Playhouse Hosts “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever”
By Fran Syverson
Published: Thursday, December 10th, 2009
You remember being in the children’s Christmas Pageant at your church, don’t you? The kids all dressed up like shepherds, wise men, angels or fuzzy sheep…girls vying for the role of Mary…the boys all ducking, looking the other way when the Sunday School teacher chooses this year’s Joseph….
Your proud parents and grandparents beaming at you as you process down the aisle toward Jesus’ manger. What tender reminiscences!
And everyone declaring this was “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever!” Year after year, the “best!”
But then, you didn’t have the bratty Herdman family in your pageant. The children in the holiday program at the Sierra Madre Playhouse do. And what a hilarious difference that makes! The Herdmans don’t even go to church, and the entire concept of the “true meaning of Christmas” is foreign to them. The only reason they came to be in the pageant is that they heard that cookies are served after rehearsals.
Those Herdman kids—their reputation precedes them. Lie, cheat, steal? Yes. Cuss? Smoke cigars? Yes, even the girls. Can they be tamed enough to fit in with the other kids in the pageant?
That should have been a cinch, because Mrs. Armstrong has directed the pageant for years. But, as luck (bad luck, that is) would have it, she has broken a leg and is in the hospital. So, encouraged by a chorus of “you can do it,” Grace Bradley agrees to direct this year’s production. Betsy McIntyre manages her role well, ranging from frantic and overwhelmed to inspiring, patient, and persuasive.
Oh, those rehearsals! The exuberant kids literally bounce around the church hall. Grace tries to set a reverent mood by reading the Bible’s Christmas story, but the Herdman kids come up with their own interpretations. After all, they’ve not heard the story before, so they find new meaning to the words. “Great with child”? Yes, indeedy….
While “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” abounds with holiday music and exuberance, it also has gentle, poignant moments. Be sure to watch “Mary” beside the manger in one scene, looking ever so much like she is “pondering these things” in her heart. And note the Wise Men’s gifts, as interpreted by Herdman boys.
Pig-tailed Andrea Sweeney as Beth Bradley enchantingly narrates briefly between scene changes. Alice (Marjorie Zuk) adds plenty of flounce to her insistence that she play Mary, because she “does it every year.” But lo and alas! This year she loses out to a Herdman!
Lidia Ryan, playing Mrs. Armstrong, is also loath to relinquish her annual role as pageant director. So she manages to interject herself into the situation even from her hospital bed, complete with her broken leg encased in plaster. In a clever twist, she and Mesdames McCarthy and Slocum (Mary Carol Kelly and Rosemary Gore, respectively) do a little wheelchair trio.
Real-life father and son Paul and Matthew Bond play Grace’s husband Bob and son Charlie. Bob reluctantly but faithfully supports Grace as she copes with the pageant’s logistics.
Some quick-change artistry transforms the kids into angels with pristine white garb and halos, shepherds in their dads’ bathrobes, and Wise Men with crowns partially askew. Rick Stubbs directs and accompanies the angelic (?) choir.
The playbill bios reveal that the young actors are no novices. The roster of talented youngsters may well include someone you know, whether the church kids or the Herdmans. They are Lauren Mackenzie, Zayd Jaber, Kari Irwin, Dillon McIntire, Jade Budman, John Moreaux, TaliaSaldana, Roberto Merkell, Maximilian Kent, Renzo Dela Pena, Sophia Davis, Grace Turner, Jessica Tupas, Dajema Ortiz, Jesnasha Jamison, Elysee Vielma, Ranya Jaber, Arianna Merkell, and Jayden Saldana.
Stan Kelly again reprises his directorial role and also plays the Reverend in this comedy written by Barbara Robinson and based on her book. It’s produced for the Playhouse by Ward Calaway.
Justin Larsen is stage manager. The talented Lois Tedrow returns as costume designer. Barry Schwam is sound designer, and Steve Shaw the sound operator. Credit both set and lighting design to Kristen Cox. Schuyler Gamick and Maureen Davis are the light operators. Michael Dessin is light/sound back-up. Don Bergman acts as technical guru, and led the construction crew of Kim Lingo, Cara Hanby, Lygia Firmani, Thiago Alegre, Pongnut Krainichadul, along with Larsen and Callaway.
Anne Marie Atwan and Calaway are in charge of properties. John Johnson and Calaway did the program design and, with Donald Songster, the production photography, while Kate VanDevender created the poster art. Philip Sokoloff is publicist.
This holiday frolic can be a delightful gift to your entire family, a sparkling contrast to the seasonal, oft-played Scrooge fable. You won’t keep the kids up late, as “Pageant” is lively and short—just about an hour, with no intermission. Enjoy it at the Sierra Madre Playhouse with special weekday showings through Sun., Dec. 20. Curtain time is 8 p.m. on Thursdays (Dec. 10 & 17), Fridays (Dec. 4, 11, 18) and Saturdays (Dec. 5, 12, 19.) Matinees at 2:30 p.m. are on Saturdays (Dec. 12 & 19) and Sundays (Dec. 6, 13, 20.) All seats for the holiday performances of “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” are $20.
The Sierra Madre Playhouse is located at 87 W. Sierra Madre Blvd., Sierra Madre. City lots offer free parking. Pre-theater dining at local restaurants on Baldwin Avenue and Sierra Madre Boulevard can enhance your holiday festivities. For ticket reservations or more information, phone (626) 355-4318, or visit the website, www.sierramadreplayhouse.org, for online ticketing.
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