Have a Blessed Christmas!

We hope that you and yours have a blessed Christmas and a wondrous New Year!

This year has had some exceptional highs and lows for us. The deepest valley was resigning from The MasterWorks Festival after serving on the faculty for 16 years and directing the theatre program for ten. Joyce also had served as director of pastoral care for six years. Though it was a difficult decision we know that the Lord was leading in it, and we are planning to use the connections and experience we've gleaned after being a part of 17 film projects since 2010 to work on our own. Details to come.

Two of those films are coming to theaters on Valentine's Day (Princess Cut: I play suave realtor Nigel Livengood) and April 6 (Beyond the Mask: I play Dr. Bonneville). Click on those titles for more information, and for Beyond the Mask they're looking for people to help promote the film and are offering paid and volunteer positions, and volunteers earn an iPad! I've posted their new trailer below.

I also do not feel called away from teaching, and I will be doing that and coaching actors at The Rocky Mountain Christian Filmmakers Camp this summer. Registration is opened, and there are only a few places left, so apply as soon as possible. It was through this camp that the feature film In His Steps was produced. I was just there as an actor that year, playing John Gray, who runs a soup kitchen. This summer we helped our students audition for a live project, the feature film Mayflower II. One of our students was cast in the key role of the son of the characters played by Joyce and myself. One of his scenes led up to my favorite scene in my 19-year career!

Speaking of screen children, when Joyce and I went through pre-engagement counseling (something we highly recommend!) we were asked all sorts of things that you just don't naturally bring up as you're getting to know each other: spiritual background, denomination, political affiliation, etc. We were connected on so many levels, and the session was going so very well that I thought I'd throw in a joke when the counselor asked how many children we each wanted. I said twelve. Joyce just about fell out of her chair! Though we haven't had any children of our own, it just dawned on me that we've now had 13 screen children! We've played husband and wife in four films. In Indescribable we had nine children, in The Unexpected Bar Mitzvah we had one, in Rather to Be Chosen we had two, and in Mayflower II we had one. I hope in the future we'll have many screen grandchildren, but we'll be putting the pressure on casting directors (far into the future), rather than on our screen children.

 This was a busy traveling year with numerous performances and workshops in 17 states, Sochi, Russia, during the Olympics, and three provinces of Canada (a personal record for me).

We're planning to take a team of performing artists to Rio de Janeiro for the 2016 Summer Olympics. If you're interested in joining us, and if you're on Facebook, click here. If you're not on Facebook be sure to watch your inbox for the announcement that registration for the trip is open.

Joyce continues as counselor and lead pastor of Westchester Chapel Church of the Nazarene in White Plains, NY, where we've seen profound connections with each other and with the Lord. You can hear her sermons at www.WestchesterChapel.org/JoyceSwingle and the few that I've had opportunity to share at www.WestchesterChapel.org/RichSwingle.

I just submitted to play the role of a lifetime on a $16M project. If you have a moment, please visit www.IMDb.me/RichSwingle and Like it in the right column. Even if you're not on Facebook, just visiting the page will give it a boost. If you have the time (took me about five minutes), it would be great if you could also visit and Like all the projects in which I’ve performed. If you do undertake that, please make it a time of praying for those projects and others that the Lord wants to birth through his people as he raises us up to tell His stories with excellence.

May the Love of Christ grow in your hearts and lives this Holy Season, and if you don't celebrate Christmas or see it just as just a season of obligation, consider inviting Christ into the manger of your heart. It will radically transform the way you see Christmas and the world. Find out more about that at www.RichDrama.com/MyPassion.

Joyce started Treasure Seekers for the children of Westchester Chapel, and I do short videos for them as Trevor the Treasure Seeker. Here's the video we put together to promote our Christmas Party for them...

Click here for the highlights of the year Facebook picked. And you can browse our blog for more.

 If you're still checking off your Christmas gift list, some of our films are available for instant download: www.RichDrama.com/Films.

Here's the new trailer for Beyond the Mask:



This list is only updated a few times a year. If you got this far you may be interested in more frequent updates, and you can sign up for those here: www.RichDrama.com/Updates.

