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''The Young Messiah'', is a musical production of a modern adaptation of George Frideric Handel's oratorio ''Messiah'', It was arranged by Tom Parker, in 1982, and featured vocals by Labi Siffre, Madeline Bell and Vicki Brown. A later version was produced and arranged by Frank McNamara, who also conducted the orchestra and chorus. The cast included Gladys Knight, Chaka Khan, Roger Daltrey, Jeffrey Osborne, the Irish Philharmonic Orchestra & Choir and the Visual Ministry Gospel Choir. The production included a narration, ''Beware of False Prophets'', which was written by Frank McGuinness and performed by Aidan Quinn. The music integrates gospel, rock and soul sounds. ==Background for the later version== On October 5, 1999, the National Millennium Committee in Ireland committed the sum of IR£700,000 to fund the production of ''Messiah XXI For a New Millennium'' to be broadcast by the RTÉ as one of its flagship programs for the Millennium TV schedule. Séamus Brennan, T.D., chairman of the National Millennium Committee, felt that this production would have national significance and would appeal to all ages. He said: "There are many reasons why the Millennium Committee felt this was a musical event worthy of substantial support. It felt Messiah XXI will capture much of the excitement and anticipation the Millennium is generating while at the same time being an entirely appropriate modern day celebration of the 2000th anniversary of the birth of Christ. The fact it will be screened by RTÉ means virtually the entire population will have an opportunity to see it. It comes at a time when Irish music is flourishing and I am confident it will also receive considerable international attention. Another landmark aspect is that it is being performed for the first time in Dublin which obviously has direct historical links with Handel's original ''Messiah'', also first performed in the city, 257 years ago." The event was organized by Messiah XXI Productions, which included directors John Kearns and Bernard Bennett, who produced ''Faith of Our Fathers'' and Frank McNamara, an arranger and producer best known at that time for his work as the music director of RTE's ''The Late Late Show'' and ''The Irish Tenors''. Leading international TV director, Bill Cosel, was hired to direct the TV coverage. RTÉ hired Paula Farrell, the Eurovision set designer, to design the set. Joe Canavan was hired as lighting designer. The Executive Producer for RTÉ was Peter Feeney. The RTÉ used its largest outside broadcast unit in filming this event. The event cost IR£1.4 million (or about US$2 million) to stage and also featured a spectacular light and sound extravaganza. The production was a labor of love for the three producers, McNamara, Kearns and Bennett, who between them personally contributed a substantial portion of the budget. John Kearns, a director of Messiah XXI Productions, said: "Our inspiration for Messiah XXI obviously came from Handel's original masterpiece and its appropriate links with the millennium and the celebration of 2,000 years of Christianity. By re-interpreting the music in a modern idiom, with popular artists, this new version will, in our view, be immediately accessible to a much wider audience. It will allow the nation at large to discover and enjoy an important part of our musical heritage, which will stand forever on audio and visual media as a reminder of our marking of the Millennium in Ireland. "Messiah XXI will also achieve international attention and recognition as the Irish nation's contribution to the world-wide celebrations by means of international TV coverage which has been facilitated by RTE. We are indebted to RTE for their considerable support. We are delighted too with the encouragement we have received from all the churches as this will be an ecumenical and cross-border event, with a huge choir being drawn from both territories on the island."〔(Archive of press releases from the 2000 Ireland website for the period July to December 1999 incl. quotes from Séamus Brennan & John Kearns & info re: organization, hiring & cost of event )〕 Two gala performances took place in Dublin, Ireland on December 4, 1999, and December 5, 1999. In addition to being broadcast during Ireland's Millennium TV schedule, the show has been shown on PBS stations throughout the United States. On October 18, 2002, Frank McNamara staged and produced a performance of ''Messiah XXI'' in Warsaw, Poland as part of a Gala Event for the President of Poland and dignitaries.〔(Frank McNamara official website re: Poland performance )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「The Young Messiah」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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