A Eucharistic Musical!

By Carolyn Pirtle, September 12, 2026

On September 14, 2026 the world premiere cast recording of Behold God’s Love: A Eucharistic Musical will be released on all major music streaming services. Written in service of the National Eucharistic Revival, and premiered in July 2024 in South Bend, Indiana as part of the Marian Route of the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage, the three-act work offers audiences a new way to contemplate the Eucharistic mystery by telling the story of God’s love through the contemporary medium of American musical theatre. 

Act I, Root, recalls the Passover, the Exodus, and the miraculous manna in the desert, which has long been interpreted by Christians as a prefigurement of the Eucharistic Bread of Life. Act II, Vine, highlights different meals from the ministry of Jesus, culminating in the Last Supper and the institution of the Eucharist. Act III, Branches, depicts the Apostle Paul and the Christians of Corinth. The musical’s single, “Communion,” is available now and comes from Act III, framing the moment in which the Corinthian Christians receive the Eucharist together and learn what it means to become the love of Christ in the world

However, these are not merely straightforward depictions. Instead, the musical makes extensive use of flashbacks: Act II, for example, is set during the Last Supper, but throughout that pivotal meal, Apostles take turns stepping out of the action to speak directly to the audience, sharing memories of other meals they had shared with Jesus that had been sparked by what was unfolding before them. As they share their memories, their stories come to life on another part of the stage. This manner of storytelling takes its inspiration directly from the liturgy itself and the mysterious reality of anamnesis, where the mystery of Christ’s Passion, Death, and Resurrection is made present here and now in the celebration of the Mass. 

Admittedly, an audio recording may not reflect this anamnetical framework as explicitly as a staged production; nevertheless, listeners will hear it in subtle ways. For example, in Act I, a Jewish family prepares to celebrate the Passover in a time not long before the birth of Christ. As the parents and grandparents sing the story of the Exodus, biblical figures like Moses, Aaron, and Pharaoh chime in throughout, thereby connecting the past event with the present telling. In Act III, Paul consecrates the elements of bread and wine in a song called “In Persona Christi.” The stage directions indicate that Jesus is to stand behind him, a visual representation of his acting in the person of Christ. While a listener would have no sense of this image, they will hear Jesus (played by Robert Michael Havard) singing the words of institution with Paul (played by Fr. Gabriel Griggs, CSC, a member of the Congregation of Holy Cross). Indeed, the two performers’ voices blend so closely and so beautifully together that they are almost indistinguishable.

Even without the benefit of having seen the staged production two years ago, and even without hearing the intervening dialogue between numbers, listeners to the cast album will discover that they are being offered a fulsome experience of the scriptural narrative. Act II in particular offers a series of vignettes in which the dialogue breaks are included, providing a cohesive telling of scriptural stories like the meal in the home of Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, the wedding at Cana, and the miraculous multiplication of the loaves and fishes. What’s more, the lyrics and book (or script) are written from a distinctly Catholic perspective, often integrating or paraphrasing words from the Scriptures themselves and offering a faithful depiction of Catholic Eucharistic theology. 

I’ve been a Catholic my whole life, a musician for as long as I can remember, a fan of Broadway musicals since I was a child, and a composer since I was a college undergraduate. I never thought I could integrate all of my great loves into one project, but I was able to do so in writing the book (script), music, and lyrics for Behold God’s Love: A Eucharistic Musical. Countless hours of research, prayer, writing, revision, scoring, and rehearsal went into this project. 

The premiere of Behold God’s Love would never have happened without the incredible generosity of my colleagues at the McGrath Institute for Church Life (including my supervisor Tim O’Malley, who suggested the project in the first place, and our benefactors who funded the production), my dear friend Jennifer Cimino, who directed the premiere production, and my incredible cast of 27 volunteer performers from in and around the South Bend area. It is my—our—sincere hope that the release of this cast album will invite listeners worldwide to discover once again or perhaps for the first time the gift of the Eucharist and the unfathomable love that God has for them. 

An award-winning composer, Carolyn Pirtle has set the antiphons and psalms for the entire Liturgy of the Hours. She also created the nine one-act musicals performed in yearly cycles at Notre Dame Vision, and most recently, composed the full-length work Behold God’s Love: A Eucharistic Musical, written in honor of the National Eucharistic Revival and premiered in South Bend on July 6, 2024. Several of her liturgical compositions are available through World Library Publications (now part of GIA) and Earthsongs.