Gateway Entertainment (GE)’s 2016 tour of Taiwan began in the city of Kaohsiung, the country's second largest city and premier trading port. Besides being easily reachable via direct flights from over 40 Asian cities, the city also boasts a high-speed rail that runs through it from North Taiwan, making it less than an hour and thirty minutes away from capital city, Taipei. GE’s arrival on 1 November marked the company’s much anticipated debut in this massive port city.
Staging an elaborate and intricate production such a Christmas Magic calls for a suitable venue that can accommodate not just the show’s wide array of props and equipment, but also its complex technical and staging requirements needed to run a full-fledged magic show. For this, Kaohsiung Exhibition Centre (KEC) was the venue chosen to play host and home to this uniquely Singaporean production. A prestigious multi-purpose venue managed by Taiwan's leading MICE company, KEC boasts over 25,000 square metres of indoor and outdoor exhibition space, with the ability to house up to 4,000 attendees at a time.
As with most venues, plenty of prep work had to be done by the production crew before rehearsals could even start. From the onset of day 1 once they arrived, the production crew worked hard through the night to ensure the stage was professionally set up for staged runs and plotting the following day. It was an arduous task – from building Christmas Magic’s massive set from scratch and fixing up all the transported props, to getting the costumes in order and programming the lights precisely for the show. But the crew trudged on, working into the wee hours of the morning to get everything done and ready for cue-to-cues and stage plots which would commence the next day.
Day 2 of setup began with a rough start with several technical difficulties and glitches that hindered setup and final preparations. However, the crew’s dogged determination and professionalism won out in the end and things were gradually smoothened out by the time our main stars arrived for rehearsals in the afternoon. Rehearsing along them were, of course, the dancers, who were practising their steps even off stage, whenever they had the chance to do so.
The day before the show was spent mostly further refining the technical details of the show, where everyone spared no effort to make sure every little detail was made perfect and flawless on show day. It was also the first time everyone got to meet the 21 Taiwanese children who would be dancing alongside the dancers during a special act. Their energy and enthusiasm received nods of approval from cast and crew, while their good behaviour and ability to follow instructions added an extra shine to their segment of the show.
No GE project or production goes on without the ceaseless prayers from FCBC members and prayer warriors. And this mounting of Christmas Magic in Taiwan was no different, with the 20-person prayer intercession team praying for God’s covering of Senior Pastor Lawrence, Priscilla and every GE team member. One of them even approached our crew to express her sincere thanks to us for bringing Christmas Magic to Taiwan. This was because her relatives living here would finally be able to attend the show. "It's like a dream come true for us," she told our team, explaining how she had always wanted her relatives to have a chance to catch Senior Pastor Lawrence and Priscilla live in action.
Just before Senior Pastor Lawrence and Priscilla headed up on stage for their first full-dress rehearsal, the prayer intercessory team laid hands on them to pray for a smooth sailing rehearsal. They prayed that both stars would deliver an elegant, graceful and powerful performance that would touch the hearts of many, and that no hiccups would hinder the performance during show days. This was also when Senior Pastor Lawrence revealed to the prayer intercessory team in Mandarin that his injured knee had been hurting him for the entire duration of the tour, and asked for them to pray for healing and strength in his knee, which they did soon after.
The Magic Begins!
Innovation has always been one of the hallmarks and key tenet of every GE production where new twists are added to popular or familiar illusions performed by the grandmasters. Christmas Magic is no exception. When we spoke to Samantha Scott Blackhall, Director of Christmas Magic 2016, she revealed that she rewrote the script for this year’s performance to make it almost like a brand new show. This dovetails to the key principles of magic which is to keep defying logic by making things unexpected. “People like changes; this is inherent in our nature,” explained Senior Pastor Nina Khong, Gateway Entertainment’s CEO. “We enjoy things that are new and fresh, things that are different and exceed what we would normally expect. This is why magic is such a meaningful and powerful art form.” Aside from the revamped script and new acts was Isaac, Senior Pastor Lawrence’s grandson, Isaac’s first-ever magic act saw him levitate a guitar across the stage.
