Word of Life has been involved in a variety of musical groups and dramatic productions over the years, including Tours around the country and Gospel Productions, based at the Florida campus. This year the ministry is moving away from hosting productions solely at the Florida location, and Bible Institute students will instead be touring several cities with a production called Magi.
Don Lough, Jr. and Harry Bollback sat down with Mike Calhoun, executive assistant to the president, to talk about this new time for Word of Life.
Mike: When did the tour idea originally come to you?
Harry: In 1975, Jack Wyrtzen asked me to take a group of Collegians out. He took one group, and I took the other. We called it The Living Christmas Tree. Basically, the students stood on risers and held a string of lights that one of the guys would plug in every once in a while. When I got back, Jack said, “What do you think?” I said, “Jack, it was terrible. Honestly, it doesn’t look like Word of Life — no class.” That’s when Jack said to me, “Why don’t you do something about it?” I said, “I’ve never done anything like this.”
Mike: That’s when Let Freedom Ring was born, right?
Harry: Yes. I had the advantage in that 1976 was a big year, and the story of Let Freedom Ring was a very patriotic story. Jack traveled with me and did a 10-minute Gospel message at the end. We started out on spring break in 1976. The response was overwhelming. We had taken a giant step of faith. We were in every giant theater you could think of and filled them. We had more than 90,000 people come to see it. There were hundreds of decisions. I decided while I was on that tour to write Ring the Bells.
Mike: How many nights in a row would you tour?
Harry: The full tour would be about 40 days.
Mike: About how many nights were you and Millie on the road?
Harry: I think about 120 days a year.
Mike: Over the course of all your tours — I have heard you talk about the numbers....
Harry: Leander Chute was on the tour with me and would count the tickets every night. He was very precise, so believe me when I tell you that he counted more than two million tickets of those who attended all of our presentations.
Mike: What was the largest audience you ever had?
Harry: I think the largest audience we had was at Madison Square Garden — not in the big Garden, but in the smaller, 7,500-seat auditorium. We did three Christmas programs. We had about 21,000 people that day. We did it just like this: We opened the back door and let everybody out and then would bring them in by a different door.
Mike: Would you do it again?
Harry: Definitely! But remember, I did not do it by myself. I had a great team!
Were you involved in Tours or Gospel Productions in any way? We want your stories and your photos! Send them along to alumni@wol.org or post on our Facebook group. We are hoping to tell many stories from throughout Word of Life’s years of productions in an upcoming issue. Please send your memories, even if you only have a few words to say.
Click here to read what Don Lough Jr. has to say about the new production.
Click here to see when and where Magi will be headed.
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