NYT Best-Selling Author Debuts Multi-City Tour of Broadway Musical for the Homeless

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Jan 15, 2020, 21:02 ET

PORTLAND, Ore., Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- "I couldn't perform as St. Francis unless I was willing to live as he lived," author James Twyman shares, "and that means making my way across the country penniless and in complete trust. There's never been a New York City musical reaching out to the homeless population, and the people who buy tickets will be expected to help by feeding them a bowl of soup or passing out hats and blankets."

Best-Selling Author James Twyman, Performing as St. Francis of Assisi

If St. Francis of Assisi traveled back through time to perform a musical on Broadway, who would he invite? According to NY Times bestselling author James Twyman, he would invite people in need, the homeless and the forgotten. Twyman is traveling across the US on his way to the off-Broadway stage to perform a one-man musical based on the life of St. Francis, and when he arrives in NYC his primary audience will be people who normally would not be allowed in the theater.

Twyman will perform "Brother Sun, Sister Moon" in eighteen cities across the US as he makes his way to New York, hitchhiking and relying on support the entire way. When needed he'll sleep on the street with the homeless and invite them to attend his performances.

"In Santa Barbara I shared the musical at the Old Mission church and people were literally stuffing money into my pockets," he explained. "We immediately hit the streets and gave everything we had to the homeless men and women we found there. Before long we were penniless again and ready to move on to Phoenix where the next show was scheduled."

What does Twyman hope to accomplish with his extraordinary nationwide journey?

"The time St. Francis lived in was not very different from today. People were on one side or another, and there was no real communication taking place. Francis found a way to relate to everyone and get people talking again. That might be the most important lesson he can teach us today."

After Phoenix January 19th, the tour visits Sedona, Albuquerque, Taos, Santa Fe, Kansas City, St. Louis, Peoria, Chicago, Ann Arbor, Cleveland, Syracuse, Philadelphia, Boston and Hartford before finally arriving in New York. If you want to catch the show, or watch the first twenty minutes from a performance in Assisi, you can visit www.StFrancisMusical.com.