Jericho Road: PUC Students Shine in U.S. Premier of an Original Musical

What does it mean to be faithful to a spouse who is unfaithful to you? How can we be faithful to a God who seems absent? These are the driving questions of Jericho Road: A Musical Event, which made its U.S. debut in February and April at Pacific Union College.

“It’s a difficult topic,” said Lindsay Morton, associate academic dean, who wrote and produced the musical. “But it’s one that’s so important to talk about on a college campus where some young adults are starting to think about life partners.” 

Morton was inspired to write Jericho Road after watching the musical The Last Five Years by Jason Robert Brown. She wondered how the storyline might have been different if the characters had been Christian. “Jericho Road is an attempt to answer to that question,” Morton said.

The musical’s main characters, Jake and Leila Carver, are a young Seventh-day Adventist couple who meet, fall in love, marry, and have a child, Amalia. But when life doesn’t turn out as he expected, Jacob leaves his wife and daughter to pursue his dream of a successful musical career. This decision shatters Leila and Amalia.

Musicals are one of Morton’s passions—so much so that she wrote her first one at just 19. Surprisingly, her musical ability is mainly self-taught—though she did take lessons for a few years. Despite being unable to read music well, she wrote all the songs for her musicals. 

“I just lived and breathed them my whole life, so I kind of know how their structure works,” Morton said. “So when I was thinking about The Last Five Years and what my response to that might be, I started pulling songs from my own life, and then I wrote the script around them.”

What also makes Jericho Road unique is its tagline: “You choose where the story ends.”  The musical has three alternate endings. One could attend the performances three nights in a row and perhaps leave each time with a new perspective.

“I’m an English professor!” Morton said with a laugh when asked why she wrote three different endings. She explained that she teaches her students the concept of closure, which has three parts: the resolution of conflicts, questions, and expectations. The problem with delivering closure, Morton said, is it usually comes with some kind of moral point, which she ultimately wanted to avoid. 

“The male lead, Jake, really struggles with the power of choice,” Morton says. “He feels like a victim, even though his choices led him to the conflict in the story—a reality he fails to grasp. My hope is that the three endings avoid saying, ‘This is how it is or should be,’ and instead put the emphasis back on what it means to be faithful, no matter the circumstances.”

PUC student and music major Tyler Wilensky played the role of Jake Carver. After hearing Wilensky sing both for the audition and in worship services, Morton said casting him as the male lead was “an absolute no-brainer.” 

Initially, Wilensky was still determining if he could manage the time commitment required for rehearsals along with his studies, but faculty and friends convinced him to sign on. The production crew also promised to give him support. 

Wilensky found his character a bit difficult to understand. “Playing him is really interesting,” Wilensky says, “because this is all about a divorce and an affair, and it’s kind of messed up. But then our guy doesn’t seem like the kind of person who would do that.”

Leila Beltran, another PUC student, in a serendipitous twist, was chosen to play the part of Leila Carver. But it wasn’t because of her name. When Morton first heard Beltran sing at auditions, the whole room just stopped, electrified by her voice. “She just blew us away,” Morton said.

Once she got the part, Beltran was excited to learn about her character, Leila. “What I really like about her is she’s not necessarily shy—she knows what she wants, and she’ll go for it—but she has this hidden strength she doesn’t know she has,” Beltran said.

Morton, Beltran, and Wilensky spent hours each week practicing, bringing in supporting cast, crew, and chorus members as they went along. 

PUC Communication Department Chair Tara Hargrove, who directed and co-produced the musical, said her “biggest goal was for the actors to honor this story and convey the emotions to the audience.”

“My favorite part of the Jericho Road story has been watching these students have this opportunity to showcase their talents,” said Hargrove, who once studied stage and screen in New York City. “It was rewarding to watch them take ownership and do such a great job.”

Hargrove worked alongside nursing professor Nicolette Piaubert. John Gilley, a teacher at PUC Preparatory School, served as musical director. The voice instructor for PUC’s music department, Eve-Anne Wilkes, was the cast’s vocal coach. PUC student Kaitlyn Nakanishi led the musical’s chorus and choreographed the production. Along with Beltran and Wilensky, other college students made up the supporting cast and chorus, as well as other community members.

Jonathen Blue, music director at Napa Christian Campus of Education, attended a preview of Jericho Road in February. Afterward, he wrote an eloquent review praising the “heart and passion” in the actors’ performances. Blue was impressed that the story takes a “very clear stance on the dedication to Christians standards” with regard to faith-based dating and marriage.

What really moved Blue was, of course, the music. He said the lyrics, melodies, and score really create the tone for the entire storyline.

“The music wafts you in and out of each scene,” Blue wrote, “it truly stands on its own two feet. It marches down Jericho Road and stands on the rubble, the pieces, the people, that life often leaves behind.” 

President Ralph Trecartin and his wife Virginia attended six performances of Jericho Road—three unofficial and three official. He said the story reminded him of how “even the strongest and most talented people need a Savior.”

He said he is proud of every person involved in the production.

“What you saw tonight was not a bunch of individuals showcasing their talents in isolation but rather an academic community working together,” Trecartin said after Jericho Road’s finale. “It took a whole campus.” 

Trecartin said this production showcased why the arts “are a powerful way for us to connect and reflect” on the important issues of the day.

“Here at Pacific Union College, we are proud of our Christian and liberal arts heritage—they combine to bring us into closer proximity with the Master artist, the Master storyteller, the Master conductor,” Trecartin said.  “And deep into our future, we commit to valuing and preserving our strong heritage in the arts and humanities, even as the forces of commerce push against us.” 

Morton has often witnessed how music and theater can tell stories that speak to people’s hearts. She points out that God used men and women to literally act out messages demonstrating to others the results of their actions, reaching them in a way a sermon or lecture would not.

“Musical theater can do the same thing,” she said. “It can move us to compassion, reflection, discussion, and catharsis, which is what I’m hoping this musical will do for our audiences.”