Last night I got to see my brother and partner, Glenn Polk, on the big screen in Declaration Entertainment’s inaugural film release, THE ARROYO. It was an exciting event, and I am extremely proud of his performance, and delighted that he is getting to experience something that he has always wanted to do.
Appearing along with Glenn were several others from our Ragtown family. Playing the town doctor was Jay Young, who sings with me in the Ragtown Gospel Band and has had major roles in several of our productions, most notably Saul of Tarsus in The Deacon & The Pharisee. Branden Waits, who was Stephen in that same play, meets with a very similar fate in this movie. Christie Morris, who has been featured in a number of roles at Ragtown, very convincingly plays a terrified secretary in the movie.
Now I just want to indulge myself in bragging on my brother for a minute. Glenn was just absolutely outstanding as Corbin, who was the best friend of leading man Kenny Maines’ character, Jim Weatherford. Kenny did a great job too. He’s a long-time friend who did a guest performance with us, singing on our stage in 2012, so we claim him as part of the Ragtown family. Especially now that he’s a movie star.
Glenn played a crusty old rough-hewn, loveable sort of a guy, which really wasn’t much of a stretch for my crusty old rough-hewn loveable brother. He was great. Of course, if you’ve seen him portray Abraham, Judas, Peter, Paul, John the Baptist, Solomon, Lazarus, God the Father, Jesus, Michael, Gabriel, Gamaliel, Moses, Yagil, Nicklaus Elliffe, Cleopus, Martha, Joey Hallelujah, or Elvis…you’re not surprised by that.
When I was five or so, my brother already had a dream of leaving Post, going to Hollywood and becoming a movie star. He had even chosen what his movie star name was going to be…Cobb Cochran. He was my big brother, and my idol, so naturally I wanted to go to Hollywood too, and thought I also needed a movie star name. I chose…Corn Cob.
For both of us, our destiny turned out to be a little different from our childhood expectations. Glenn didn’t go to Hollywood, but darn if Hollywood didn’t eventually come to him. And he was good enough in this movie, that it would surprise me if they don’t come after him again.
I loved seeing him up on that giant theater screen. More than that, I loved getting to see him enjoy that boyhood dream realized. As soon as the smoke clears I plan to interview him on video about all of that and post it here on the website. But I know what he’s going to say, and he’ll mean it.
As much fun, and as exciting as it was, what God truly equipped Glenn to do was convey the Gospel with his talents. He does that with his whole heart on the stage at Ragtown, both as an extraordinary actor, and as a director. Right now he is deep in preparation to stage our newest play, GETHSEMANE. He has cast a wonderful new actor in the role of Jesus, and we will be introducing you to him on an upcoming video. GETHSEMANE opens FEBRUARY 21st and will only run for 8 weekends, so start making your plans now to attend. It is going to be a powerful play.
Here is a link to the trailer for THE ARROYO. I think you’ll enjoy getting a glimpse of Glenn in a completely different role from those you’ve seen at Ragtown Gospel Theater. You should definitely see THE ARROYO the first chance you get.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yom1DE2GN38
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