Amp up your World Cup experience!

For the Glory, in which I play soccer coach to Olympian Kurt Kuykendall, is now available for digital download. Invite World Cup fans over to see this inspiring story of a failed basketball player who became a world-class goalie. 

If you're anywhere near Winona Lake, Indiana (halfway between Fort Wayne and South Bend), Pittsburgh or New York City, I hope you'll attend the MasterWorks Festival Theatre Department production of Much Ado About Nothing: www.MasterWorksFestival.org and www.MasterWorksFestival.org/tour. Our students are hilarious! South Hills Church of the Nazarene is hosting the play as the culmination of their 50th anniversary celebration, putting the emphasis on the celebration of marriage. 

On the way into the theater to see Alone Yet Not Alone I stopped my bride Joyce and said, "We've been praying for years for this moment." So we stopped and praised the Lord for my first nationwide theatrical release!  I play a land speculator, and the Academy Award nominated film is still playing in a few theaters. Catch it while you can. 

Heading for Sochi / Actor Deadlines

As the Opening Ceremonies sweep across the time zones we’re making final plans to be in Sochi during the last week of the Olympics. We appreciate your prayers for us while we're there!

We’re in the process of having translations done for the people we meet from around the world. So far we’ve only completed Spanish, though Portuguese, German, Korean and Simplified Chinese are in the works. If you can contribute to any of those translations or if you’re interested in having an impact on people who speak your language shoot us a note.

We won't be posting from Russia, but watch your inboxes for a report when we return.

February 15, the eve of our departure, happens to be the deadline for two events at which I’ll be directing and teaching later in the year:

The Rocky Mountain Christian Filmmakers Camp is adding an acting component. I'm thrilled to inaugurate this program as the sole instructor! Many of you know me from my stage work, but I've been in 15 films since 2010: www.RichDrama.com/Films. I’ll be teaching classes and directing the students in a film we’ll shoot in the glorious Colorado Rockies.

I learned much of what I know about screen acting from the fabulous faculty that we've had at the MasterWorks Festival over the years. We're bringing in some more performing arts veterans this year as well.

I wrote about Torry Martin in a recent blog post that went out to those who receive our more frequent posts. Now I’m pleased to announce that we’ll have a second Adventures in Odyssey cast member, Katie Leigh. Katie will coach our students reading sides from… a show for which she’s been a cast member. Sign up for her MasterClass will be based on date of application, so act now. She got her start in Improv, so on July 2, she will join Torry Martin and our students to perform Improv! That night has the potential of being the funniest in the history of MasterWorks!

Our tickled funny bones will propel us into performances of William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing in Winona Lake, Bethel Park, PA, and in an Off-Broadway theatre!

Again, the early bird deadline for MasterWorks and the The Rocky Mountain Christian Filmmakers Acting Camp is February 15. So get the application process rolling now, or send this to young actors who might be interested.

I play a quirky clerk in Christmas Grace.

Another place I’ll be teaching and performing is the inaugural Christian Worldview Film Festival and Guild. Five of the films in which I’ve performed will be featured there in full or represented by a short piece. The Guild will be March 11 and 12, and the Festival will be March 13-15 in beautiful San Antonio, TX. Though there’s no early bird special, you can get 25% off all tickets to the Festival or Guild using the code RICHSWINGLE.

Check out my touring schedule at www.RichDrama.com/Schedule and see if I’ll be in your area. I always love to add performances and workshops whenever I’m outside the NYC area.

I'm really hoping to set up performances in San Antonio, TX, Colorado, Tuscon, AZ, and Oregon. Hope to see you somewhere in the world this year!

Have a Blessed Christmas!

Every year that I perform Views of the Manger I'm so blessed to start immersing myself in the Christmas story early. This year my first performance was on December 1, so I started reading through the script early in November. But rather than getting tired of the theme, the impact of what the Lord did for us in sending His Son touches me on deeper and deeper levels as the day we celebrate His birth approaches.

