On the Town: ‘Nativity!’ mixes laughter with message of faith
Burbankers who have either seen or heard of Westminster Presbyterian Church’s annual presentation of “Nativity! The Musical” are aware it is a Christmas pageant like none other.
While the show, whose five-performance run ended last week, does feature the traditional characters introduced in the Gospels, neither Matthew, Mark, Luke nor John included the imagination and humor presented in this production that, over the past 12 years, has become so legendary, it attracts audiences from far beyond the borders of Burbank.
It always delivers a stocking-full of sight gags, puns, current pop culture references and parodies of famous songs no one would ever associate with Christmas. A case in point is a cameo by the von Trapp Family Singers who take the audience back in time via their holiday rendition of “Time Warp” from “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.”
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Once back in the little town of Bethlehem, who else but a pipe-puffing Bing Crosby would show up to host a holiday television special broadcast direct from the manger.
Add to that the star of Bethlehem presented as a glamorous Hollywood starlet, Caesar Augustus performing with showgirls at (where else) Caesar’s Palace, King Herod taking on the persona of the sinister Phantom of the Opera, a running gag that blends the old “Saturday Night Live” Land Shark with “Sharknado,” Mormon Magi, unexplained walk-ons by Alexander Hamilton, Abraham Lincoln, Cap’n Crunch, Santa Claus, Inspector Clouseau and Julia Child and you get an idea why each year’s performance includes angelic cherubim shaking their little haloed-heads while opining: “This show gets weirder and weirder every year!”
A show that (at least through this year’s run) has stopped just short of incurring a crashing lightning bolt to put an end to it all, this year’s performance, written and directed by the husband-and-wife team of Greg and Melissa Baldwin, also included numerous moments of show-stopping and head-hanging silence accompanied by the playing of Frederic Chopin’s “Funeral March” every time the word “election” was muttered.
Asked for his annual disclosure on this show that blends heartwarming moments from the true Christmas story with outlandish fun, Westminster Presbyterian Pastor Paul Clairville, who believes (or at least hopes and prays) that God has a great sense of humor, laughs.
“There’s really nothing that is not theologically correct in our show, except for the odd characters and borscht-belt humor,” he said. “As I always say, we don’t take ourselves seriously, but we do take our faith seriously and, in this time of fear and uncertainty, we believe love and laughter can cast out all fears and that God is in control. I also believe that as Jesus got older and became a young man, he and Mary and Joseph did what every family does, and has always done. They sat around remembering the night he was born, telling stories about everything that happened and laughing.”
Among the principals who starred in this year’s production were Danielle O’Brien as Mary, Taylor Keppel as Joseph, Paul Rogus as the Archangel Gabriel, Jay Gerig as King Herod and David Brandt as Bing Crosby.
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DAVID LAURELL may be reached by email at dlaurell@aol.com or (818) 563-1007.
