A Musical Seder experience

The Passover. The Lord's Supper.

This production is not simply a retelling of biblical events — it is a reflection on grief, deliverance, hope, and the God who “moves through darkness to bring forth light.”

The Show

Why This Night is a sweeping, emotionally charged musical that weaves together three timelines—an ancient Hebrew family in Egypt on the evening of the first Passover, Jesus and His disciples at the Last Supper, and a modern-day pastor navigating grief as he prepares a Good Friday service.

Through overlapping stories, soaring music, and powerful theatricality, this musical explores the central question asked across generations:

“Why is this night different from all other nights?”

We are now casting and are seeking passionate, committed performers excited to bring this story to life.

Want to see the show?

The Most Important Part

Join us

The Prayer Team

Being part of the Prayer Team for Why This Night is more than a volunteer role — it is a ministry. This production carries themes of redemption, remembrance, and the faithfulness of God across generations. We believe that every rehearsal, every performance, and every life touched by this musical begins first in prayer.

Every story we tell onstage begins first with the faithfulness of God behind the scenes.

Our Prayer Team stands behind the cast, crew, musicians, and leadership, lifting up:

Spiritual covering for everyone involved

Unity, humility, and peace throughout the entire process

Strength and creativity for the artists

Open hearts in the audience to encounter the message

Protection and clarity as we tell a sacred story with excellence

This team intercedes before rehearsals, during the production process, and throughout show week. Whether through quiet, unseen prayer or intentional moments of gathering, the Prayer Team ministers backstage in a way that shapes the atmosphere of the entire production.

If you believe in the power of prayer and have a heart to support this musical spiritually, we invite you to join us. No stage experience needed — only a willingness to seek the Lord on behalf of others.

Meet The Characters

Singing/Speaking Male Roles = 23

Singing/Speaking Female Roles = 12

Ages

Young Children Roles = 6

Youth & Up Roles = 20+

Adult & Up Roles = 20+

Below is a list of major roles. Many actors will appear across multiple timelines as part of the ensemble.

- MODERN DAY -

- Stuart -

A young pastor wrestling with faith, grief, and the weight of Good Friday.

Audition Notes

Strong actor/singer. Emotional vulnerability.

- Susan -

Stuart’s wife. Warm, grounded, nurturing, and emotionally honest.

Audition Notes

Soprano/mezzo with strong storytelling ability.

- Church -

Stuart’s congregation at the church he is pastoring.

Audition Notes

Ensemble members.

- David -

A Jewish father leading his family through a traditional Passover.

- Aliza -

David's wife has a strong, reverent presence.

- Noah -

Child at the Seder table. Asks the 4 questions of Passover.

- Levi -

Child at the Seder table. Older brother.

- ANCIENT EGYPT -

- Hebrew Father -

Protective, strong, faith-filled; leads his family through the first Passover.

- Hebrew Mother -

No nonsense with caring urgency, holding her family together in the midst of fear.

- Benjamin -

Young son (child or small teen). Innocent and wide-eyed.

- Hannah -

Young daughter (child or small teen). Curious, brave.

- Egyptian and Hebrew Ensemble -

A crowd of Egyptians in Hebrews during the final plague in Egypt.

Various solos, including Pharaoh and Egyptian families.

- THE FIRST LORD'S SUPPER -

- Jesus -

Portrayed with compassion, calm authority, and emotional depth.

- Peter -

Passionate, impulsive, fiercely loyal.

- Judas -

Layered and complex; turmoil and vulnerability beneath the surface.

- John -

Gentle, faithful, observant.

- Disciple Ensemble -

An ensemble crowd, including the disciples and other followers of Jesus.

Various solos of several different disciples.

- THE CRUCIFIXION -

- Crucifixion Ensemble -

An ensemble crowd, including the disciples, followers of Jesus, Romans, Pharisees, and other bystanders.

Various solos, including Mary, Mary Magdalene, Andrew, the High Priest, Pontius Pilate, etc.

Behind the Story

Where This Musical Began

Why This Night didn’t begin as a creative idea. It began at my parents’ table.

