CBN Goes Behind the Scenes with 'The Passion'

On Sunday night, a park in New Orleans became a television stage for "The Passion," a live production of the crucifixion told with a modern day twist.

Tyler Perry returned to his hometown to help share the story of Christ's final hours on earth. In an exclusive interview, he talked to CBN News' Efrem Graham about the experience. 

Click here to watch Efrem's entire interview with Tyler Perry.

"It is really exciting because I tell you, there is no better back drop than New Orleans because it literally rose from a liquid grave. To have this story of the resurrection being told in a town that was resurrected is powerful to me," Perry said.

Perry, who narrarated the story, says if it were not for his mother teaching him about "the old, rugged cross" he doesn't know where he would be.

"It was a compass. It was a guiding light. Still, to this day, I am getting chills thinking about it. To this moment, I know for a fact that I have been changed because of what she taught me and what I know about Christ," Perry said.

The two-hour live production was two years in the making. There was only one shot at getting it right for the hundreds who gathered in New Orleans and the millions watching at home.

"We poured a lot of passion into it. And I think it comes through in the arrangement. We really care about this. It is not just another project for us," said Adam Anders, the music director of the production.

Anders used popular songs with new lyrics to introduce the more than 2,000-year-old passion story to people who have never heard it and refresh it for those who have.

"This is the pinnacle. I mean this is the highlight of my career," Anders told CBN News.

"It is emotional for me," he continued. "I grew up in the ministry. My parents are ministers. For me to have this long career that I have already had, and to really feel and see that everything I have been through in my life and career to this point have led me to this."

Anders hopes this is the start of a television tradition. Traveling to a new city each year with new music but the same message.

"We want people to understand that this message is beyond the word 'religion.' The word 'God' is way bigger than the word 'religion,'" said Jencarlos Canela, the man who portrayed Jesus in the production.

"You can have a personal relationship with God," Canelas added. "We don't need society or tradition to tell us how that relationship should be."