Saturday, Monday and Beyond

If you're in the New York City area I hope you can join us for Celebrity Confessions: Live From Broadway. Several of my friends and I are going to share from some of the darker times of our lives that helped us see the Light of Jesus Christ more clearly. We open June 12 and I'll also be performing in the show July 24 and August 28, all performances begin at 7pm.

Visit www.RichDrama.com/CelebrityConfessions for more information.

If you know people in the NYC area please forward this email to your friends there.

Saturday at 7pm Central watch the world premiere of "Living Word," a short film in which I performed and served as acting coach. If you're near Bismarck you can attend the live event, but it will be streamed live. There's no charge.

For more info visit www.RichDrama.com/LivingWord.

A Blessed Epiphany!

I'm writing in the final hours of Christmas. Hope you've had a wonderful Season!

At our apartment complex for performing artists we get to use a room for performances, and I asked if I could perform Views of the Manger, the one-man play I performed in Cuba a couple of weeks ago, followed by some short films we shot while we were there. They said we couldn't do it during December, but there were plenty of dates in January. I figured no one would want to see a Christmas play in January, but then we realized it was a perfect fit for Epiphany, the celebration of the Wise Men visiting the Lord, especially since the narrator of the play is one of those Magi.

We couldn't have been more pleased with how things went last night (the available date was Epiphany Eve). We had a good turn-out, a great response, wonderful follow-up conversations, and the huge bonus of having someone in the audience we'd crossed paths with in Cuba! He joined us for our Q and A at the end, and he gave more details about one of the stories I told in one of the short films, and he was able to share much more about Cuba, having visited many more times than us.

Proof Rich married an angel!

In Cuba Joyce spoke of how Jeremiah's encouragement was to the exiles in Babylon, and how Daniel would have been one of the recipients. Daniel saved the magi by interpreting King Nebuchadnezzar's dream, so they were able to read the Hebrew Scriptures and, generations later, recognize the Star of Bethlehem for what it was: The birth announcement for the King of Kings.

You can find out more about the trip and hear the message Joyce got to bring to Cuba at www.RichDrama.com/Cuba.

As soon as we got back from Cuba I switched gears to perform in and serve as a NYC producer on the upcoming film The Farmer and the Belle, the seventh film project I worked on this year. Two of those are the short films about Cuba we're now editing, one is unannounced, and the others were A Matter of Perspective, Felicia's Pledge and One Day.

We're blessed to see that seven films in which I performed made the Top 100 of 2016 for ChristianCinema.com, including the top two. Four of them were mentioned in the opening article. Praise the Lord!

I got an app for tracking my trip mileage, and this year I covered 46,788 miles, almost circling the globe twice, performing and/or teaching in 17 states. Click here for Facebook's review of our year. Joyce brought the Christmas Day message at Westchester Chapel, and you can hear it by clicking here.

Joyce just read about a Christian member of congress who said people pray them into office, but then don't pray them through their terms. He said he can tell when people are praying and when they're not. I can tell many of you are praying for us the year round! Thank you so very much!!! Please keep interceding for us... and our leaders.

Though there are now Christmas trees everywhere in Cuba we never thought to have our picture taken next to one! This is as jolly as we got for the camera: Christmas-colored lollipops!

Top photo: Ivy Schexnayder
Views of the Manger photo: Nancy Kronemann Buchanan

Teaching and performing in Cuba

In twelve hours we'll leave for Cuba to teach, perform and encourage the people! 

I've been invited to teach three workshops at a Bible school and train young people how to do enacted prayer and how to create their own sketches through improvisation. On the last night they'll perform a brand new sketch just before I perform Views of the Manger with Spanish translation slides, which were just finished a couple of nights ago. ¡Mil gracias, ayudantes!

We've been amazed at the Lord's timing related to this trip.  In the aftermath of Fidel Castro's death, the government called for a moratorium on any special events at churches. We believe the ban has now ended, but we appreciate your prayers for a smooth journey and smooth events!

When we prayed about whether we should accept the invitation, we sensed the Lord urging us to go and encourage the people there with the Love of our Lord and the Good News that they are not forgotten but were bought with a Price. We pray we can bring the Precious Scripture to Life in their minds and hearts through the play and workshops. Pray they hear and understand All the Lord has for them, and that Joy, unspeakable Joy will be the hallmark of the trip!

Our local hosts are not able to cover our travel expenses, so if you're able to help, please do so at www.RichDrama.com/Donate. 

Thanks so much for your prayer and assistance!

In Christ alone,

Rich and Joyce Swingle

One film now, another on the way

Our poster was miraculously in the main
lobby of AMC Empire. It could have gone
anywhere in the labyrinth of 25 screens.

I played the adult male lead role of Mitchell Little in the modern silent film, Providence, which had a limited nationwide theatrical release through AMC Independent and opened Valentine's Weekend. I tried to stay on top of the reviews at the bottom of www.RichDrama.com/Providence.

