Ovation as composer beats odds

Greg Parker (front row, centre, with purple scarf) and cast of The Servant

On Saturday 13 October a capacity audience gave Parker and his cast a thunderous ovation at the conclusion of the premiere performance of The Servant.

That enthusiastic audience response was repeated at a performance the following evening.

In June 2010 Parker, a longstanding member of the Western Australian Baha’i community, was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Doctors told him he may have only six months to two years to live.

He has since undergone five operations including a hip replacement and has had courses of radiotherapy. For many months he was in a wheelchair.

But throughout the ordeal Parker has remained upbeat, attributing  much of his  exuberance to the power of prayer and a flood of support from family and friends around the world.

“I have terminal cancer but I refuse to die,” Parker joked.

Before his illness Parker had made his mark with the New Era Choir, which he founded and is highly regarded in Perth for its performance at official events marking Anzac and Australia days. He also wrote two musicals as well as writing and performing his songs.

Since being diagnosed and before the current production, Parker had written and staged two more musical productions. Then came the idea for The Servant.

“The anniversary of my impending death was approaching so to be defiant I decided to schedule a show,” he said.

“I planned it for June — the two-year anniversary — but in January I had to have a hip replacement and recovery was very slow, so I couldn’t start work on The Servant until after that.

“I rescheduled it for October but I did wonder at times if I would be around to see the show.”

Journey

The musical marks the centenary of a journey to the West by ‘Abdu’l-Baha, a central figure in the Baha’i Faith.  He visited Europe and the United States, where centennial events are being held this year.

At Abdu’l-Baha’s funeral in Haifa in 1921, a Jewish orator described him as an example of “self-sacrifice”, a Christian speaker said he had led humanity to the “Way of Truth”, and prominent Muslim called him a “pillar of peace”. A year earlier, the British administration in the Holy Land had knighted him for his service to the community.

“The Servant is about how society reacts to ‘Abdu’l-Baha’s spiritual message for our times,” Parker said.

Inspired by his previous musical The Face of Glory, which was presented in many venues throughout Australia in the 1990s, the story is set in the modern day.

It tells how persecution of a new unifying faith fails to silence a divine message to all mankind.

The show includes 16 songs, all written by Parker, and had a cast of 27.

Headlining the cast were recording and performance artists Gary Sterling, Shameem Taheri-Lee, and Amber Nicholls. Performing with them was the New Era choir.

(Reporting by Keith McDonald.)

View more photos from The Servant