Dove award winner Lenny LeBlanc (“Above All” and “There Is None Like You”) and New Life Ministries’ President Greg Gulley began writing together in the mid 80s, not for the commercial benefits their works could potentially reap, but for the evangelistic tools musical theater and performing arts could be in effectively reaching those that might not be reached otherwise.
Still, their work together has received critical acclaim and notice. Of their eighty plus songs, compositions like “No Higher Calling,” and “You Are So Faithful” found their way onto Maranatha!Music projects. Along the way, “No Higher Calling” was selected for Promise Keepers 1998 songlist and ‘Best Of’ recording, and later was used on the CBS season premiere of the television series “Touched By An Angel” in 2000. In addition, Integrity Hosanna has produced “You Alone Are Holy,” and “You Are My Refuge” was selected for the Maranatha!Music Praise Band series.
But, all in all, 90% of their writing has focused on musical theater productions that have been used in ministry. “The Greatest Star Of All,” written in 1986, was the signature piece followed by three sequels. All total, these musicals have been performed live by musical theater touring companies in 16 countries, over 4,000 times, and were instrumental in leading over 110,000 to Christ. In 1990, a Christian theater troupe became the first such group to tour the
Soviet Union
by government invitation in 70 years.
Currently this series of musicals is being utilized by a Russian musical theater performance team (began in 1997), in summer outreach to young people from the former
Soviet Union
. Performers serving on this team represent Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and
Latvia
.
Shifting from musical theater, LeBlanc and Gulley have also gained international notoriety for their ballet musical drama, “Man On The Street,” a collaborative effort between the two American composers and the Bolshoi Ballet schools of Russia and
Belarus
. Dr. Olga Tarasova, an honored artist of Russia, and former
Bolshoi soloist, choreographed the ballet for its premiere at the International Ballet Festival in April, 1996, held in
Minsk, Belarus
. Ballet magazine based in
Moscow
, favorably reviewed the performance, as critic Emilia Shimilova called it “the most impressive offering at the festival, full of light, and such themes are necessary for our country at such a time as this.” Gulley co-wrote many of the songs used in the production with Lenny, and he wrote and staged both the pantomime and dramatic portions as well. A company of students from the Belarussian Academy of Ballet twice took the production on tour of cities throughout the country. These tours were sponsored by the government’s Ministry of Culture.
In the 1970s, Lenny’s ascension in the music industry began with studio work, playing and singing on album projects for the likes of Crystal Gayle, Joan Baez, Roy Orbison, The Supremes and Hank Williams, Jr. As half of the duo LeBlanc and Carr, success came in the late 70s with their smash hit “Falling,” becoming one of the most popular singles ever, lasting 27 weeks on the charts during 1978 and 1979, reaching the rare plateau of being named a BMI Millionaire sing, indicating one million radio plays, and was named one of Billboard’s all time favorite Top 40 songs. Touring followed, as LeBlanc and Carr performed with Journey, Lynyrd Synyrd, and England Dan and John Ford Coley
