Play celebrates Easter’s passion
Christ’s story becomes real using actors, music

ABOVE: A bloodied Jesus, played by Dennis Gallegos, reenacts a scene from Christ's walk to the cross during the play "The Passion of Easter" at the Joshua Generation for Jesus Church on Thursday evening. BELOW/RIGHT: Corring Gallegos dances during the play. [Photos by Brian Leddy / Independent]

By Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola
Staff writer

GALLUP — The saying ‘a picture is worth a thousand words’ holds special meaning for the Rev. Dennis Gallegos and his wife Corrine.

It’s one of the ideas that motivates the couple — along with their church family at Joshua Generation for Jesus — to spend about three months out of every year planning, rehearsing, and staging the church’s annual Easter drama, “The Passion of Easter.”

Although most people are familiar with the Easter story, the couple believes that story often doesn’t become real for people through just the written word or through church sermons. They believe using actors and music to re-enact Christ’s betrayal, trial, execution, and resurrection in the form of drama has the power to make the story come alive.

As a result, the nondenominational church — with the assistance of other area congregations — has been staging “The Passion of Easter” as a yearly gift to the local community. Everyone is invited to the free drama, which will have its last performance of the season tonight.

And although the church has sponsored the drama for about 17 years, Gallegos has never actually seen the production from the audience’s perspective. That’s because he’s been portraying Jesus each year, a part he believes God prepared him for, even in childhood as a Catholic altar boy who was once cast as Jesus in a parish Passion Play.

Through the years, he said, different actors playing Roman soldiers have left him with a number of real welts and bruises. Those small physical injuries have helped Gallegos appreciate Christ’s real sacrifice, he said. They have also been well worth it, he added, when audience members have told him how much his dramatic portrayal has impacted their life and made Christ’s sacrifice real to them.

Corrine said she’s also been affected by the character she has portrayed for years — Mary, the mother of Jesus. One year, she explained, she spent a lot of time praying and fasting in an effort to actually experience the story as Mary, rather than just play her as a dramatic character.
“It was so real,” she recalled. “I could smell blood.”

Corrine said she didn’t view her husband as an actor portraying Jesus, but rather she experienced Christ’s sacrifice on a personal level.

“It was so real, what Christ had done for me ... ” she said. “It was shocking.”

The couple expressed gratitude to everyone — from church members to area businesses — who assist in the staging of the drama. Even a local donkey, Jellybean, is donated each year and receives his “15 minutes of glory” on stage, Dennis said.

“Our whole church is involved,” explained Corrine. “Even our children.” If church members aren’t acting on stage or singing in the choir, she explained, they have helped with set design, costumes, lighting, sound, or cleaning.
In addition, members of other churches frequently help fill acting positions or spots in the choir. The first year the drama was staged, Corrine added, 12 pastors from other churches were invited to portray the 12 disciples of Jesus.

This year guest vocalists from other churches include Lorena Shank and the Rev. Dave Fernandez.

This type of unity among churches is something that is important to Dennis Gallegos, who calls himself “just a child of God” who’s not into divisions or denominations.
“We’re here just to lift up the name of Christ Jesus and work together,” he said.

Joshua Generation for Jesus has grown through the years partially because the annual Easter drama has attracted new church members, but Gallegos said he’s just as happy when the drama causes audience members to become members of other local churches.

“I don’t want to compete,” he explained, “I want to complete the Body of Christ.”

“We just want to advance the Kingdom of God,” Gallegos said. “As long as God keeps calling us to do it,” he added, “we’ll keep doing it.”