The Singer, The Song and The Finale - Three Books by Calvin Miller

When I was in high school, I was very active in my church.  Choir, bell choir, high school fellowship group, etc.  Choir tours in the U.S. and Europe.  Bell choir competitions.  Lock-ins and youth suppers at church.  Great memories.

One year our choir director Tom decided to adapt Calvin Miller's The Singer, a poetic allegory based on the life of Jesus, into a musical.  I remember the show being good (but then, I remember all of our shows being good, so…).  But I was so impressed by The Singer (the book), that I bought the two companion books, The Song (based on Acts) and The Finale (based on the Book of Revelation).

I loved the books, and while I imagine I would roll my eyes today at some of the purple prose, I held onto them for 30-some-odd years.  Now that I have to downsize, I'm sending them off to Goodwill.

I suppose that should the desire to read them ever hit again, I can buy them on Kindle, but I really like the feel of these books.  First, the books measure 4" x 8.5".  Most paperbacks, at least the mass-market ones, are more like 4.25" x 7", so this one is taller and narrower.  Looks good on a shelf.

Then there was the artwork by the late Joe DeVelasco.  There is something about his drawings that just screams 1970s, and I don't mean that pejoratively.  They have a look that was so popular back then, especially in the fantasy book market (and D&D circles), and they inspire a feeling of fond nostalgia.

Here are the covers of the books.

The Singer

The Song

The Finale

De Velasco's drawings are inside each book, as well.

My memories of these books are, of course, tightly bound to the musical.  Remembering my friends playing the various roles (Joel as The Singer, Pete as The World-Hater, and Carrie as The Friendship Seller are the ones that I remember), the songs we sang (I don't think any of the songs were written specifically for the show… in fact, I'm fairly certain we used Magic to Do from Pippin, and several worship songs written by our choir director), and putting the show together.  Since I wasn't active in theatre at school (I was a band geek), these church performances really fostered my love of theatre.

This was some of my first exposure to real choreography (a choreographer named Carolyn volunteered with us and came up with some pretty cool dance numbers… I remember learning the term Fosse Hands from her, without having any clue who Fosse was).

It was great fun, and I really do miss those times quite a bit.  I'm happy to have reconnected with many of my friends from those days thanks to Facebook.  Truly hard to believe that it has been 30 years.

Well, if you are so inclined, here is a link to the latest edition of The Singer, The Song and The Finale, all now included in one volume, and as near as I can tell, without De Velasco's artwork.