EDMOND—Philadelphia Church of God music director Ryan Malone announced three new musical productions about Peter Waldo, Isaiah and Samson during an Edmond congregational Bible study on February 7. He said later that he plans to build on the momentum of the Jeremiah and David musicals, performed in December 2012 and December 2013, respectively.

Morning Star, a one-hour vocal production about 12th-century Apostle Peter Waldo, will debut in June during the 2014 pcg ministerial conference. The cast includes Junior Ambassadors and Herbert W. Armstrong College voice students. Teenagers attending Philadelphia Youth Camp will perform the musical for entertainment night in July.

“It’s about the calling of an apostle, his work and the education of a generation,” Mr. Malone said. “It would be completely appropriate for anyone of any denomination or faith to watch. Any Christian would see the value in the work of Peter Waldo.” Mr. Malone described Waldo as a loner who broke tradition and faced down the Roman Catholic Church.

Mr. Malone said he came up with the idea of Morning Star after Pastor Wik Heerma’s October 2013 sermon “on the Sabbath struggles throughout the New Testament Church. I felt compelled to study further into the main characters, and I found so much dramatic potential in the work of Peter Waldo.”

After the final performance of David—The Endless Throne Begins in December, Pastor General Gerald Flurry told Mr. Malone to give headquarters pcg staff a break from the rigors of a large musical production this winter, since many employees had participated in Jeremiah and David over the last two years.

“Mr. Flurry said to me, ‘I’d like to do a musical with all students to give the staff a break,’” Mr. Malone recalled. This was the impetus for Morning Star.

But Mr. Flurry soon changed his mind. After an Edmond congregational Bible study in January, he told Mr. Malone to continue the year-end musical tradition, saying that it has an impact on the church and the world like nothing else the Work produces. He requested a performance about the Prophet Isaiah, whose biblical book is filled with poetry and a vision of the Millennium.

The Book of Isaiah is scheduled to premiere next year, with performances on January 1, 3 and 4. The cast will consist of about 70 employees and students. The 2½-hour musical centers around Isaiah’s most active year, when he helped King Hezekiah of Israel through a dual trial: sickness and an invasion threat from Assyria. Mr. Malone said the narrow time frame will help the audience follow the story. “Here’s the threat, here’s the conflict and resolution, and the conclusion,” he said.

Mr. Malone said he is weaving Mr. Flurry’s favorite poetic passages from Isaiah, such as chapters 35 and 40, throughout the plot.

Mr. Flurry also commissioned a dance performance; Samson will debut sometime next spring. The approximately one-hour performance will feature the Muggivan School of Irish Dance, composed of several Imperial Academy students. The story is biographical, starting with an angel’s promise to Samson’s barren mother that she would bear a son, and ending with the destruction of the Philistines after Samson collapses the pillars of their pagan temple.

“I’ve also wanted to write a ‘ballet’ for the Muggivan School,” Mr. Malone said. “But a dance-only drama would require a story that could be easily told through movement—one that had a lot of physical movement in it already.” After reading Samson’s story with his family a few months ago, he decided that it was the best choice.

Mr. Malone said his favorite part of the whole process is creating, but he enjoys the writing, composing, orchestrating, recording, rehearsing, staging and performing steps as they come. “Whatever I’m focusing on right now, I try to get 100 percent gung-ho about it. It’s exciting knowing how important it is in the Work.”

Mr. Malone’s first musical, Jeremiah—A Musical and Stepdancing Extravaganza, started out as a pyc entertainment night show in 2012. He quickly realized the impact Jeremiah could have. “Wait a minute … this is going to be really cool,” he recalled thinking. “We need to do it with our headquarters people. Then we finished that, and everyone asked, ‘What’s next?’” What was merely a pyc activity has now inspired a series of musicals, which he said draw huge excitement from church members.

“People will always compare the current one to the previous one until the end of time,” Mr. Malone said. “I keep trying to make each one better than the last.”