Pageant rehearsal, oh my gosh.

[rivka]

If you are going to be in Baltimore, or near Baltimore, on Christmas Eve, I really hope you'll consider attending our Christmas pageant, at the First Unitarian Church on Charles and Franklin Streets, at 6pm. Because it is going to be purely amazing. Really. It's going to be magic.

We had our third rehearsal this morning. I had asked the kids to know their lines, and they did remarkably well, with just a tendency to break down near the end. And to speed up their speech in relief at actually remembering their lines.

We ran through the whole play twice. They still need to work at speaking slowly and clearly. Mary and Joseph, who have only one line each at the beginning but stay on stage the whole time, need to stop wiggling and goofing during the animal scenes. In particularly, Mary needs to stop acting wild with the baby. It's anybody's guess whether the doves are going to perform appropriately when the time comes. But for the most part, they're all doing beautifully. I think it's really going to work as a performance.

The pageant helpers are working their magic, and doing so much more than I ever could have put together on my own. Michael made an adorable manger. The woman who's helping the singers arranged a simple, and lovely, guitar and violin accompaniment. (The violin was at her own instigation.) The very simple costumes are somehow perfect and amazing. The kids are wearing sideless tunics which belt around the front and flow freely in back (tied in back under the costume), and somehow they transform them. Especially the cow-print tunics for the cows, wow. And I caught just a glimpse of the scenery, which I turned over completely to one of the fathers. It seems like it's going to be much more elaborate and gorgeous than I had pictured. (Um, if it gets done in time.)

I can't wait to see the animal headpieces.

I can't wait to see the play. I think I'm probably going to cry all the way through it.

Comments

[kightp.livejournal.com]

Assuming there will be parental videos (there are always parental videos, aren't there?), I think you should solicit someone to YouTube at least an excerpt.

Preferably an excerpt with those cow-print cows. (-:

Break a leg! (And realize that somewhere in that group of children will very likely be one who gets bit by the theater bug, and years later recalls your pageant as the reason why...)

[cantkeepsilent.livejournal.com]

I second the call for the YouTubing. Also, I don't know anything about the distribution channels for spiritual theater, but your script is an incredible (and fresh, at least to me) re-envisioning of the Magi narrative and I think it should be performed around the world next year.

[huladavid.livejournal.com]

I hope you have as much fun with your pageant that I had with mine.

[mjlayman.livejournal.com]

Sounds like it's going really well! If you're going to direct in front, or have someone else there, you can get the kids to slow down in their words by using your hand up and down to mark a beat.