EDMOND—Imperial Academy students debuted Morning Star on June 22 in front of approximately 500 concertgoers in Armstrong Auditorium and hundreds more who streamed the show live online. The 75-minute musical by Philadelphia Church of God music director Ryan Malone portrays the work of 12th-century apostle Peter Waldo

Morning Star—The Acts of Waldo the Apostle featured 31 students from Imperial Academy, and three students and a graduate form Herbert W. Armstrong College. The Imperial students also represented the Muggavin School of Irish Dance.

Through singing and dancing, performers conveyed Waldo’s life experience and its connection to the modern experience in God’s Church. The show’s narration introduced this theme: “His calling, conversion and commission are the ultimate Christian journey.”

The first half of Morning Star is set in a marketplace in southern France where Waldo, a wealthy merchant played by Imperial freshman Zechariah Henderson, sold silks and jewelry. The death of a close friend, punctuated by a singer’s lyrics about mortality, then caused Waldo to ponder his purpose and future. He decided that the answers were in the Holy Bible, and he paid a handsome sum for two scholars to translate it from Latin to Provencal, the common language of the region. The two scholars were played by Imperial senior Gianni Welsh and hwac freshman Jordan Ellis.

“Having a starring role is really nerve-wracking in some ways because you don’t want to upstage the higher leading roles, yet you also have to perform your best for the audience,” Ellis said.

The play’s narration told the story of how, inspired by the truth found in the Bible, Waldo gave away his possessions and held study meetings in his home. The movement grew until it caught the attention of the religious authorities, who were displeased with it.

“This is our Christian duty, our holy obligation: To silence and stop this ungodly aberration,” sang Imperial eighth-grader Seth Malone, in the part of the religious leader of Lyon.

“I feel that when you are the antagonist, you must connect to your character, yet there is still a difference between acting and real life,” said Malone, the son of the show’s producer.

The story recounted how the political and religious authorities of southern France banned Waldo and his followers from preaching the Word of God. But they refused to comply, instead moving to northern Italy and setting up Bible schools.

The second half of the show took place in one of these Waldensian schools. Since Bibles were scarce and dangerous to own, students memorized large passages and wrote out copies by hand, singing, “Write it on our hearts; etch it on our minds. Mark it on our memories; fixed there for all time. Put it in our inward parts; write it on our hearts.”

Morning Star was Mr. Malone’s third musical production after Jeremiah—A Musical and Step-Dancing Extravaganza in December 2012, and David—The Endless Throne Begins in December 2013; it was his first production performed exclusively by students.

“The acting was superb,” said Canadian member Kenneth Fehr, who streamed the musical online. “Their quality performance emphasized the message to the point where you forgot how young the performers are.”

Waldo’s students developed into trained teachers of God’s Word and went out in pairs throughout Western Europe. The students and the messengers sang, “This good news must be unstoppable …. This good news must reach the largest audience possible.”

In the early 13th century, Waldo and his followers faced fierce persecution. Reading the Bible in the vernacular was banned, and Waldenses were burned for preaching the Word. This confrontation ended the work of the Thyatira era of God’s Church, the narrator intoned, but God promised that the Church itself would never die.

The narration recounted Waldo’s death in 1217 and summarized the legacy of his work, which helped prompt other religious denominations to spread the Word of God throughout the world.

“I thought the musical was educational, since I’m less familiar with the story of Peter Waldo,” Edmond single Amber Eagle said. “It was really inspiring to see how they handled persecution and weren’t afraid to stick with their leader.”

Edmond member Andrew McLain, whose son and daughter performed in the musical, said he felt “very blessed to have my children be a part of it.”

Campers at the 2014 Philadelphia Youth Camp, many of whom participated in the debut, will perform an encore version of the musical in July.