A musical about Mary will be staged in the major theatres of France in March and April. Composer of the music and author of the play is a 37-year-old German priest, Markus Wittal, a member of the Emmanuel Community. He has in the past composed masses and religious cantatas, as well as a musical comedy presented during the World Youth Day in Rome in 2000. The new show will be staged by a company composed of 12 professional singers and dancers, while the music will be performed by the National Orchestra of Prague. The disc of the new musical came out on 16 February, but the show itself will be premiered at Toulon on 17 March, and continue into April in 15 other French cities, with a tournée also in Brussels. The organizers are expecting some 20,000 spectators. With this initiative explains the Emmanuel Community’s head of communications, Céline Maillet – “Catholics will leave the stages of parish halls and present themselves to the general public”. It’s a trend already set by the imminent release of the Passion of Christ, a Hollywood film by the Australian Mel Gibson. “It’s not proselytism adds Maillet but an invitation to the general public to share a spiritual experience”.
