LANCASTER, Pa. (BP) — Shane Litchfield, the lead in Light & Sound’s “DAVID-Live,” describes the role as universally relatable. But King David especially resonates with Litchfield, himself a songwriter, composer and vocalist.
“What really attracted me to (the role) is that he was just a musician and he was an artist, that he expressed himself with the Lord through music. And that’s something I can relate to a little bit,” Litchfield said. “I’m a writer and composer myself. I really enjoy spending time just writing songs for the Lord, and just connecting to Him through music. That’s been integral to our relationship.”
Litchfield said he composed “bits and pieces” of the music throughout the production debuting 7 p.m. Eastern Sept. 2 at Sight & Sound TV.
“One specific piece I wrote is the ‘I’m after your heart’ portion in Psalm 23,” he said. “I got to write a little bit for Psalm 51 in David’s repentance moment. That was really beautiful to be able to cowrite that with (lead composer) Gabriel Wilson.
“Because I play the guitar, that’s why it’s worked out with me playing this harp live on stage. In those little ways, we definitely connect,” Litchfield said of himself and David.
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Litchfield enters the production when David is about 16 years old, leading a diverse onstage cast of 55 actors and actresses and 29 live sheep, Sight & Sound Communications Manager Katie Miller told Baptist Press.
“David has 29 sheep and 14 (sheep) understudies,” Miller said, “in case one of them is having a not-so-great day. We have 29 sheep in the show, David’s flock, that run up and down the aisle and across the stage. They truly do steal the spotlight.”
The streaming, with four livestreamed encore showings Sept 3-4, offers a worldwide audience a musical dramatization of David’s life from shepherd boy to king, DAVID-Live producer Ryan Miller said.
“DAVID … is a story full of unexpected adventure,” Miller said. “The production explores all of the complexities of his life, and how through his triumphs and failures he persevered as a man after God’s heart.”
Portraying David as a man after God’s own heart deepened Litchfield’s personal understanding of both David and God.
“Portraying him on stage, just learning more about the relationship between honestly God and man, and how he was just daily interacting with Him and daily praising Him and worshiping Him and living his life with Him” Litchfield said, “that’s something that has really been eye opening to me as a performer and honestly as a Christian.
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“Just connecting with the Lord and what that looks like. Even in the good times and the bad, just kind of running to Him and expressing our hearts to Him,” Litchfield said. “In those ways, I’m starting to learn more about who David was. He was a lot of things wasn’t he, a shepherd and a warrior and a king.”