Of significant note was the positive and awed response from Senior Pastors of various churches all over Kaohsiung. Delighted and thoroughly entertained, they were impressed by not just the showmanship of the main stars, but also how “专业” (professional) the staging, props, costumes, performance and magic were carried out. It was a visual treat and a first for many of them as they had not witnessed such a unique evangelical engagement of such quality or standard. One Senior Pastor from a local church in Kaohsiung told us that it was truly a first for Kaoshiung to play host to a such a production and felt truly blessed to be part of such an event. Another Pastor mentioned that he especially enjoyed how Senior Pastor Lawrence brought forward the message of Jesus by using the magic act involving the light bulb to metaphorically demonstrate Jesus being the light of the world that cannot be contained by darkness or worldly constraints.
Our dear friend Pastor Lee Seung Bang from All Nations Church, was also among the delighted audience, together with a group of Korean pastors who were just as amazed and thrilled with the whole production. Pastor Lee told Senior Pastor Lawrence that although he had just seen him in Korea not long ago, seeing both him and Priscilla in action on the same stage brought that much more amazement and wonder to the performance.
We were so pleased to see a full-house crowd of 3330 in attendance at the opening of Christmas Magic 2016 in Kaohsiung. That night, 421 people came forward during the altar call.
Our second show saw yet another sold out show! In fact, the GE team learned that all three shows in Kaohsiung were already sold out before the production set foot in Taiwan! We had the strong support of the local churches to thank for the overwhelming support and sold out shows, and it was a strong testament to our Senior Pastors’ and FCBC’s strong ties and bonds with Christian leaders of the nation.
GE also fared well and received good response from local media. On the afternoon of our second show day, Senior Pastor Lawrence and Priscilla were interviewed by two Christian news websites – Christian Daily and Christian Tribune. One of the reporters who spoke to them was so impressed by what they had to share, that they wrote that the show was “100% professional performance, 100% effective evangelism!”
Taiwanese songstress Shi Yu, who sang during a segment of the programme, and also gave a rendition of an original Hokkien composition said she was extremely impressed by the entire setup and performance. She said both Senior Pastor Lawrence and Priscilla were ‘visionary artistes’, and that she was honoured to be a part of the show. Shi Yu even compared Christmas Magic to Hollywood productions; calling it a world-class production that is on par with the world’s finest and best.
The pastors we spoke to after Day 2’s show expressed that they were very moved by the performance, especially during the show’s signature double levitation act, when Senior Pastor Lawrence flew up to join Priscilla floating in the air, before making her vanish before the audience’s eyes. They were awestruck, and expressed their wishes for Senior Pastor Lawrence to continue these shows to reach out to the rest of Taiwan.
The venue was packed once again with 3317 in attendance on day 2. What astonished the team was the salvation and re-dedication numbers! We recorded 881 salvations and re-dedications, which was more than double of the previous night. This was over 25% of the total attendance!
Day 3 yielded the fullest house ever with 3450 people, in fact many came straight after church to pack the hall. Every single seat in the exhibition hall was filled despite it being a matinee, and the audience was especially responsive to all the acts and Senior Pastor’s invitation and altar call at the end. 686 people responded to the altar call for our last show in Kaohsiung.
Once our last show drew its final curtain call, the Taiwanese pastors brought Senior Pastor Lawrence out for a “庆功宴” (celebratory meal), a custom to thank him for his hard work and to congratulate him on the success of Christmas Magic 2016. It was an extremely fitting end for a spectacular journey in Kaohsiung. All in all, over 10,097 witnessed Christmas Magic over the three days. Most importantly, the Christmas message of God’s love received 1988 salvations and re-dedications.
For the rest of the production crew, it was once again back to the intense race against time to tear down the setup and get the props packed and assembled for transport to Taichung the very next day. Working till the wee hours of the morning, the numerous containers were all set when morning broke – all ready for bring the magic to Taichung.
The magic of Lawrence and Priscilla continues…
