Performing for a crowded auditorium on Saturday, March 14, choir students put on “Feast of Life,” a modern-day interpretation of the Gospel of Luke featuring the vocal talents of 17 BSM choir students.
“There’s a big group of seniors this year,” said Nancy Stockhaus. “They wanted to do something as a group.”

Because the choir isn’t going on a trip this year, Ms. Stockhaus proposed that they perform “Feast of Life” again.

The play, composed by Marty Haugen and directed by Marilee Mahler, was originally performed in 2001 and again three years later. “In 2004, we took it to the Scotland Fringe Festival and performed for them there,” said Ms. Stockhaus.

“The seniors were really sad this year that we weren’t going on a trip, so we decided to do [“Feast of Life”] again.” They began to prepare for the performance about a month ago.

This year, Zach Mahler, a regular in the school plays, is directing the performance. Despite the occasional awkwardness of directing students his own age, Mahler enjoyed directing the play. “Mrs. Stockhaus asked me to do it, but I don’t like being called director,” said Mahler.

Even with the challenge of directing, Mahler had no problem making “Feast of Life” ready for the stage. “It was easy… because we had already done it before.  My mom directed the original version so we weren’t doing anything new,” said Mahler.

On top of directing, Mahler is also acting in the play. “It’s hard to watch everything and act at the same time,” he said.

The Lenten composition was free of charge, but they did accept free-will donations. “We have a few minor expenses and we [wanted] to raise money for charity,” Mrs. Stockhaus said. The cast will choose an organization to donate to when their performances are done.

Now, the cast is taking the play on tour. Over March 25 and 26, they will perform the “Feast of Life” for six BSM feeder schools.