‘Nativity!’ play looks to restore faith in humor
What happens when you take elements of the Netflix show “Stranger Things,” the hit play “Hamilton,” the recent presidential election and other pop-culture references and mix them with a biblical story? You get an unconventional holiday musical.
Described by some as a “too-heavily spiked eggnog,” the annual “Nativity! The Musical” at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Burbank is back this year to give its spin on a traditional holiday play.
Burbank residents Greg and Melissa Baldwin have been presenting their take on the nativity of Jesus at Westminster Presbyterian —where they are members — for the past 12 years. Instead of going the traditional route of talking about the birth of Jesus, the married couple injects their sense of humor into the matter.
“You need to take your faith seriously, but maybe not yourself so seriously, and that is a problem that some Christians have trouble doing sometimes,” Greg Baldwin said.
Join the conversation on Facebook >>
The couple takes the basic biblical story and reimagines it with modern cultural references. Last year, the Baldwins incorporated Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump into “Nativity! The Musical” . During the play, Clinton was asking for Mary and Joseph’s support in the election, while Trump was asking to see Jesus’ birth certificate.
However, because of the results of the presidential election, Greg Baldwin said the play doesn’t outright talk about it. Whenever someone says “election” during the play, Frederic Chopin’s “Funeral March” begins to play.
“That’s the only reference we have in the show,” he said. “We can’t [anger] anybody too much. Republican or Democrat, everybody knows that this election was horrible.”
The musical, which runs for about 110 minutes, started off years ago as just a 10-minute skit. Now, there are 30 musical numbers and more than 140 church members involved.
“People seem to like it,” Greg Baldwin said. “What amazes us even to this day is that it cuts across theological lines. Atheists like the show and Jews have come to see the show and like it.”
He added that the musical has given his fellow church members a way to satisfy any acting urges they might have.
“The audience enjoys the show, but I think the people that do the show love it even more,” Greg Baldwin said. “This is L.A. Most people have a little actor in them.”
Performances will be at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 8 p.m. on Friday, 2 and 8 p.m. on Saturday and 2 and 7 p.m. on Sunday.
The church is located at 542 N. Buena Vista St.
To purchase tickets to “Nativity! The Musical,” visit brownpapertickets.com/event/2676484.
--
Anthony Clark Carpio, anthonyclark.carpio@latimes.com
Twitter: @acocarpio
