HE RULES THE WORLD: Heaven’s Metal Previews A Nativity Rock Opera
There’s a new option to your Christmas holiday rock concert agenda this year. It’s a rock opera about the nativity. It’s called He Rules the World, and it rocks.
He Rules the World takes a clear and consistently biblical narrative through the story of Jesus’ birth from the announcement by the angels to finding a place to have the baby, to the birth, to the visitation, and to the fleeing to Egypt. The musical journey is fantastic and magical. The animation, the story, and the narration of actor Kevin Sarbo is blended well with the music and the light show adds to the experience as well. The storyline follows the prophecies of Jesus in the book of Isaiah and benchmarks the fulfillment of these prophecies and fills in several emotional moments for the characters. Imagine the inn keeper, Joseph, and Mary all given The Chosen treatment, where internal reactions, emotions, stress, and the suspicion and judgment of outsiders are all weighed in on by these main characters. Both the lyrics and the expression on the singers’ faces and body language all coalesce to communicate the dramatic story.
Best of all, the 90-plus minute program features a full rock band, animation on the big screen behind the stage, and several seasoned vocalists who belt out the rock-infused melodies with volume.
The night I saw them, which was a Christmas in July performance, could have had the guitars turned to 11 in the mix. The leads and rhythms – even with the solo – could have been boosted to greater effect, but it was well played and sounded really good, as you’ll see in this clip. Billy Blunt plays the lead in this one, with Eli Menezes accompanying him on rhythm.
If you thought that was cool, check out this section of the song “Patapan.” It gives you a nice and loud example of how crisp, clean, talented, and tight this band is. Not to mention that sweet dialed-in guitar tone.
There’s some other outstanding and special moments during the show as well. You’ll have to trust my rock journalism descriptions, though, as I didn’t get any footage of these moments.
One of the first cool moments was during “O Come, O Come Emmanuel,” where the buff veteran vocalist David Gaschen is singing from the perspective of Joseph and he is visited by the young skinny vocalist (Logan Lowery) playing the part of the angel. The young singer seems to visually show power over his elder actor/singer as he tells Joseph it’s okay to take Mary as his wife and be the ultimate stepdad for this child. This reflected and emphasized how imposing yet comforting the angel must have been to Joseph in this moment.
When King Herod threatens the safety of his family, Joseph, Mary, and Jesus hightail it to Egypt. This story/song has the best and loudest guitar dueling between Blunt and Menezes. The solo during the fleeing scene is flat out great. The swells in the journey to Egypt are quite outstanding, too. Whenever a guitar starts singing and I can hear the words (“Tidings of comfort and joy” and “God rest ye merry gentlement”) in my head, I know I’m enjoying some nice, tasteful leads.
There’s a great prog rock moment in the show that becomes the standout moment up to this point. Lyricist, composer, vocalist, and keyboardist saunters to the front and center of stage and plays … a keytar solo. The mix was loud and clear and it rocked.
The return trip to Nazareth by the main characters is one of the coolest rock songs in this opera/musical. The groove is thick and tasty, and the vocal mix soared a bit. Ya gotta love a handful of singers belting out notes in harmony and unison. It’s a great vibe.
Kevin Sarbo (who plays the atheist professor in the movie God’s Not Dead) does solid, befitting narration that is quick to segue into songs. Here’s a clip that shows an example of the narration, as well as some of the animation of Adam Harding Willis.
We had a chance to speak with the Composer/Lyricist and Executive Director for He Rules the World – the husband-and-wife team of Peter and Jen Emerson.
Peter has quite the resume. An accomplished composer, arranger, and Jazz educator whose choral compositions are published by Colla Voce and Walton Music Publishing. Peter recorded an album of originals and jazz standards titled It’s You I See, available on all major streaming platforms. Peter has worked with a number of jazz legends, including trombonist Bill Watrous, Yellowjackets drummer Will Kennedy, and Grammy-winning saxophonist Eric Marienthal. Peter has also worked closely with Broadway talent such as Jackie Burns (Wicked), Ruby Lewis (We Will Rock You), Janine DaVita (Grease), Rudy Cardenas (American Idol), Therese Curatolo (Postmodern Jukebox), and Kelley Jakle (Pitch Perfect).
