Full of upbeat tunes,
“The Best Christmas Pageant Ever: The Musical” is a winning addition to the holiday canon and manages to touch the heart, writes Matthew J. Palm.
Orlando Repertory Theatre gets the holiday theatrical season off to a twinkling start with its very fine production of “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever: The Musical.” It’s a lively show and well-staged by director Jeff Revels, who wrangles a large cast of adults and children. Full of upbeat tunes, this winning addition to the holiday canon manages to also touch the heart.
The title may very well sound familiar: Barbara Robinson wrote her nowclassic book back in 1971. (Side note: I chuckle at the more negative spin put on the story in the U.K., Australia and New Zealand — where the book is titled “The Worst Kids in the World.”)
The book was adapted as a play in the 1980s and was then followed by a made-forTV movie starring Loretta Swit of “M*A*S*H” fame.
The Rep’s version is a relative newcomer. Jahnna Beecham and Malcolm Hillgartner adapted the tale with music in 2016. The tunes make a swell addition, especially a rockin’ “Die, Herod, Die” and the gospelinfused “Let There Be Joy” finale.
In “Die, Herod, Die,” the six unruly Herdman children are learning about the Nativity story for the first time. The Herdmans are those “worst kids in the world” as they run riot through the town — pulling red noses off Rudolph figurines and decapitating snowmen. When they inadvertently end up in a church Christmas pageant — they were just looking for free snacks — the whole town is aghast, especially the dictatorial pageant director Helen Armstrong (Stephanie Trull, very funny in a stock battle-ax role).
But Helen is laid up with a skating injury, meaning gentle Grace Bradley (Laura Mansoori) takes the reins — and she is determined to include the Herdmans. Mansoori charms as she grows increasingly flustered trying to keep the pageant on track — even facing opposition from her own children, played by Sarah Isola and Giancarlos Coris. Both have excellent singing voices and diction — two factors that also lift the children’s group numbers, under the musical direction of Robby Stamper.
The show is demanding of a theater — with three different locations in the first 10 minutes alone. Cindy White’s classy scenic design admirably rises to the challenge.
I wish the story was fleshed out a bit more — we never meet the Herdmans’ long-suffering mother. But as the leaders of the rowdy clan, Savannah Grace Elmer and Dustin Batchelor create hooligans with heart. And maybe we all learn something about welcoming strangers and giving people a chance.