Ethan Norman came on the scene with The WordPlayers in 2010 as an actor in Godspell. He fell in love with The WordPlayers mission of excellence in faith-based storytelling. He then began writing and directing touring shows such as Sleepers, Wake!, In These Dark Streets, West Of Bethlehem, and The Ends We Seek. Soon after, he was hired part-time as the Artistic Associate. He continued writing, directing, and performing as needed, as well as taking on leadership responsibilities to assist the founding staff. The conversation about his becoming an “heir apparent” started, and the rest is history. The WordPlayers produced his first full-length play with music, The Refugee King, for the first time in 2022.

Ethan started as an actor. Then he learned to sing, picked up an old, beat-up guitar that someone was giving away, and learned to play it. Writing songs was a natural progression. After some years as a professional performer, Ethan returned to his roots and worked in music, youth, and college ministries, and finally finished undergraduate work in Bible and Ministry Leadership. He took over as Artistic Director for The WordPlayers in August of 2023 and tends to dream big, both in the office and on marathon courses. He hasn’t ruled out surfing, though it’s hard to do around here. If you don’t catch him with The WordPlayers, he is probably outside somewhere with his wife and two sons or playing a weekend gig at some local watering hole.