There is real hunger and desire in the hearts and minds of people everywhere for spiritual things, to know truth and find the answers to life’s toughest questions and the meaning of life. Musical theater is one of the best mediums for helping people in that endeavor.

In 1997 Brent Grosvenor and his wife Tami (VerSteeg) launched Lights Up. Brent’s first musical, From My Rags to His Riches, kicked off near Seattle and toured to over 34 states with 292 performances, including a short run at The Lamb’s Theater in New York (the largest Off-Broadway theater at that time).  This was followed by another one-man musical called Sunday in Manhattan about the life and legacy of National League Baseball player, Billy Sunday, who went on to be one of American histories greatest evangelists and revivalists.

In October of 1999 they moved their home base to Connecticut. Brent continued to write many more musicals with cast sizes ranging from two to 120. Until 2021 they partnered with Crossroads Community Cathedral in E. Hartford, CT and produced shows at their 900 seat state of the art auditorium. Tens of thousands came through those doors to see the variety of shows produced there, such as The Passion of the King, Lost in Vegas, Mystery, and The Passion and the Cross. Through the years they continued to tour musicals across the US, such The Keys, Pillars of Fire (about the life of the Apostle Paul), Lost in Vegas (in the Northeast with a cast and crew of 35) and Mystery.

In 2021 they moved operations to Sioux Falls, SD (30 minutes from the home farm of Tami in Northwest, Iowa) where they have produced five different musicals with casts up to 150 people at the Historic Orpheum Theater, downtown Sioux Falls. These shows include Prince of Peace: The Christmas Story, The Passion and the Cross, Lost in Vegas, Mystery, and Parables & Proverbs, the first musical fully written, produced, and premiering for the first time in Sioux Falls. With 11 musicals and a 12th now in production, Lights Up has a big vision and exciting dreams to tell some of the best stories ever told through musical theatre, all from a Christian Worldview, challenging hearts and minds from all walks of life. The ultimate dream is to acquire or build their own performing arts center and theater.

Where did the name Lights Up come from? In theater, lighting is like the spirit of the show. It breathes life into the set, costumes and performers. Hearing is important, but seeing is believing. A story rises from two-dimensional to 3D. Light pushes out the darkness. Light illumines beyond stuff and body’s on stage. Light brings the art to life. Light stimulates all of the senses as one feels and thinks and becomes part of the scene. A good novelist describes, in detail, the setting, the event, the mood, atmosphere, and so on. Sometimes, while reading a good book, one can even smell what is described or feel a certain emotion based on the description. Light brings detail and description. Bad lighting could ruin a good set or became a major distraction. Good lighting breathes LIFE onto a stage and allows the story to breathe back onto the audience.

LIGHTS UP PRODUCTIONS (501C3)  – Sioux Falls, SD 57106 (860) 305-1061 – INFO@LIGHTSUP.ORG