must be given to the adult and music
leaders who sacrificed so much time and energy to coach and
develop the youth’s musical talents and to make the
musical a most memorable activity in the stake for a long
time to come.
Already, many people are saying that the stake should
stage another musical next year!
