By Whitney Sorensen
The Lehi City Arts Council creates festive stage pictures as they present a fun adaptation of Barbara Robinson’s beloved children’s novella, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. Even the youngest kids in the audience will enjoy this hour-long production, which makes excellent use of a large cast that includes 24 children. This simple story has a heart-warming conclusion that gave me all the Christmas feels.
I’ve been a fan of this story since I was the age of the characters in the book. This version lacks some of the hilarious details found in the original pages, but the gist remains. Narrator Beth Bradley (Allison Omer) tells the audience about the six Herdman siblings (Ryan Felix, Annabelle Felix, Tyson Cressall, Zach Miller, Andrew Bird, and Olivia Valdez), who run around town without any parental supervision and bully their classmates while at school. The Herdmans don’t go to church until Beth’s little brother, Charlie (Lincoln Mounteer), tells them endless refreshments are available at Sunday school.
As luck would have it, the Herdmans’ first Sunday occurs on the same day Mrs. Bradley (Emily Felix) is casting the Christmas pageant—and the dirt-smudged Herdmans end up in all the lead roles because the other kids are afraid to volunteer. The entire town gossips about how the kids will ruin the pageant, and plenty of chaos ensues during rehearsals. But, as you can tell from the play’s title, the actual performance goes better than anyone could have guessed.
Despite my affection for this story, my adult eyes did find a few elements more troublesome than I remember them. For instance, I’ve always seen the Herdmans’ bullying as a comedic element, and I didn’t mind it being played innocently for comedy here, but obviously bullying has more consequences in real life, and this is an opportunity to address that issue with kids after the show.
Also, the play offers no explanation for why the Herdmans have no parents, but no adult characters seem largely concerned about their welfare. The ladies on the church’s gossip phone tree (Heidi Spann, Brooke Holladay, Amber Mounteer, and Aubrie Bass) call each other incessantly to complain about the Herdmans’ unorthodox behavior. Reverend Hopkins (Josh Bennett) even comments at one point that when Jesus said, “Suffer the little children to come unto me,” he might not have meant the Herdmans. Of course, the intent of the line is to elicit laughter, but it struck me as a curious encapsulation of the play’s theme: Do Christians really know how to be Christian to everyone, especially at Christmas? Do Christians even know what Christianity is about?
Two sets of scenes explore that question. First, the rehearsals for the pageant yield many questions from the Herdmans about the story of the first Christmas. Their odd questions seem strange to anyone who’s heard the story annually for most of their life, including the girl who wanted to play Mary, Alice Wendleken (Haylie Mounteer). Her dreams jilted, she takes notes on any behavior from the Herdmans that feels irreverent, but Beth, as the moral voice of the audience, points out that their fresh eyes help her see the Nativity anew.
Second, the pageant itself is a true highlight, as the Herdmans have internalized the message of the story but put their own spin on it. I credit co-directors Jeanna Cunningham and LoriAnne Poulsen with making that scene feel special by changing the tone and giving Imogene Herdman (Annabelle Felix), who plays Mary, a quiet scene alone with the baby Jesus doll just before the pageant begins. The rest of the children in the cast, playing the angel chorus, the shepherds, and the wise men, make an adorable picture of innocence that stirred up the full spirit of Christmas in my sometimes Grinchy heart.
Tech-wise, this production has plenty of hits too. Costumer Bryan Orr successfully makes the kids’ pageant-wear look haphazard enough to have been organized by individual parents in the midst of the holiday hubbub. I particularly enjoyed the over-sized robes worn by the little shepherds. Jerry Hatch’s sets are simple, but they recreate the ambience of a classic church and a home in mid-century America. If you have a face in the cast you’re looking for, I recommend the center section, as not all scenes will be as visible from the left and right sides.
My takeaway? You haven’t lived until Gladys Herdman (Olivia Valdez) points and you and shouts, “Hey, unto you a child is born!” Give your family a holiday treat and usher in the season by attending The Best Christmas Pageant Ever in Lehi.
Lehi Arts Council presents The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson
Nov 30-December 15, 2018. 7:30 PM. Saturday Dec 15 3:00 PM
Tickets: Adults, $8.00; Students and Seniors, $5.00
Lehi Arts Center, 685 N. Center St., Lehi, Utah
Contact: 801-766-0912
Lehi Arts Council Facebook Page
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever Facebook Event
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