This year I was asked to preach on Elizabeth. Joyce preached on Zechariah the week before. You'll have to listen to the sermons on my blog (Dec 15) to see why she got the guy and I got the gal, but we were both blessed to dig into their story of preparing the Way. As an opening illustration for my sermon I wrote a sketch which portrays Zechariah at the moment his voice returns after nine months of silence. Scripture says the first words out of his mouth were praise. The sketch shows what I think his next words might have been: telling his story of Gabriel's visit for the first time verbally. I hope others are as moved by the piece as I am. I haven't gotten through it yet without sobbing. I've now added it to the Views of the Manger lineup.

December 18 marked 20 years in New York City for me. You can read the first two entries in the journal I kept at the time, Farm Boy on Times Square. It blows me away to think of how that move as a 24-year-old opened the way for about 3,000 performances or workshops in over 40 colleges or universities, hundreds of churches and theatres, 39 states, five continents, 26 nations and more than 20 video projects that have reached out to people in countless nations. Thank you so much for your part in helping us share Truth in creative ways out across the land!

This year I added to the list with about 225 performances and workshops in 15 states plus Puerto Rico and Vanuatu. A highlight of the year was performing my play on Jonah with translation into Nafe, a language that is spoken by only about 4,000 people. Then, I preached a short sermon on Jonah which had been translated into Nafe. I had performed it for our short film on John Paton, and it was a great honor to share it during their worship service. They then performed songs for us in English, Nafe, and Bislama, the language that ties the nation's 83 islands together. I'll never forget that trip.

I also performed in five other films in 2013: In His Steps, Polycarp: Destroyer of Gods, Confessions of a Prodigal Son, Creed of Gold, and Princess Cut.

This year was my last with a grandparent. I was honored to preach at Grandma Swingle's funeral. She lived to 97. For the last few years I was able to talk and pray with her once a week as my schedule allowed, and I know she's enjoying her first Christmas with Christ.

Joyce continues to serve as lead pastor of our church, Westchester Chapel. I've had some wonderful pastors over the years, but she surpasses them all... though I'll admit a great deal of bias. You can catch her sermons on our church's website, my blog and iTunes (search "Joyce Swingle"). Her ability to capture hearts and minds with the Truth of the Word continues to grow. She also continues to change lives through her counseling. We realized the year almost slipped away without a honeymoon, so we're going down to Philadelphia the week between Christmas and New Years for our 17th.

These are just a few of the highlights of a full and fulfilling year. For those of you on Facebook you can see our top 20 posts for the year.

For 2014 we're looking forward to leading a team of performing artists to Sochi, Russia, for the Winter Olympics. In April I've been invited to perform and teach at an educators' conference held at The Rift Valley Academy in Kenya. My grandparents had served there, and my mom and aunt attended school at that academy for about six years. We have invitations in South Africa, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Rwanda and Nigeria. We'll get to as many as possible. For more information, and to support this trip, visit www.RichDrama.com/Africa.

Have a very blessed Christmas, and a bright New Year!
Rich and Joyce

Now taking applications for the MasterWorks Festival theatre program: www.RichDrama.com/MWFTheatre. Training and performances in IN, PA and NYC, including an Off-Broadway theatre!

Deadline approaching to join our Winter Olympics Team

The time is NOW to sign up for the trip to Sochi, Russia!

It may seem odd to be thinking about a February 2014 trip in the dog days of August, but because of the Olympics, we need our headcount by September 1 in order to guarantee housing.

We're putting together a team of performing artists to tell the Gospel through movement and music on the streets of Sochi, Russia, during the Winter Olympics in February 2014.

Between the two of us, we've been to Lillehammer, Barcelona, Beijing, Vancouver, Singapore and London, during the Olympics or Youth Olympics. In London we counted people from 30 nations from all inhabited continents that we reached with the message that the Lord loves them. We're expecting the worldwide influence of our efforts in Sochi to echo throughout the nations.

Whether you're an actor, dancer or musician (with a portable instrument), we'd love to have you on our team! We'd also love to have people on the support team that don't need to be skilled in the performing arts.

