Michael York: Portraying Luke in the Truth and Life Dramatized Audio Bible was a Great Adventure

This Catholic audio Bible has become an instant best seller

When asked about his understanding of St. Luke in preparing for the recording, Michael York replied, "In Truth and Life, Luke has this journalist's eye; he doesn't miss a detail and is fascinated by human behavior. What Carl said at the outset, 'Let's do this as if he's describing it for the first time to his listeners.' So that was our starting off point."

WASHINGTON, DC (Catholic Online) - Michael York was born in Fulmer, England and has risen to international fame on the stage, in movies and performances of the spoken word. Most recently, he portrayed St. Luke in the Truth and Life Dramatized Audio Bible, the only audio Bible to receive an endorsement from the Vatican, a foreword by Pope Benedict XVI and the imprimatur of Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York.

I had the opportunity of interviewing him recently concerning this recent project.

R.S. - I know you worked with Carl Amari and Falcon Pictures on another project, the Word of Promise Audio Bible, which was a huge undertaking, involving both the Old and New Testaments. I believe you were the narrator.

M.Y. - Yes, that's what got us together because there was such a bonding over such a long time. it was word for word and it took the time. In fact, we were linked - that's the way we did it. I was in Los Angeles, curiously in a studio called Margarita Mix. They were wonderful, they loved it and really got involved. The producer was in Chicago and the Bible expert, Brenda, was down in Nashville. We found that you couldn't keep on going without getting exhausted, just the concentration and the physical aspect.

R.S. - When you are a part of a Bible project like the Word of Promise or the Truth and Life Dramatized Audio Bible, your newest production, is there a different kind of pressure knowing that the words you are speaking to people literally around the world are eternal?

M.Y. - There absolutely is. This cannot be just tossed off. it has to be. well, I guess it has to be as perfect as you can make it for our time. But I love the concept... for example, you have been a preacher where the Word is delivered dynamically and this old oral tradition kicks in. I've been to many church services where it was done by rote and the congregation was disengaged.

During the time when Shakespeare was doing this tremendous overhaul of the English language, he used actors in the theater who could speak dynamically, which was the key to it.

In the same way, what we were trying to do - you know the Globe theater was this neutral space where imagination was brought to the fore. You didn't scenery or the costumes. He described it. We were doing the same thing. "On your imaginary forces work;" that line from Shakespeare, I think, should be attached to every one of these recordings.

I think it has also helped with this other thing we've gotten used to through the movies - sound effects and music - music to complement the mood.

R.S. - Over the years I've had multiple copies of audio Bibles, where the Scripture is merely read and I must be honest to say that my mind would wander. There's something different about the Truth and Life Dramatize Audio Bible when I listen. You have this dramatic quality with dialogue, sound effects and music. I know, as you said, I'm more engaged.

M.Y. - I think the one voice is at a terrible disadvantage in maintaining interest especially when you are not directly engaging the listener eye to eye.

In Truth and Life, Luke has this journalist's eye; he doesn't miss a detail and is fascinated by human behavior. What Carl said at the outset, "Let's do this as if he's describing it for the first time to his listeners." So that was our starting off point; whether it was achieved, I'm not sure.

R.S. - In the Word of Promise, you were the narrator and had to remain somewhat neutral, providing the mortar in between the bricks, so to speak. Here you are portraying Luke, a physician who is observant, as you say, of human behavior. But Luke is absent from the New Testament. We know only a few bits and pieces about him. How did you prepare.

M.Y. - First, I found I couldn't be neutral as a narrator, I couldn't help it. It had to be enacted to some degree.

For Luke, we discussed it. He was Greek. We talked about his point of view but didn't intellectualize it too much.

You sit in a studio, a pretty dull place, and you try to let your imagination take over.

R.S. - In producing this book, I imagine you didn't have the rest of the dialog, sound effects or music present. Was it easy keeping your characterization consistent while recording pieces or segments of the text?

M.Y. - I think so, because it was so very well scripted. All this had been anticipated ahead of time, so the guide was there.

In fact, Brenda Noel, who is this wonderful Biblical expert in Nashville - my new friend, we spent so much time together - I was really grateful to her for elucidating not only meaning but pronunciation. Of course the one I had terrible problems with was "Philistine" (he pronounced it "fi-lis-tine"); where the accent is to be on the second syllable - "fi-lis-teen," which, if you are going at a lick, is very hard to address. We did lots of re-takes; I sweated blood over those!

R.S. - Now that the project is finished and published, how would you like to see people use it?

M.Y. - Well, I hope that it will be sufficiently well-received to find a place in the archive; that not just this generation but others will turn to. I know everyone I met was so keen that this would be a landmark recording.

There is a whole market to be tapped of commuters - especially out here in Los Angeles - people spend hours, hours in their car and can turn that time into something life enhancing. It's also ripe for iPods, iPhones and that type of diffusion.

R.S. - In hind sight, is there is anything you would like to have done differently?

M.Y. - It's such an act of faith that you go in, knowing you will come out two years later and have hoped to keep level of enthusiasm, commitment and professionalism over this long long period. In fact, it didn't become a problem; it was something one looked forward to. I went off to do other things and then came back anxious to pick up where I left off. It was a great adventure.

R.S. - With this being such a long project, there must have been some celebration when it was over.

M.Y. - Yes, but we had no indication how this would be received, whether we were barking up the wrong recording tree. It was a little easier with the Truth and Life Bible as we had already seen the reception of the Word of Promise.

R.S. - I can see that, yet this was - as far as I know - the first time that an audio Bible had been produced that was not exclusively for but was directly targeting the Catholic world using the Revised Standard Version-Catholic Edition.

R.S. - So what are you working on now?

M.Y. - I have this new thing about performing with great artists; so Andre Watts, the magical pianist, and I are doing a program on Liszt for his anniversary. I'm also presenting some lectures as well as doing one's own thing - which I've always done - writing books, making recordings and whatever.

I do love movie making and there is a new one out; it's called "The Mill and the Cross," directed by this Polish genius, Lech Majewski. We premiered it at Sundance several weeks ago to fairly ecstatic reviews. We had its premier in Europe at the Louvre Museum.

It's the most extraordinary film about a great Pieter Bruegel painting, "The Way to Calvary." The canvas is full of characters. Michael Gibson extrapolated a story from this work called "The Mill and the Cross," relating to this saga.

Information on the Truth and Life Dramatized Audio Bible can be found here.

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Randy Sly is the Associate Editor of Catholic Online and the CEO/Associate Publisher for the Northern Virginia Local Edition of Catholic Online (http://virginia.catholic.org). He is a former Archbishop of the Charismatic Episcopal Church who laid aside that ministry to enter into the full communion of the Catholic Church.

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