Stage

A Tale Fit for a Queen

religious theater group stages female-fronted biblical musical

Tom Giffey |

YOU MAY HAVE READ THE BOOK. Elizabeth Hutchens plays the title character and Caleb Fenske portrays her cousin, Mordecai, in TAG Ministries’ production of a musical version of the biblical story of Esther.
YOU MAY HAVE READ THE BOOK. Elizabeth Hutchens plays the title character and Caleb Fenske portrays her cousin, Mordecai, in TAG Ministries’ production of a musical version of the biblical story of Esther.

Maybe it was divine intervention. Maybe it was just a stroke of good luck. Either way, a musical version of the biblical story of Esther arrived in the hands of TAG Ministries, an Eau Claire-based Christian theater company, at just the right time. TAG, which has been staging family-friendly productions since 2011, had been looking for an appropriate adaptation of Esther’s tale. Then, last summer, they received an unexpected email from Five Lanterns Production, a musical production company from Indiana, promoting a new Broadway-style musical adaptation titled (appropriately) Esther.

“It’s a show you could do at lots of different production levels. You could do it extremely simply or a lot more complicated than we are.” – Natalya Bartelt, musical director

“We listened to the show, and it was fantastic,” explains Natalya Bartelt, musical director for the production, which runs June 14-16 at Calvary Baptist Church in Eau Claire. “It’s the kind of show you could do at lots of different production levels,” she says. “You could do it extremely simply or a lot more complicated than we are.”

The cast includes about 22 performers, including teens and adults, and stars Elizabeth Hutchens as the title character. Bartelt says the show tells the story of the heroine with a mixture of humor and drama while remaining biblically and historically accurate.

If you need a refresher about this female-fronted Old Testament tale, here goes: Hadassah is a young Jewish woman living in exile in Persia (modern-day Iran) under the protection of her cousin Mordecai (Caleb Fenske), an adviser to King Xerxes (Trey Fenske). When the king decides he wants a new wife, he has his choice from among the beautiful women of the kingdom, and his eye falls on Hadassah, now renamed Esther. At the same time, however, a scheming courtier, Haman (Jonah Pember), is plotting to exterminate the Jews because of his rivalry with Mordecai.

“It’s a story about strong women in many ways, with both positive and negative examples of how you can use strength to do incredible things,” Bartelt says. It’s this focus on strong women that is the reason that she and the director, Alynzia Fenske, wanted to stage a version of the Book of Esther in the first place. Though she’s terrified, Esther acts bravely to save her people. As Bartelt explains, “Life is stressful, and through God, through faith, all things are possible and miracles can happen.”

In addition to the show, attendees can look forward to a “Persian bazaar” that will be held in the church’s main atrium an hour before the curtain rises. There they’ll be able to shop for jewelry, leather journals, and other goods while enjoying Persian and Jewish delicacies and listening to traditional music.

Bartelt says the production includes a few dramatic scenes but that it is family-friendly. “They keep the funny moments funny, but they also keep the dramatic moments serious,” she says.

Esther, a musical based on the biblical story • Thursday-Friday, June 14-15, 7pm • Friday-Saturday, June 15-16, 3pm • Calvary Baptist Church, 3036 Epiphany Lane, Eau Claire • $5 suggested donation • (715) 832-6363