Synopsis: The Devil—Regis DeVille—wants a wife. He uses the moment Jesus is alone in the desert to make this surprise demand, with three women already under his cruel consideration. Regis promises the world will never hear from him again if he can live happily ever after in marriage with Eve, Jesus’ mother Mary, or the adulteress who was almost stoned. And as the desert is the Devil’s domain, the women will be deaf to Jesus’s words of wisdom while Regis wields his wiles. Jesus is forced to watch as three of his favorite women are tempted into trading the men in their lives for the King of Evil. Luckily, the women find another desert sojourner for commiseration and counsel: Joan of “Ark.” She’s been presiding over her water-logged yard sale for eons. Will this “Yard Sale Queen” help or hinder a desert wedding?

Genre: Two-act musical comedy/drama

Theme: All God’s people end up in the desert some time in their lives, feeling lost and alone. In those moments when people feel most alone, God is closer than they can imagine.

Production History: Into the Desert premiered a weekend in June 1996 at Little Theatre of Mechanicsburg (LTM). Public reception was so warm and positive that LTM patrons voted for the play to be re-staged during the theatre’s 50th anniversary season. That three-weekend run in 2001 was sold out. Between the 1996 and 2001 productions, Cindy partnered with composer Chris Purcell, asking Chris to craft a score incorporating Cindy’s lyrics. Only a handful of those songs were ready in 2001. However, Chris and Cindy premiered the entire score at a concert reading in October 2004 at Theatre Harrisburg’s Jay Krevsky Production Center under the title, Yard Sale, The Musical. 

Awards:  Finalist in the International 2002 “New Writer Contest”