As a child, I watched them discover Passover—at first as part of our homeschool curriculum, and then as something much deeper. Those simple Seders became the backdrop of our family’s spiritual formation. We lit candles in dark rooms, dipped herbs into saltwater, asked ancient questions, and somehow—every year—God met us there.

Those nights carved something into me long before I understood it:

God is not afraid of our questions.
He invites them.
He commands them.

Much of this musical was born from those memories—moments around our table that felt small at the time but have echoed through my life ever since.

A Story Carried Through Generations

Parts of this musical are true in ways I can’t fully explain. Stuart and Susan reflect pieces of my parents when they were a young pastoral couple—newly married, walking with God, hurting in places they didn’t have words for, asking honest questions, and being mad at God had or hadn't done.

Those stories shaped me as a child, and now, as my wife and I walk through our own seasons of uncertainty, I see parts of their journey reflected in ours.

This script holds generations of questions, generations of searching for God in the dark… and generations discovering He was there the whole time.

The Night That Sparked Everything

Last year, during a Passover Seder led by my younger brother and his wife, I found myself wrestling with several years’ worth of heavy things—pressures in our business, personal struggles, and the feeling that God had stretched our family beyond what we thought we could handle.

That night, one line from Scripture caught me by the heart and refused to let go:

“In the beginning… God said, ‘Let there be light.’”

Light before sun.
Light before stars.
Light before any source we understand.

And John tells us that Light was Christ Himself.

That realization collided with everything I was carrying.

When the meal ended and everyone began talking, I sat down alone and wrote the opening scene. It was meant to be the start of a musical... but it became more of a prayer. A plea to see God’s light in the shadows of my own life.

Writing Through Hard Places

There is a thread in this musical—a quiet, tender one—that reflects a loss my family carried when I was young. It shaped my parents, and in subtle ways, it shaped me. I didn’t name it directly in the script, but anyone who has lived through grief will recognize it in Stuart and Susan’s questions.

Writing that scene forced me to sit with questions I didn’t want to ask—questions about God’s timing, God’s silence, and God’s mercy when life breaks in places you thought were safe.

And what I learned is something I’m still learning: Sometimes God doesn’t answer with explanations. Sometimes the journey is the answer.

Why Passover? Why This Night?

I didn’t choose Passover as a metaphor. Passover chose me.

It’s the feast God designed for asking “why.”
It’s the feast where God invites us into His story of deliverance.
It’s the night when generations sit at a table with Him and dare to ask the hardest questions they carry.

When Jesus lifted the cup on the night He was betrayed, He wasn’t creating a new ceremony—He was completing an ancient one. And without seeing the Lord’s Supper through the lens of Passover, we miss the depth of what He was doing.

Passover is more than an Old Testament story. It is an invitation. A yearly command to sit at the table with God, to ask why, and to remember who He is.
Without understanding Passover, we risk losing the depth of what Jesus meant when He said, “Remember Me.”

This musical is my attempt to show that connection— to let people see the Lord’s Supper not as a ritual, but as a rescue.

This musical exists to help people rediscover God as Deliverer, not just once, but throughout their own lives.

A Personal Step of Obedience

When God placed this musical on my heart, my wife and I were already overwhelmed.

Our business was stretched.
Our family was stretched.
Our time was gone.

And yet God said,
“Create.”

So with no margin, no clarity, and no understanding of “why,” we said yes. Because sometimes saying yes is the only way to discover what God is doing beneath the surface.

What I Hope You Feel

I don't have good answers for any of the questions I bring up and ask in this play. And that's kind of the point. If you walk away from this musical with only one thing, I hope it’s this:

God welcomes your questions.

You are allowed to bring your questions to God.
He is not embarrassed by them.
He is not threatened by them.
He meets you in them.

And He will meet you in the journey and the remembering.

Whether you are grieving, doubting, curious, or longing for something real, I hope this story shows you the God who speaks light into darkness...then, now, and throughout eternity. I hope you feel the hope that lives at the center of all three timelines, that the God who spoke light into darkness is still speaking light over you.