Our Story

In 2007 Trevor Best and Robert Hofmann crossed paths in Nashville, Tennessee; both in Nashville for different reasons, none of which had anything to do with the fact that Trevor’s wife and Robert’s wife were sisters and that they shared the same mother-in-law, who happened to be living with Robert and his wife.  Their meeting was more than co-incidental, but it was convenient.  Trevor, retired theatre teacher from California, (William S. Hart Union High School District) was hoping to re-kindle interest in several compositions published with Shawnee Press in Nashville.  Best has also composed for Mannah Music and Fred Bock Music.  Robert, a General Contractor was chasing a minor real estate boom in Williamson County.  He always managed somehow, following his musical instincts to include a fully functioning recording studio in his basement, garage or spare room.
 In the late sixties, Robert played in the original Blues Image Band with Mike Pinera (Iron Butterfly) whose notable recording of "Ride Captain Ride" reached number 4 on the USA's and Canadian charts. Robert then settled into writing and recording his own compositions.  His career took a detour into the technical entertainment industry.  While in Nashville he became keenly interested in Pilgrim’s Progress and was profoundly moved by John Bunyan’s classic tale of Christian’s journey to the celestial kingdom.  He imagined someday that same story being set to music. 

Trevor had always a fond memory of an animated version of Pilgrim’s Progress that he had watched over and over again as a child.  His aspirations, musically had been influenced by folk music of the 60’s and 70’s after which he settled into composing contemporary Christian music.  As a theatre teacher he wrote several adaptions for the stage:  “The Homecoming”, “It’s a Wonderful Life” and “You’ve Got Mail”, but often entertained the notion of “Pilgrim’s Progress” as a musical theatre production.
 In Nashville, they shared their common interest  and in 2009 “Pilgrim, a new musical” was launched.  Hofmann, with friends Rick Filer and Steve Camping began focusing on composing the thirteen songs of introspection while Best tackled the libretto and the narrative poems.

In 2016 the search went out for a musical coordinator, someone who could join the project and assist in the production process and facilitate finding suitable venues where "Pilgrim" might be produced and/or work-shopped to produce the original sound-track and show.  That led to one of southern Californias's popular recording artists, Steve Lively who graciously consented to come on board to fill that role.

Lively has been singing professionally for over 40 years, performing in concerts around the United States and also as a session singer in Los Angeles. He has worked on films such as Beauty and The Beast, Aladdin, and National Treasure, as well as commercials for Honda, Farmers Insurance, and Walmart.

He has participated in and directed many choral groups including the 100 voice College/High School Choir at Grace Baptist Church in Santa Clarita. Now retired, Lively had served as the pastor of worship ministries at The Bridge Bible Fellowship in Reseda California for the past 16 years. He and his wife, Mary, have been married for 42 years and have two grown, married children, James and Laura. 

After completing the 5th revision of the libretto, the show was placed in the hands of Grammy Award winning contributor, Grant Fonda, arranger/composer, who completed the original piano score. His projects have included, "Titanic: Live", "Walt Disney's, World of Color" and Steven Spielberg's "Bridge of Spies".

"Pilgrim" is a formula Broadway style show; 2 hrs. long with a 15 min. intermission. It consists of 9 scenes and prologue in the 1st act and 6 scenes and epilogue in the 2nd act. It has 24 songs including 3 reprises, several production numbers; and explores a variety of musical styles such as contemporary Christian, blues, country, but is underscored with a definite southern gospel bent. 

Special Note: Restrictions placed on productions such as this show, caused it to be shuttered in 2020 because of the Covid 19 Pandemic; consequently we have currently relocated to Nashville, Tennessee, where the show will be re-imagined. Lively remains in Southern California as a consulting music director. If you are interested in further information or would like to participate in the original cast production please contact us at: trevorbest@att.net or text to 661-753-7153.