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Story Of 'The Rock' On A Roll

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By MICHELLE BEARDEN

mbearden@tampatrib.com

Published: October 25, 2008

To many, "The Rock and the Rabbi" stood as much chance of becoming a popular musical as the Tampa Bay Rays going to the World Series.

But here we are. It's the Rays and the Phillies, and the contemporary Christian play is celebrating its 10th anniversary.

"The plan was just to survive that first show," laughs Gary Richardson, who co-produced and wrote "The Rock" with friend Danny Hamilton.

"We knew we were on to something different, something new in uncharted territory, but we had no idea how audiences would react. Honestly, we never thought beyond that first weekend."

Obviously, audiences loved it. And they keep coming back to watch the retelling of the biblical story of the Apostle Peter and his relationship with Jesus.

Since opening in May 1998 at Ruth Eckerd Hall, "The Rock and the Rabbi" has been performed more than 300 times in dozens of venues in 20 cities across the country.

In celebration of that decade-long run in a highly competitive market, the musical plays tonight and Sunday at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center. Several performers from the original cast of 10 are still with the show.

A lot has changed for Richardson, 52, who lives in Palm Harbor, and Hamilton, 53, of Pinellas Park.

Back then, they were both on staff at Harborside Christian Church, with two kids each. Today, their kids are grown and they run Hamilton Entertainment, taking "The Rock and the Rabbi" on the road for short gigs or long runs, like the six-week stretch they did this summer in Wisconsin. They now attend New Purpose Community Church in Palm Harbor.

But the show hasn't changed much at all.

It's a simple concept, born when Richardson and Hamilton holed up in a cabin in the Pennsylvania mountains to research the gospels. Their mission was to find every reference to Peter (first referred to as Simon the fisherman, until Jesus met him and changed his name) and turn it into a personal story.

"We don't want audiences to see these figures as guys in stained glass. We wanted to present them as real flesh-and-blood human beings, and to show how this story really happened and it happened to people just like us," Richardson recounts.

The staging is stark and effective, with Richardson playing a Garrison Keillor-like role of storyteller, narrating the biblical tales in plain English - no Scripture-speak here - between musical interludes. The rest of the cast, which includes Hamilton, is made up of singers and musicians dressed in black on a sparse platform with no props. Think New York avant-garde theater.

"The thing I love best about the show is that we can do it in a living room for an intimate group or we can do it for 5,000 people in a big arena, and it seems to have the same effect," Hamilton says. "That's because it has a great message. It's about love, it's about forgiveness."

Neal Coomer, a Dove Award-nominated singer based in New York, plays Peter. He's "The Rock." The Jesus, or "Rabbi" role, is still played by Derrick Williams, who has another steady gig as the house musician at CK's Restaurant at Tampa International Airport.

It was Coomer's sister who brought her brother, Hamilton and Richardson together 10 years ago. She knew he would be perfect for the part. Coomer, then working in Nashville, wasn't convinced at first.

But then he heard the lyrics and music penned by Hamilton, a talented composer, and was sold.

"It's not so often you find original music that's the perfect fit for your voice. Danny's music was it for me," he says. He loves the range of emotion in the songs and the story. "There are intimate moments that are luscious and gorgeous. And there are really gutsy powerful moments."

Empowered by the show's success, the duo collaborated last year on a second production called "The Witnesses," which focuses on the relationship between Peter and Paul. In a year or so, they will complete the trilogy with a third installment, based on Paul alone. Then they will have covered the whole history of the founding of the early church.

So believe it, fans. The Rays are in the World Series, and the "The Rock and the Rabbi" is still going strong.

"We owe this to God. It's his story, and it's the most powerful story ever told in Western civilization," Richardson says. "He gave us the themes of friendship, betrayal and redemption, and we're just putting a spin on it that people can relate to. But the credit goes to him."

IF YOU GO

The Rock And The Rabbi
WHEN: 7:30 tonight and 2:30 p.m. Sunday

WHERE: Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, Ferguson Hall, 1010 N. MacInnes Place, Tampa

TICKETS: $33 to $56

INFORMATION: Call (813) 229-7828 or go to www.tbpac.org or therockandtherabbi.com.

Hear some of the music from the show on Michelle Bearden's "Keeping the Faith" segment Sunday at 9 a.m. on WFLA-TV. Reporter Michelle Bearden can be reached at (813) 259-7613.

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