Just before COVID restrictions began a year ago, Lansing’s Sycamore Creek United Methodist Church on South Pennsylvania Avenue staged a performance of “Letter From Birmingham Jail.” At 7 p.m. on Saturdays through March, the church is offering a very different presentation centered on the iconic Martin Luther King Jr. writing.
“We hope to make it an annual event,” pastor and executive producer, Tom Arthur said. “MLK’s message was a guide for me and our church for how not to sit on the sidelines.”
Instead of a live play based on the letter King wrote in response to a Methodist Bishop’s criticism of the Birmingham protests in 1963, this recorded four-part series has genuine movie elements. Links to episodes can be found on SCUMC’s YouTube page.
“Letters” includes footage of King and the Alabama demonstrations, displays of newspapers from the era and soundtrack music.
Clever camerawork — including a mix of views and focuses — add much. “Letters” is a visual delight that engages a viewer.
“The cinematography is beyond anything I could have imagined,” Arthur said. “It’s way more intimate.”
Randy Flick commanded the camera and editing work. Rico Bruce Wade (last seen locally in Riverwalk’s Zoom, “EA Eaters Anonymous”) directed.
Norryln-Michael William Allen reads as King in a jail cell. Allen channels the impassioned energy and calm intensity of the civil rights leader.
Jeff Croff, Ixion Theatre’s artistic director, is the Bishop who tries to lecture King on why his protests in Birmingham are wrong. Croff took over the role suddenly when another actor dropped out.
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