umhb_stockel_82503

Posted: 8/22/03

UMHB student gains new view from Palo Duro musical

By Mark Wingfield

Managing Editor

CANYON–Texas Baptists who ventured to Pioneer Amphitheater at Palo Duro Canyon this summer saw a product of their own mission work on stage.

Josh Stockel, who played one of the lead roles in this summer's production of the “Texas Legacies” musical, is a senior at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor in Belton.

UMHB is one of eight universities affiliated with and supported by the Baptist General Convention of Texas, preparing students to be both vocational ministers and lay leaders in congregations.

“Texas Legacies” is the new production staged in Palo Duro Canyon, successor to the “Texas” musical that ran for more than 30 years.

Stockel, an exercise and sports science major, auditioned for the show after seeing a notice posted at school. The Katy native vaguely remembered seeing the outdoor drama as a child.

“All I remembered was a cowboy shaking my hand and a lightning bolt,” he confessed.

Stockel was “pretty surprised” when he was offered the role of J.C. Travis, a range boss who figures prominently in the storyline.

About 1,300 people auditioned for the 43-member cast.

Stockel left for Canyon the day after his last final exam at UMHB in May. After three weeks of rehearsals, the production ran six nights a week from June 5 through Aug. 16.

After the last show, Stockel went straight back to Belton, a day late for training as a dormitory resident assistant.

Stockel, who played football for Mayd Creek High School in Katy, was recruited to UMHB as a football player. He also received a choir scholarship.

Through participation in the university's Concert Choir and First Baptist Church of Belton, Stockel expanded his experience in music and drama, while continuing to prepare for a career in high school coaching.

He landed a role as an extra in “Second Hand Lions,” a motion picture filmed in Austin and scheduled for release Sept. 26.

His unexpected opportunities in singing and acting have caused him to ponder his future, he admitted. “I'm really trying to seek God's direction. This is just boom–God has opened so many doors for me in the last year with acting. If God wants me to teach, I'll do that. If God wants me to act and sing, I'll do that. …. I don't want to close any doors.”

Regardless, his experience in the Panhandle this summer provided both professional and spiritual development, he said.

Although raised in the Houston suburbs, he had some experience with the outdoors and with horses through his career as a Boy Scout. But the Eagle Scout discovered life in rural West Texas is a far cry from the big city.

“Life is completely different here,” he said, explaining he benefitted from learning how to ride bareback and wrangle horses.

Stockel also has learned more about acting this summer, he added. “This is the biggest role I've ever had. I had a lot of people work with me–acting coaches, the director. I've had a lot of one-on-one time with experienced people. I ask a lot of questions and try to learn stuff on the go.”

The outdoor amphitheater presents its own unique challenges, Stockel reported, including learning to project without microphones and keeping constant watch for unexpected obstacles on stage.

“We've had a lot of rain and winds this summer. It's real weird trying to deliver your lines with rain rolling off your hat. Also animals, lots of things with little creatures. A deer ran across stage. One of the horses got loose and ran across stage. We had a scorpion on the stage and a tarantula.”

Off stage, Stockel has soaked in the beauty of the canyon, hiking and rappelling regularly.

He's also found quiet time to pray and study the Bible, he said, explaining that Buddy Young, Baptist Student Ministry director at West Texas A&M, has provided a weekly Bible study for the cast this summer.

Stockel's past spiritual experience has taught him there may be more to life ahead than he could have anticipated.

Before becoming a Christian at 16, he was “your typical football player,” he said. “I got in a lot of trouble.

“But then I discovered there's really more to life than I thought there was,” he said. “From then on, it's been a great ride working with God. Everything I do is through God and not because of my own actions.”