One of the venues in February was the historical AMC Empire Theatre on Times Square. Click here to see how that was an answer to an eight-year prayer.

Providence is now beginning to roll out across the land, and you can schedule a screening in your area.

It will be available on DVD and digital download starting May 24, but you can pre-order now.

I helped create a promotional video at
the Christian Worldview Film Festival.

I was cast as the lead in the short film "A Matter of Perspective," which will be filmed in beautiful Southern Oregon, where I was born and raised. I'll get to stay on our family farm while we're filming! 

This is such an answer to prayer, since that was the area where I was inspired to act by seeing plays produced by the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, taking part in workshops with their actors, and performing at our high school and with our church's youth group. 

That church, Medford Friends Church, is hosting Providence while I'm in the area, on June 24 at 6:30pm. 

My connection to the filmmakers of "A Matter of Perspective" is miraculous! We met at the Family Camp for the Southern Oregon chapter of Joni and Friends. To see how that came about visit www.RichDrama.com/Joni. Then we found out that the director, Mike Hill, was a student of Larry Smith, who has been a good friend of my father since they were in the third grade! Larry gave me my only photography lesson just before I went to Hong Kong. Then he helped me set up the slides that I showed to the many families and organizations that made the trip possible.

I'm really looking forward to seeing what the Lord does through this short film! 

We're lining up a number of people and resources to make "A Matter of Perspective" happen. Visit AMatterOfPerspective.us and wherever you live please visit our IndieGoGo site and pray about helping. 

If you live in Southern Oregon and didn't get an email with specific requests, please send me a note through the form at the bottom of this page. 

I'm in a Film Opening on Times Square

I play a lead in Providence, a modern silent film opening in theatres coast to coast starting February 12.

When Joyce and I first moved to Midtown Manhattan in 2008 I was coming down this escalator the first time we saw a movie at the AMC Empire 25, and I said a prayer that one day I'd be coming down the same escalators having seen a film in which I'd performed. 

Maybe I was prompted to pray that night because I had been at the grand opening of the theatre in 2000. The gala was a benefit for a few Times Square charities including The Lamb's Church of the Nazarene, where I had been an intern for four years. The new cineplex's 25 screens were attached to the Empire Theatre, a playhouse built in 1912 where Bud Abbott and Lou Costello first performed together in 1935. The theatre was moved 168 feet westward to make way for the screens, shops and restaurants! The 3,700 ton structure was pulled by two giants. LOL! You can see what I mean and a number of fascinating features from the original theatre, which now makes up the lobby of the megaplex here. The grand opening was really something and had a major impact on me. You can read the original press release here.

At any rate, that prayer I said on the escalator two years before I'd even been in a feature film was answered a couple of weeks ago on Joyce and my 226th monthaversary... in a small way. We saw the trailer for Providence in the AMC Empire on Times Square. It's playing in all the AMC Theatres that will host the film starting February 12, but if you're not near one of those you can watch it below. The 4K footage looked stunning on the big screen. 

So, the greater answer to that prayer will be fulfilled one week from today when Providence opens in this architectural wonder.

Another way this is answered prayer is that Joyce had prayed I'd be cast in a lead role in a film that honored the Lord literally days before I was cast as Mitchell. She's trying to place when it was and she said it was while we were anticipating the theatrical-on-demand release of Beyond the Mask, in which I play Dr. Bonneville. That opened a week after I was cast in Providence.

When we were in Israel in May 2011 Joyce put a prayer in the Wailing Wall that I would be cast as the lead in a film that honored the Lord and I was soon cast as the adult lead in Indescribable, my first lead role in a feature film at that time.

If you're near NYC I have some promotional helps at www.RichDrama.com/Providence. We'd be SO grateful if you could help get the word out. You can purchase tickets through your favorite ticket outlet like Fandango or at the door. 

Several actors are going to join me for a talkback after the evening screenings on the 12th and 13th, but I'm keeping the whole week clear. If you bring a group let me know and I'd be happy to arrange a talkback then.

Hope to see you on Times Square!

Registration is now open for the 2016 Rocky Mountain Christian Filmmakers Camp.

A year filled with graditude

We wish you a blessed Christmas!

I've been reflecting on the Lord's goodness this year, which marks my 20th without income from anything but the performing arts and applied theatre. I'm really overwhelmed to think of all He's done in and through us this year. I had opportunities to perform and/or teach in 17 states, London and Northern Ireland, performed in two audio dramas, five films, celebrated three theatrical releases and six DVD* releases for films in which I've performed. Many of those projects proclaim the wonder of God's great Gift to mankind in the birth, life, death and resurrection of his Son, Jesus Christ.

Playing Mitchell Little in Providence.

To top it all off Providence, in which I play one of the leads, has been selected by AMC Independent, for a nationwide theatrical release in select cities starting February 12, and Times Square is where one of those theatres is located! The producers are also arranging for theatrical-on-demand screenings in cities where AMC doesn't have a presence. Please take a moment to visit www.RichDrama.com/Providence and follow the link to their Facebook event and let them know your home town.

