‘The Shack’ and ‘A Christmas Snow’ are repurposed for theater-goers with experimental events

William P. Young’s best-selling novel, The Shack, has been brought to the stage in an experimental event exploring new ways of bringing books to life.

Due to premiere in May ahead of a potential wider release, Stories From the Shack was to feature music, dance, sand painting, aerial artistry and comments from Young and some of the readers whose lives have been touched by his novel. The two-hour presentation, featuring audience interaction, was described as “sort of a mash-up of Cirque du Soleil meets Charlie Rose,” by co-producer Jim Henderson.

Meanwhile, A Christmas Snow, one of the best-selling inspirational DVDs of the 2010 holiday season, is due to come to life at The Starlite Theatre in Branson, Mo., for a two-month run from Nov. 1.

The three lead cast members from the Destiny Image Films release—including Catherine Mary Stewart (Days of Our Lives)—are to reprise their roles in the production, which tells how “the storm of the century brings the gift of a lifetime.”

The first release from Destiny Image Publishers’ new movie venture, A Christmas Snow sold around 75,000 copies in the six-week Christmas selling season, beating sales projections, said Joel Nori, director of the film division. 

There was a simultaneous release of a novelization of the film by Jim Stovall, co-executive producer; an audio edition of the book; a music soundtrack; and a journal, Restored, which relates to a journal kept by one of the characters in the film.

Stories From the Shack was inspired by the 100,000-plus emails Young received from people who had been impacted by The Shack (Windblown Media/Hachette Book Group), which has sold more than 20 million copies, Henderson said. “I realized that it was not just a book, it was a phenomenon,” he told Christian Retailing.

The production was to debut in Seattle, May 8, with performances also scheduled for San Diego (May 20); Boise, Idaho (June 4) and Denver (June 17). Henderson said that if the four shows—with a budget of around $500,000—were successful, a longer tour could follow.

Co-producing Stories From the Shack with Henderson—whose own books include Jim & Casper Go to Church: Frank Conversation About Faith, Churches, and Well-Meaning Christians (BarnaBooks/Tyndale House Publishers)—was James Rubart, president and CEO of Barefoot Marketing and author of Rooms (B&H Books/B&H Publishing Group).

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