A lighthearted musical based on the biblical Book of Tobit (in Catholic and Anglican Bibles), encompassing many styles ranging from bluegrass to classical.

17 MP3 Songs
EASY LISTENING: Musicals/Broadway, GOSPEL: Contemporary Gospel



Details:
"The Musical of Tobit" is a fun and lively take on the "Book of Tobit" from the Old Testament of the Bible. "Tobit" is a rather unknown book in the Bible, and, in fact, it isn't even in all Bibles. It is one of those seven books of the Bible that appear in Catholic (and Anglican, I'm told) Bibles but not in Protestant Bibles. It sometimes can be found in a special section called "The Apocrypha." The story is kind of an adventure story. It is about a son being sent off to a faraway land to retrieve his father's fortune. Along the way he meets an angel in disguise, he casts a demon out of a woman, he gets married (to that same woman), and discovers the cure to his father's blindness. Everything finishes well in the end, and the story ultimately ends up being about God's Providence.

This CD is the "soundtrack" or the "original studio recording" of the musical. There are a variety of styles on the CD. For a little bit of bluegrass, try track 9, "Come on In," or for some good ol' rock 'n' roll, try "Media-Country" (track 6). There's also the toe-tappin' "Father to Son" (track 5) and what I call a "demonic tango" in track 11, "This is the Night." If ballads are more your thing, you might check out track 14, "Worry Not, My Sweet One," or track 3, "He Does This All the Time." People have told me that they also really like track 2, "Hello, My Friends," but I'm not sure in which style to classify that one. I'd like to think that there's a little something for everybody.

Some of the main inspirations to the "Musical of Tobit" were "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat", "Godspell", "Big River", and "Fiddler on the Roof." I like the lighthearted nature and the variety of musical styles in the first three, and I like the characters of "Fiddler."

As far as who I am, I was once quite involved in the world of theater and dance (including a year of acting and dancing professionally), but then joined the seminary (in 1998) to be a Catholic priest. I was ordained in 2003. I started writing the lyrics and script for "The Musical of Tobit" when I was in my first year of seminary. I originally had a collaborator to write the music, but our collaboration eventually didn't work out. So I had a script that sat on the shelf for a few years. In October of 2004, I thought I'd try my hand at writing the music for the show and put together this CD, which features the musicians of my first parish assignment.

I really think that the singers and musicianship on this CD are quite exceptional. It was a privilege to work with them on this project. I give them many kudos to breathing life into these songs.

Take a listen, I hope you enjoy. If you ever have any desire to actually stage the musical, I would be delighted. Send me an e-mail, and I'll send you more information.