Published by
The Tennessean
Sunday, 3/7/99

School play moves to Ryman

Parents, have you ever seen one of your kid's schoolplays and been totally blown away? Such was the experiencefor Amy Grant a few weeks ago, and she was so moved thatshe's managed to get a school play staged at the Ryman.

The play is called The Great Storm, an original workwith original music written by Larry Boggess, anadministrator at The Oak Hill School, a private school.It's essentially the story of children on a boat at seathat's about to get hit by a storm.

The situation is symbolic of folks getting hit with bigchallenges in their personal lives.

"For kids, it's a way of getting them to wrestle withthe fact that life isn't perfect and bad things happen andwe have to persevere and see things through," Larry says."And hopefully, the storm changes us for the better."

The play was staged by fifth-graders at the privateEnsworth school, where Amy's son, Matt, goes. But thiswasn't just for kids, and parents were hit hard by it.

"I was having to dig my nails in the palms of my handsto not get overly emotional," she says. "I realized thatMatt had been learning all these songs, five originalsongs, in the context of being in the end of his parents'marriage."

Amy was so moved afterward that . . .

After Amy Grant gets on amission
Amy Grant was so moved by her son's school play atEnsworth that she asked the writer if they could do itagain -- at the Ryman.

So the school's fifth-graders will perform The GreatStorm at 7 p.m. March 17 (St. Patrick's Day) at the Ryman.

The tix will be free because Channel 2 bought thehouse, and the money will be donated to VanderbiltChildren's Hospital

Amy hopes some of the kids in the hospital can see theshow.

"How wonderful if the play could benefit kids in themiddle of a storm," she said.

Go to the Ryman box office during regular businesshours for your tix.

"I wanna provide anybody who wants to come a beautifulexperience," Amy says.

"It was better than therapy for me and the kids."