Click here for more information and to register.

Once you hit the Register button be sure to select our project. When you click on "Select Project" a number of projects will come up. We're 8th from the bottom: "HI179 - RUSSIA - ENGAGE SOCHI/Rich Swingle".

The deadline for registration is September 1, though you'll have until the end of the year to raise the full support.

Hope to work with you there!
Rich and Joyce Swingle

Deadline approaching to join our Olympic Team

The time is NOW to sign up for the trip to Sochi, Russia!

It may seem odd to be thinking about a February 2014 trip in the dog days of August, but because of the Olympics, we need our headcount by September 1 in order to guarantee housing.

We're putting together a team of performing artists to tell the Gospel through movement and music on the streets of Sochi, Russia, during the Winter Olympics in February 2014.

Between the two of us, we've been to Lillehammer, Barcelona, Beijing, Vancouver, Singapore and London, during the Olympics or Youth Olympics. In London we counted people from 30 nations from all inhabited continents that we reached with the message that the Lord loves them. We're expecting the worldwide influence of our efforts in Sochi to echo throughout the nations.

Whether you're an actor, dancer or musician (with a portable instrument), we'd love to have you on our team! We'd also love to have people on the support team that don't need to be skilled in the performing arts.

Click here for more information and to register.

Once you hit the Register button be sure to select our project. When you click on "Select Project" a number of projects will come up. We're 8th from the bottom: "HI179 - RUSSIA - ENGAGE SOCHI/Rich Swingle".

The deadline for registration is September 1, though you'll have until the end of the year to raise the full support.

Hope to work with you there!
Rich and Joyce Swingle

Films released

We're heading to the San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival tomorrow, and you can help improve my chances of being cast in new films just by visiting IMDb.me/RichSwingle. I've posted a number of new photos there to reward your visit. While you're there, please click the Facebook "Like" button if you happen to be on Facebook. The last time I asked folks to visit and "Like" I shot up several thousand points on IMDb's STARmeter, which increases the likelihood of casting directors to take notice of my work. I'd appreciate it tremendously if you could help me out again: IMDb.me/RichSwingle.

This festival has the largest single grand prize in America for Christian film. Joyce and I play husband and wife in Indescribable, which is up for that $101,000 prize. Also, Alone Yet Not Alone, in which I play a land speculator, will be screened there. You can watch the awards ceremony streamed live this Saturday starting at 7:30pm Central. Click here for details.

Three other films in which I perform were just released:

In the short film Settled I play Tom, one of the leaders in a post-apocalyptic community, who reluctantly takes in an enemy. It was created in 168 hours as a part of a competition. Each team was given the verse Psalm 68:6, one week to write a script, and one week to film it. You can watch it in seventeen minutes by clicking here.

I play Coach Sean Ryan in For the Glory, which tells the true story of Kirk Kuykendall: His dreams of playing basketball in the Olympics were shattered, but when he gave his life to the Lord there was a transformation that opened the possibility of playing soccer in the Olympics. You can order the DVD by clicking here.

Pawn's Move, a film in which I play Sheriff Hansen, one of several characters that help a young couple understand life in the grace of the Lord, was actually released some time ago, but it is now available to watch instantly on Netflix and Amazon. Click here for details.

If you haven't already done so, please click IMDb.me/RichSwingle to help my chances of being cast in more faith-affirming films like these.

In other news, we're three weeks away from casting Twelve Angry Jurors for the MasterWorks Festival theatre program, which will take the play on the road, performing in Bethel Park, PA, and in an Off-Broadway theatre in NYC. If you or someone you know would like to join us, urge them to audition soon. You can see my report from last year's program at RichDrama.com/MWF, where there's a link to information on this year's program or you can go there directly by clicking here.

We'll also have a Long-Form Improv track, which will also take advantage of our faculty's 125 years of combined experience in the professional performing arts world. Click here for more info. As always, my one-man plays are available for live performance anywhere in the world: RichDrama.com.