Old Testament Inspires Grammy Award-Winning Producer Donald Lawrence’s New Musical
By Movieguide® Staff
Grammy award-winning songwriter, producer, composer, and choir director Donald Lawrence uses his talent to take his Old Testament-inspired album “Goshen” to the stage.
Lawrence’s project is a unique approach to the Old Testament story of the Israelites’ exodus out of slavery in Egypt.
Lawrence told CBN that while he planned to adapt his album into a staged music and dance performance, the COVID-19 pandemic put a halt on production.
However, a theater tour is coming soon. Just last week, people got a sneak peek at Goshen the musical as a part of the Chicago Dance Theater’s 25th anniversary season celebration in the city’s Millennium Park.
In 2020, Lawrence received an induction into the Tarheel State’s Music Hall of Fame.
“My background in education is musical theater, I’ve always loved that, even when I was a younger kid in church, I would always be the one to take the songs that we did and try to put some drama to it, or some type of scene to it and I always wanted to take my work and just do it like that,” he told CBN in a recent interview.
Over his 30-year career, Lawrence said that he had experienced many different roles within the entertainment industry.
“I do so many things, I’ve worked in multiple genres, so whether its gospel, whether its musical theater, whether its R&B—I started there—I go from producer, to choirmaster, to artist, to musical director, to song writer, whatever it is, I kinda [act as] all things to all people,” he said. “The album Goshen that I did, I created with the idea that I would take it to the stage and create it as dance theater.”
Inspiration for the title came after Lawrence had already begun to write songs to tell the story of the Exodus in a new and unique way.
“I had started working on some songs, and this young writer came to me and said ‘I have this song that I would love for you to hear and maybe rewrite it and do whatever you want to do to it,’ and it was Goshen,” Lawrence said. “I was like ‘this is interesting, but do you really understand the concept of this? He said ‘what are you hearing?’ and I said ‘allow me to kind of rewrite the lyric,’ and I decided that instead of titling this album Exodus or whatever, Goshen was the better title because it was so unique, and it was something that we don’t focus on as much but really tells a story well.”
Lawrence further explained the significance behind the land near the Red Sea that was called Goshen.
“Goshen is a body of land where the Hebrews lived right near Egypt,” he explained. “This particular body of land was very special. I say it like this: ‘Goshen was a supernatural zipcode’—for those who lived there achieve against all odds.
“I used this whole story to parallel where we are all now, or where we were when I wrote it, and to let everybody know that you can carry Goshen with you,” he added. “Everywhere you place your feet, success follows you because there’s a Goshen inside of you, there’s a body of land, there’s an imagination, there’s a faith inside of you that if you just focus on that and realize who you are Goshen travels with you.
“We kinda always use this tagline, ‘May God’s Goshen be with you,'” he continued. “Wherever you go, and not just you but those that you love and those that are connected to you, supernatural protection happens; you achieve the things that you desire to and dreamed of achieving.”
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Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.
What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.
You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.
Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.
