Any actor will tell you, never work with kids or dogs (they always steal the spotlight). The one exception to the rule might be The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, a stage comedy adapted from Barbara Robinson’s 1972 book. That’s because the show is so fun for both the audience and the actors, being upstaged by a six-year-old doesn’t have the usual sting to it.
The charming story tells what happens when a family of six delinquents, er, we mean, children, go to church for the first time ever (someone told them there’s free cookies involved). Organizers for the Christmas pageant are forced to put the Herdman kids — who cheat, lie, steal, set things on fire and smoke cigars — in the play after everyone else is scared away from auditioning.
The road to show time is rocky, especially since the kids have their own ideas about adapting the storyline. For one thing, they want to change the name to Revenge at Bethlehem. And one Herdman doesn’t understand why she can’t shout “Shazaaaammmm!” when the Angel of the Lord appears. (He’s like the Mighty Marvel in the comic books, isn’t he?) And no matter how many times it’s explained to them, the kids just don’t grasp the whole Jesus-in-a-manger plot. “The Herdmans still think it’s some kind of spy story. It may be the first Christmas pageant in history where Joseph and the Wise Men get in a fight and Mary runs away with the baby,” whines the pageant director.
Funny, sweet and inventive, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever lives up to its title. 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 2:30 p.m. December 11. Through December 17. Island Etc., 2317 Mechanic, Galveston. For information, call 409-762-3556 or visit www.islandetc.org. $22 to $27.
Fridays, Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sun., Dec. 11, 2:30 p.m. Starts: Dec. 9. Continues through Dec. 17, 2011
This article appears in Dec 8-14, 2011.