When Father Kyle Kowalczyk, parochial administrator of St. Maximilian Kolbe in Delano, was in seminary, he attended a festival at his teaching parish. That’s where he was told that Benedictine monks of St. John’s Abbey in Collegeville continued to make alcohol during Prohibition — and when the idea for his comedy “Moonshine Abbey: A Musical” was born.
A few years back, Father Kowalczyk and a couple of friends with theater backgrounds founded Miss the Boat Theatre, which produced “Catholic Young Adults: The Musical.” One actor in that production, Angela Cahill, plays a key role in Father Kowalczyk’s new musical. A mother of five, she is grateful to her husband, who helps make her schedule work and ensures their children “are where they need to be.”
Father Kowalczyk wrote the play and the music’s lyrics. Sam Backman, director of Sacred Music and Liturgical Life at Holy Cross in Minneapolis, composed the music, which Father Kowalczyk called “stellar and phenomenal.”
Cahill and Father Kowalczyk recently joined “Practicing Catholic” radio show host Patrick Conley to discuss “Moonshine Abbey.” Asked about the role of theater — especially Catholic theater — in Catholic life today, Father Kowalczyk said entertainment is necessary.
A good life is not one where people never laugh or never sing, Father Kowalczyk said. That’s neither a good life nor does it sound like real life, he said.
“I think real life is, you picture a big family sitting around a table and joking and laughing and eating and telling stories. This is what we’ve always done. This is what human beings do. They tell stories and sing songs and make paintings,” he said, calling it “a very human thing to do” and “a very Catholic thing to do.”
“This,” he said, “is what the Gospels write: ‘We need to tell you this story about this guy who lived and he died and he rose again, and he’s God, and he wants to be in your life and transform you.’ And so how do we do this? I think Catholic art in general has always been kind of doing that,” Father Kowalczyk said.
It’s about taking a piece of the faith, or a piece of one’s experience and putting it into some form that other people can appreciate, he said, “and also be moved, and laugh and sing and cry. I just think that’s so life-giving.”
Cahill said when God gives people gifts, it is good to be grateful and consider how to use them. This play is one way God has allowed her to use her gifts, she said.
“I leave so lifted because I’m collaborating with other people for this common purpose — to give glory to God and to create this beautiful work of art for others to enjoy,” she said.
A version of “Moonshine Abbey: A Musical” debuted in 2016 while Father Kowalczyk was still in seminary at The St. Paul Seminary, with fellow seminarians as the actors. The play was rewritten to include women’s roles for its return to the stage.
Father Kowalczyk said Catholics and all Christians need to make good art because otherwise “we see the entertainment that we’re left with” — sitcoms and shows that are neither edifying nor glorifying.
“I’m laughing at things that I really shouldn’t be laughing at,” he said. “And can we provide something in the Christian world to subsidize?”
With “Moonshine Abbey,” here’s something, he said.
Performances of “Moonshine Abbey” will take place at the Helene Houle Auditorium at St. Agnes School in St. Paul over two weekends: 7 p.m. Nov. 12-13 and Nov. 19-20, and 2 p.m. Nov. 14 and Nov. 21. For ticket information, visit moonshineabbey.com.
To hear the full interview, listen to this episode of the “Practicing Catholic” radio show. It airs at 9 p.m. Oct. 29, 1 p.m. Oct. 30 and 2 p.m. Oct. 31 on Relevant Radio 1330 AM.
Produced by Relevant Radio and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, the latest show also includes interviews with Bishop Andrew Cozzens, who reflects on his time in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis as he prepares for a Dec. 6 installation as the bishop of Crookston, and Father Michael Van Sloun, who gives insight on All Saints’ Day.
Listen to all of the interviews after they have aired at
soundcloud.com/PracticingCatholic
tinyurl.com/PracticingCatholic?(Spotify)
