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 The tour begins next March following the nationwide theatrical
release of "The Bible" companion film "Son of God," and will feature
music inspired by and visual components from the movie and
miniseries.
"I think that music just has such a wonderful ability to connect and
open your heart and the images from our film certainly are going to
touch your heart," Downey said. "So I think it's just going to be a
really beautiful, heartfelt experience all around for people to
attend."
Attend they will, if previous reaction to "The Bible" continues to
hold true.
The five-part History miniseries was one of the surprise hits of
2013, averaging 11 million viewers for each episode last spring in
the U.S. Burnett and Downey have been rolling it out overseas as
well — it's playing in Hong Kong now and the United Kingdom is up
next.
"It has continued to ripple — splash really — around the world,"
Downey said as the couple spoke publicly about the music tour for
the first time Thursday by conference call. Burnett, producer of
"The Voice," ''Survivor" and other reality shows, was in Cleveland,
Ohio, and actress Downey was in Boston. Both were screening "Son of
God" for local religious and business leaders, looking to get
support for the film before it opens Feb. 28. They plan to hit
several more cities, and trailers for the movie will begin running
in theaters next week.
The film comprises previously aired material from "The Bible"
intercut with new scenes shot concurrently with the miniseries in
Morocco in 2012.
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 The couple said they heard a calling from God to make the
miniseries, and the franchise continues to take more and more of
their lives. That's something their friend, Pastor Rick Warren,
warned them about.
"Rick Warren said to me and Roma, 'You know one of the most
dangerous prayers that you can pray is, 'Use me,' because he will,'"
Burnett said.
"And we can see how that played out in our lives," Downey said.
"We've been working for God ever since." The music tour will open March 20 at Warren's
Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif., and will conclude April 13
in Baltimore. Francesca Battistelli, Sidewalk Prophets, Natalie
Grant, Chris August, Meredith Andrews and Jason Gray will perform.
Most of the concerts will be held at super churches and will include
scenes from "The Bible" and "Son of God" mingled with photos of
religious art and artifacts along with the music.
"This has been a labor of love for us," Downey said. "We didn't need
a job when we took this on. ... It's a combination of everything we
love, everything we believe — and we get to do it together."
___
Online:
http://thebibletourexperience.com/
[Associated
Press; CHRIS TALBOTT, AP Music Writer]
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Chris Talbott:
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