'Come, Walk with Me'

By Ashlie Hand | Photos by Ashlie Hand and courtesy Tim McCray

Narrator: Jesus speaks.

JESUS: What is a moment? In a lifetime full of moments, have you ever stopped to see all that is in a moment? If we stop at a moment, we stop at a station. These are the last 14 stations of my life on earth. It is my life, but it is your life, too. I will walk with you so that my way of the cross 2,000 years ago and yours now are one. But remember, my cross can become your crown. My walk can become your dance. Don’t be afraid. Come …. Come walk with me.

The 2008 cast of Stations looks on as Andrea Elliott performs as a character based on Veronica, the woman who wiped Jesus' face.

Stations: A Musical Dramaturgy premiered in 1984 at Kansas City’s Music Hall as an original production by Paul Novosel, the liturgist and music director for Risen Christ Parish, formerly located at Benton Blvd. and Paseo Blvd. The entire cast was composed of Black actors portraying modern-day characters like doctors, police officers, lawyers and nurses, with a storyline that follows the Stations of the Cross.

The following year, Stations followed Paul to a new position as music director at Visitation Parish in Kansas City. In his second year at Vis, to bring the story to a broader audience, he chose to take the performance on tour and share with church communities in the diocese. Over the next several years, Paul continued to direct Stations and established Theatre at Vis, a theatrical ministry that also included a summer musical put on by children.

Several of Sandie McCray’s children performedor grew up watching performances by Theatre at Vis, including Stations.

“I think of Theatre at Vis as a ministry. My daughter Amy was dancing in it when I saw it for the first time, and I cried through half of it — particularly the scenes with Mary and Jesus. I fell in love with it.”

When Tim McCray returned to Kansas City after finishing college, he was immediately drawn to the Theatre at Vis ministry and the opportunity to marry two of his passions — musical theater and his growing love for the Catholic faith. Tim began providing technical support on lighting, sound and set design for Theatre at Vis productions. It also happened to bring Sandie and Tim together — leading to their marriage to each other in 1987.

As Paul’s expertise and notoriety grew, he elected to take his career in other directions, which also would take him out of Kansas City. Tim had proven himself worthy to take over Paul’s role as director, so a new legacy for Stations and Theatre at Vis began.

Tim and Sandie McCray credit their strong belief in the ministry of Theatre at Vis for its longevity.

With Sandie by his side and fully committed to carry on the Theatre at Vis ministry, the couple embarked on a 35-year (and counting!) mission to bring the story of the Stations of the Cross to life each year during Lent.

“Theater at Vis brought us together,” Sandie reflects. “If we didn’t have a shared belief in the ministry, it never would have lasted this long.”

Today, Stations holds auditions each January at Visitation Parish, open to anyone in the community. The cast is made up of adults as well as high school and middle school age actors. An ideal cast size is 21, as Tim explains, with four groups of five actors — plus Jesus.

“This [Stations] is a prayer first and foremost,” Tim explains. “We always strive for a solid performance, but that’s not the most important thing. It’s a beautiful prayer we share with the congregation.”

Theater at Vis has performed Stations in almost every church in the Kansas City area — Catholic as well as other denominations — and has gone on the road to perform in Lawrence, Kan.; Omaha, Neb.; Columbia and St. Louis, Mo. The cast must perform on a brand-new stage at each church, which adds a unique complexity, requiring them to review and adjust “blocking” (where the actors stand and how they interact with each other in a performance) for each new venue.

The entire cast and artistic team commit to the ministry and to spreading the message of Jesus’ Passion and death, even more so than the performance. Through the hours of rehearsals and performances, prayer is a central part of the experience for the actors, crew and directors.

“Right before every performance, the entire team circles up just outside the sanctuary and we pray, ending with a couple of verses of ‘Amazing Grace,’” Tim says. “It helps to ground us in the reason we do this — it’s not just a performance, it’s about the message.”

Delivering the story of Jesus’ Passion and death through musical theater brings a new opportunity to engage the audience in journeying with Christ.

“It’s like the old saying, ‘Singing is praying twice.’ Stations is an opportunity to hear the message at a different level,” Sandie explains. “So many people have an idea of the rite of Stations of the Cross, and we love bringing that to life in a different way that is still based in ritual with characters that the audiences can relate to in a more contemporary sense.”

March 2020 brought a new challenge for Stations. With a global pandemic looming, the Theatre at Vis Facebook page delivered the difficult news, a first in its long history: “In consideration of what is best for public health in our community, the 2020 Stations tour is postponed until further notice due to the Covid-19 pandemic. We will continue to monitor the situation and hope to be able to resume performances in a couple of weeks. Please take care of yourselves and those around you and pray for a resolution to this virus soon.”

Tim and Sandie are hopeful that Stations can make a return to the KC area for Lent 2022. Watch for updates @TheatreatVis on Facebook or on their website: www.theatreatvis.org.

“It’s like the old saying, ‘singing is praying twice. ’ Stations is an opportunity to hear the message at a different level.”--Sandie McCray

VISIT catholickey.org for more from our discussion with Tim and Sandie McCray, including the moving experiences of some of the actors who performed in Stations.