Child of the Promise (Hardback)

Child of the Promise is a new Broadway-style musical that brings to life the complete story of the birth of Christ like never before. Told through a rich tapestry of songs from the unique perspective of each of the major characters in the story, it speaks in a personal and penetrating way to everyone who hears it. The album cast includes the inspiring likes of Steven Curtis Chapman, Michael W. Smith, Wayne Watson, Russ Taff, Crystal Lewis and Amy Grant; Broadway great Michael Crawford; and the pop and country sounds of Vince Gill, Donna Summer and Richard Marx. The cast is completed Jody McBrayer and Michael Passons of Avalon, Steve Crawford of Anointed, Danny Gans, Bob Carlisle, Gary Chapman, Howard Hewett and David Pack. Great voices come together for this musical celebration of Christ’s birth.

Written by Grammy-winning producer/songwriter Michael Omartian and his talented wife Stormie (the best-selling author of Power of a Praying Wife), the chance to write this musical was too good to miss. “Stormie and I knew that this was a wonderful opportunity to work together and be able to honor the Lord in more than just a song,” says Michael. “We envisioned this as a large historical body of work that could hopefully be performed anywhere—from the smallest churches to the largest arenas.”

Stormie took on the task of writing the lyrics for the musical’s 30 songs: “As I researched Christ’s birth for this project, I found that this was a dark and hopeless time,” she says. “People desperately needed a miracle. So while I wove the entire bible story of Christ’s birth solidly into the musical, I also took the liberty of exploring the possible reactions, perceptions and feelings of each of the characters involved and related them to right here each of us lives our lives today. In doing that, I hoped to bring this story alive to people. I wanted to show that God uses ordinary people to do extraordinary things, and that God always keeps his promise to us no matter how hopeless our situation seems at the time.”

From the beginning, the Omartians wrote with specific performers in mind. “Because of the size and the grandeur of this project, Stormie and I had to make commitments as to the kind of styles we would write,” Michael explains. “It helped us to think in terms of a voice we knew would fit perfectly with the character.” Their dream list included a “whose who” list of artists from Pop, Broadway, Country, Contemporary Christian, and Gospel genres.

When we wrote “After All These Years,” we had Michael Crawford in mind,” Stormie says. “I had seen him in Phantom of the Opera both in New York and Los Angeles and thought he had the most pure and astounding voice I had ever heard, practically supernatural. it was a dream come true for me that he consented to sing it on the album.”

“We wrote ‘What My Eyes Have Seen’ envisioning Vince Gill playing Simeon,” Michael adds. “Again, that beautiful pure voice lent itself perfectly to the song and we were thrilled when he agreed to record it. The same is true with Russ Taff as Gabriel. We couldn’t imagine anyone else doing that part.”

One by one the artists on their dream list began to materialize. Steven Curtis Chapman as Joseph, Crystal Lewis as Mary, Howard Hewitt (Shalimar), Richard Marx, and David Pack (Ambrosia) bring the prophets Isaiah, Micah and Jeremiah to life. Donna Summer sings the powerful “When the Dream Never Dies” as Elizabeth, which is the first single from the album. Amy Grant is the prophetess Anna.

Avalon’s Michael Passons and Jody McBrayer join Annointed’s Steve Crawford as the Three Wise Men, while Wayne Watson, Bob Carlisle, Gary Chapman, and Michael W. Smith play the shepherds with humor. Danny Gans does a terrifyingly accurate portrayal of the wicked King Herod.