Here are a few of the other highlights from the year:

February • Played Jeeves the Butler in Renting to Parakletos.

Committing Lifestone Velocity to the glory 
of God. Left to right: Jim Goodwin, 
Daniel Knudsen, Rich Swingle, Beth Becka, 
acting coach on War Room.

March
• Confessions of a Prodigal Son released on DVD.* Played a homeless man.
• The new www.GraceworksInc.com is launched. Rich has been a Freedom Finder for Graceworks since 2001.
• Interviewed by Sharon Wilharm for FaithFlix. She later cast me in Providence.
• Taught at the Christian Worldview Film Festival Guild.
• Played Dr. Alistair Walker in Lifestone Velocity in a scene filmed for a class at the Christian Worldview Film Festival Guild.
• Performed "Sheepish" at the Christian Worldview Film Festival.
• Co-lead annual Graceworks workshop at Princeton University.
• Performed Beyond the Chariots for Alistair Begg's church.


April
• Beyond the Mask released through theatrical-on-demand model. Played Dr. Bonneville.
• Played Mitchell Little, a lead, in Providence.
• Performed Journey to the Garden for Biola University's Easter Chapel.

Portraying Harmon Schmelzenbach in
Mkulunqanda: The Great Beginner

May
• Played Jesus in The Messenger's Box.
• Recorded Additional Digital Recordings for The Screenwriters.
• Performed a new short piece on Harmon Schmelzenbach, one of the first Nazarene missionaries to Swaziland, at the New York Metro District Assembly.
• Nominated for Best Actor at The Aletheia Fellowship of the Arts Truth Awards for playing Micah Maslow in The Unexpected Bar Mitzvah.
• Taught and coached Week 1 at The Rocky Mountain Christian Filmmakers Camp.

Playing Dr. Bonneville in
Beyond the Mask

June
• Beyond the Mask national theatrical release.
• Polycarp released on DVD.* Play a slave trader.
• Taught and coached Week 2 at The Rocky Mountain Christian Filmmakers Camp.
• Performed in a yet-to-be-announced documentary.

July
• Performed four voices in The Dragon and the Raven in London.
• Performed "Lazarus" in a sheep field in Northern Ireland.
• Alone Yet Not Alone released on DVD.* Played a land speculator.

Playing Nigel Livengood in
Princess Cut

August
• Princess Cut released in theaters. Played Nigel Livengood.
• Taught and directed at the Salvation Army TAM Conservatory. Princess Cut screened for Conservatory.
• Performed Big Fish Little Worm for Joni and Friends.
• Interviewed on The Dove.

September
• Beyond the Mask released on DVD.*

October
• Performed A Clear Leading, about John Woolman, at the Woolman Memorial Centennial.
• AMC Independent picked up Providence for a limited national theatrical release starting February 12.

November
• Played Mr. Cole in "The Staying Kind."
• Princess Cut released on DVD.*
• The Messenger's Box released on DVD.*
• Rich and Joyce attend the premiere of Providence in Franklin, TN.

Performed with John Rhys-Davies

on The Dragon and the Raven

December
• The Dragon and the Raven released on CD*
• AMC Empire 25 on Times Square chosen as one of the theatres to host Providence.
• Rich interviewed by Nigerian Israel Eziedo.
• Reviews of Providence begin.

We're so grateful to all who have prayed for this ministry over the past two decades, and we're tremendously grateful for prayers moving forward. In 2016 besides the February 12 release of Providence we're excited about our trip to Rio for the Summer Olympics.

*The CD and DVD releases are also available in other forms, such as Blu-ray and Digital Download. Even if you've seen the films I've mentioned, they make great stocking stuffers. If you want to see more films with a Christian worldview, please support films made by Christians.

Registration is now open for the 2016 Rocky Mountain Christian Filmmakers Camp. Also, we're now taking sign-ups for Rio Ready.

SOME OF THE BIGGEST NEWS OF MY CAREER!!!

I play one of the leads in the upcoming film Providence, and the filmmakers are on the verge of making a VERY exciting announcement, which will be some of the biggest news of my career so far! They're holding back on announcing it publicly until we get 3,000 Likes on our Facebook page, so please Like away: www.Facebook.com/ProvidenceTheMovie.

Thanks so much!

It's a charming modern silent film we're also calling a feature-length music video from the makers of the silent film, The Good Book, which has been nominated for 21 awards, and has won over half of those. I play the adult version of Mitchell Little, who has known Rachel Cartwright most of his life. Circumstances and shyness have kept them apart, but the Lord reunites them in His timing.

It will premiere in Franklin, TN, on November 8. If you're between NYC and Nashville we're trying to set up bookings of my one-man plays and workshops to cover costs of getting there and back again, so send your pastor or chaplain to www.RichDrama.com.

We hope to share the big news soon...