‘Best Christmas Pageant Ever’ is a comic delight
Children and adults may find different reasons to love First Stage’s “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever: The Musical,” which opened Friday at the Marcus Center.
For the younger audience, the colorful spectacle of seven adults and 22 children and teens singing and dancing across the stage never ends. Even the set changes between scenes are smoothly carried out and fun to watch.
As for the grown-ups, “Best Christmas Pageant” playfully satirizes the insularity of small-town adults, including the gossip network that puts people in their place.
First Stage has performed a version of Barbara Robinson’s story about the way a pack of “bad” kids rescues a church Christmas pageant nine times now; Molly Rhode, director of the new production, performed as a child in the initial one. But this is the first time the local theater has staged the musical version adapted by Jahnna Beecham and Malcolm Hillgartner.
It works as a musical; full company numbers like “The Horrible Herdmans” dazzle. Rhode’s direction (and choreography) makes every child performer valuable and gives every audience member someone nearby to watch. The show’s pre-Beatles vibe also gives us a cheeky girl-group number by the gossipy church ladies (grown-up actors Bree Below, Cynthia Cobb and Laura Gordon).
Daryl Harris’ spectacular costume designs put the “good” kids in colorful garb, including one cowboy’s nod to Ralphie of “A Christmas Story,” while dressing the Herdman kids in distressed pirate-greaser-thrift-shop
IF YOU GO
First Stage performs “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever: The Musical” through Dec. 26 at the Marcus Center’s Todd Wehr Theater, 929 N. Water St. Visit firststage.org or call (414) 2737206. First Stage recommends this show for ages 4 and older. black and white.
After the bossy pageant director (Lachrisa Grandberry) lands in traction, local mom Grace Bradley (Karen Estrada) is pressed into serving as director. Instead of casting the school Sharpay (Miranda Cecsarini of the Holly cast) as Mary, she gives the role to Imogene Herdman (Isabella Hansen), leading to agita for everyone, particularly Grace’s daughter (Ryann Schulz).
The unchurched Herdmans don’t allow anyone to take the Nativity story for granted, asking streetwise questions and expressing outrage about what the Holy Family went through, leading to the delightful “Die, Herod, Die!”
As her name suggests, Grace Bradley freely bestows her trust on the Herdmans, who repay it in the most surprising way.
Like the director Rhode, Estrada also performed in this story as a First Stage kid. Playing Grace in this musical is a grown-up star turn for Estrada, who has a vocal number that brings down the house. More importantly, she never stops reminding us, in a delightfully comic way, how big a difference the patience and persistence of one person can make.