 |
|
Monday, November 30, 2009
Urban Drama : Sandy Yeo This is part of the Spotlight article, City Harvest Church : The Cultural Mandate & the Arts.Within this article : A. Seeking the Holy City by Rev Dr Kong Hee B. A brief description of the Cultural Mandate and its impact on the arts C. An interview with Sandy Yeo, Drama Director of City Harvest Church D. An interview with KC Gan, songwriter and Creative Director of City Harvest Church E. A link to a past interview with Ryan, Director of O School ********* Writer : Dawn Fung Sandy Yeo is the director of Drama Ministry at City Harvest Church.  Sandy Yeo (second from left) with the cast after a play in May 2009Dawn : How long have you been in full time and how did you join in the first place? Sandy : I joined CHC full time before 2000, and was one of the pioneers of CHC. Ps Kong started from 20 people, and I was part of that small group. I was very involved in the music ministry, and was the lead keyboardist. I joined the defunct School of Creative Arts (SCA) in Singapore in 2000 to develop my passion in the arts and drama, and pursued Speech and Drama with Trinity College London. We began doing drama skits in church with volunteers with a passion. It was only after SCA was closed, that we formalised a proper drama ministry around 2004. We conducted a church wide audition and were surprised that a few hundred people turned up. That was our initial launch. From there, we gathered a group of liked minded - 20 to 30 people, some of whom are still around, and started the drama ministry together. Currently, Jaslynn and I run the department together. Jaslynn was formerly with Mediacorp, producing for channel 8. She had joined SCA to learn theatre studies. As CHC grew, we felt we had to grow the drama department in order to keep up with the needs of the church. My priority in the drama ministry is to grow people to be excellent in their crafts and not simply to produce evangelistic drama skits. On the job, I learnt how to produce, direct, and we even brought professionals in to do acting workshops with us. Currently we are still learning how to make our productions better and of a higher standard. In the long run, we want to be an example of how the arts can be excellent in church. I hate the kind of talk that says church drama is lousy. I don't feel it brings glory to God. So we constantly challenge ourselves to outdo our previous production. Through the process of learning, we made friends with industry professionals with people like Kok Heng Luan, Chris Lee, and Faith Lew, and make a point to engage professional services in our productions, including technical, set and lighting designers.  Operation Save the World, Christmas 2008Dawn : What is the impact of the cultural mandate on the drama ministry? Sandy : The cultural mandate has taught us to engage the world and not isolate ourselves within the four walls of the church. Our lot of actors and backstage crew are encouraged to work in the secular theatre fields, and I am proud of their commitments to go for theatre, tv or film auditions even though they are all volunteers. One such example is a member I have, called Esther. She quit her job and went to learn how to do professional stage managing in theatre companies because she wanted to bless the church with her service. We also recently did a short film with Jack Neo. His feedback was that our actors were good and he auditioned them for his upcoming movie. The result was that several of them got through and will be appearing in his movie next year. Our costume and make up team members have worked with Stages, and another one had the opportunity to style Beyonce when she was here for F1 Rock 2009. My drama team is a dream team: they love the Lord, love the vision of the church and leadership, and have a great attitude of servanthood. The core group that started with me are now my pillars, constantly on the lookout for the newer ones. When you step into drama ministry, we’re like a family. We have fun in our meetings and rehearsals, but we have also been in the trenches together in productions. They have been loyal and faithful through thick and thin - through late night rehearsals, to early morning bump-ins. As a leader, I will never exchange this group of people for anyone else. Romans 12:10 says "Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honour". I state that verse as a mantra in our ministry because I don't want any diva attitudes in our midst. We are here to serve each other and not tear down one another. I usually encourage the team that if someone is chosen for a role, learn and support them in whatever capacity you can.  The Final Solution, Easter 2009Dawn : What is the impact of it on yourself, and pastorally as a leader? Sandy : I am personally very challenged to go out there, in the secular field and be an example of what I preach. Besides acting occasionally in church, I do my best to go for acting stints and freelance work. Most of the work I seek will either be in tv or film as the theatre time schedules don't work for me, unless something can be worked out in my favor. I'm a mother of two and I know how it is to juggle both family and commitments so I have to make choices - I go for roles that I desire, with a good script and character development, so I don't audition 'for fun'. Last year, I auditioned for Jack Neo and was actually given the opportunity to be one of the lead roles in his tele-drama. I was elated because it was a dream to work with such an industry big name. But in the end I turned it down as the filming schedule was too hectic and I had just given birth to my second child.  A Tale of Two Men, Easter 2008 (the actor carries a real albino python!)Dawn : What are the art ministries that CHC have? Sandy : Drama, music and dance are our main three. Music is under David Yem and KC Gan who do music directing and songwriting respectively. Dance is under Ryan of O School. Our paths as art ministries don't really cross unless we do the same production or event, but even then, we specialise and try not to depend on each other to tax each other. All of us matured from SCA, which was the first thing to help us get exposure and training. Our next phase is to increase our standards and excellence in our crafts. As for film, it is a recent foray that we are looking into, because it is such a relevant medium, and we do look forward to growing in this field. We are not strong in the visual and literary arts because we don't have the people to run it. But we welcome anyone and everyone who are in the arts to join us. If something bursts forth from the interaction, we are open to how the Lord will use us in that direction. However, for now, there is no definite outreach, strategies nor concrete plans to grow visual and literary arts ministries. Dawn : Could you comment on the significance of reaching out to creative and artistic people in CHC through these ministries? Sandy : Through the message of the cultural mandate and the growth of the art ministries, we have built bridges with the local media. Pastor Tan Ye Peng runs a special cell group that is catered to many people from the media marketplace and we have seen many industry professionals joining us through that. That is the also the cell group that I attend. I hope we can attract more people who love the vision of the church and want to do our best for the Lord. Dawn : Would you be able to comment on the projects that will be happening for the arts and outreach in 2010? Sandy : For drama, there are plans in the pipeline to start our own theatre company. We will continue evangelistic outreaches through Christmas and Easter in church, and we're geared up for the Asia Conference in 2010 in May. As head of drama ministry in CHC, I'm also open to work together with anyone from other churches or organisations. Sandy Yeo can be contacted at sandyeo@chc.org.sg
|
| All articles, files and materials are copyright of CreateLeVoyage.com unless otherwise stated. Views of the writers, artists and contributors may not be taken to be the views of CreateLeVoyage.com. To reprint, reproduce or link to our website requires written permission. Email us at createlevoyage@gmail.com |
 |
 |