Peter has an extensive educational background in music, holding a Masters of Music in Jazz Studies, a Bachelor of Music in Composition, and a Conservatory Diploma in Jazz Composition. He is also a Gulf War Veteran, having served in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain during Operations Desert Shield/Storm.
Jen handles one of the toughest jobs for a production like this, serving as the Executive Producer of He Rules the World and CEO/General Counsel of ITSUIC Music LLC. With her educational background from Michigan Law School and the University of Notre Dame, Jennifer brings a wealth of corporate and legal knowledge to the table. Jennifer is a Licensed Certified Public Accountant, General Counsel, and Chief Compliance Officer with over 20 years’ experience in mergers and acquisitions, securities regulation, and financial reporting. She is also a C-suite executive and trusted advisor with expertise in the investment fund, investment advisory, and international hedge fund sectors.
Here is a video of the interview where we sat down with both of them:
In order to make a performance and production like this special, Peter enlisted several veteran performers, like world renowned vocalist David Gaschen. David Co-Produced He Rules the World and is one of the five featured vocalists who share the stage, belting out the tunes.
David is best known for his role as the Phantom in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera. At the age of 26, David was the youngest Phantom to be cast. David joined the German production of The Phantom of the Opera after a few years of performing in Switzerland, and then made his U.S. Broadway debut as the Phantom a few years after that. David now holds the distinguished honor of having performed the role of the Phantom well over 1,300 times globally.
David has recorded multiple albums, including Let Me Sing and I’m Happy, and a Christmas album titled A Christmas Celebration. David also recorded with Howard McGillin, Hugh Panaro, and Michael Crawford on the album Broadway’s Fabulous Phantoms. Among many other awards, David was inducted into the West Texas Walk of Fame in 2006. In 2020, he gave a TEDx talk on Faith in the Life of the Phantom. David currently lives in Frisco, Texas, where he serves as the Artist-in-Residence at Stonebriar Community Church and runs the David Gaschen Voice Studio in Frisco.
Check out the video where we sat down with David:
We had the privilege of sitting down with two other singers from the cast – Alex Bumpas, and Celia Arthur.
Alex is a singer, actor, multi-instrumentalist, and arranger from Dallas, Texas. Alex is an accomplished musical theater performer, having shared the stage with Tony Award Winning artists, including Carol Lawrence and Cathy Rigby. He also joined the national tour of the critically acclaimed original musical The 3 Redneck Tenors. Alex has been a soloist with numerous orchestras globally including the Cleveland Pops, Russian National Orchestra, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Knoxville Opera Orchestra, and most recently as the tenor soloist in Giuseppe Verdi’s Requiem for the Durham Brass festival. As a professional chorister, he has performed with the Verdigris Ensemble, Vox Humana, Orpheus Chamber Singers, and the Grammy-nominated South Dakota Chorale. He is also an accomplished studio musician, having recorded trumpet, piano, guitar, electric bass, drums, and vocals for various independent and commercial recording artists.
Celia is a New York-based artist and is honored to be back home in Texas to be a part of He Rules The World. She graduated from Wright State University with a BFA in musical theatre. Some of her favorite credits include A Little Night Music, Crazy For You, Bonnie and Clyde, Labelless (national tour), and she was recently traveling the world as a lead vocalist on MSC and Princess Cruises. Of interest for this rock opera, she has been a longtime student of fellow performer David Gaschen.
Check out the interview with Celia and Alex here:
If you have the opportunity to get to Waco, Texas, this December, make your way to the historic Hippodrome theater and check out one of the five performances. They will take place on consecutive nights from December 11 to 14.
Tell ’em Heaven’s Metal Magazine sent ya. Get tickets here.
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