Original musical tells the story of Christ’s birthday in a
unique way
Frankincense, myrrh and
… a pie in the face?
If the three wise men were played by Larry, Moe and Curly, then
yes.
Original musical tells the story of Christ’s birthday in a unique way
Frankincense, myrrh and … a pie in the face?
If the three wise men were played by Larry, Moe and Curly, then yes.
Not many Christmas plays feature the Three Stooges as the Magi – or Elvis as the angel Gabriel, but “Emmanuel,” an original musical written by Vanessa Hughes, dares to be just a bit, well, different.
“It is the story of the birth of Jesus Christ, told in a rather unique way,” said Hughes, whose husband, Jonathan, is an associate pastor at the First Presbyterian Church in Hollister. “It’s definitely not your traditional Christmas play.”
Two performances of “Emmanuel” will be held at the First Presbyterian Church on San Benito Street – one on Friday, Dec. 14 at 7 p.m. and a second showing on Sunday, Dec. 16 at 2 p.m. A spaghetti dinner will be held prior to Friday’s showing, beginning at 6 p.m. in the church hall.
“Emmanuel” begins with two children listening to the story of Christ’s birth as read to them by their grandfather. When Grandpa takes a break from the story to go get some milk and cookies, the children pick up the book and then drop it, causing all of the characters to fall from the pages. The children realize they have to get the characters back into the book in order for the story to be finished.
Although the characters are the ones found in the traditional gospels regarding Christ’s birth – Joseph, Mary, Gabriel, the three Wise Men – Hughes has added her own personal twists to the story, tweaking the characters’ personalities.
“If Elvis were alive and going to our church, he’d be playing Gabriel,” Hughes said. “Gabriel is larger-than-life, wearing a cape and sequins and he has back-up singers. Because we are using the gospel of Luke, he is a character in the play, and he comes down to help the kids get the characters back into the book. But he’s doing a play up in Heaven at the time, so he shows up as someone from ‘Shrek’.”
The only character Hughes opted not to tamper with is Mary, but other characters have been altered, including Joseph as a 60s hippie, an extremely bratty Herod and of course, the three Wise Men becoming the Three Stooges – who happen to rap their songs.
Hughes and her family have been with the First Presbyterian Church for just about a year; prior to that, Hughes and her husband worked with a church in Iowa, where she served as a youth minister. It was during that time she realized some details in the gospels were not being fully understood by some of her students.
“I took a group of kids to see an Easter pageant. When we were leaving at the end of the show, a couple of the girls were crying,” Hughes said. “I asked them why, and one of them told me ‘I knew Jesus died, but I didn’t know we killed him.’ So often we assume that when we talk about these stories, everyone knows the details. That’s not always true. So I wanted to present this story in an interesting way, to keep people’s attention and teach them something maybe they didn’t know before.”
Hughes has written and directed shows before, but has never worn both hats in the same production. She has had help from her musical director, Cindy Biesemeyer, as well as several seamstresses who are helping to create more than 40 different costumes. San Benito Stage Company has donated several set pieces, as well.
“It’s been a lot of work, but rehearsals are going well,” she said. “It’s interesting because we have a number of people performing who have never done theater before. But everyone is doing their best and that’s all I can ask for.”
“Emmanuel” will feature the songs of contemporary Christian vocalists Michael W. Smith, Amy Grant, Point of Grace and Chris Rice. Matthew Prasek, pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Hollister, plays Gabriel, and Katie Pacheco plays Mary.
The show is open to the public, and admission to both performances, as well as the spaghetti dinner, is free.
“I’m mostly writing this because I want people who don’t have a church family to feel like they can come,” Hughes said. “I don’t want this to be thought of as ‘the Presbyterian church play.’ A lot of people from other churches have roles in the play.”
About the only thing people should not expect to see in “Emmanuel” are the traditional smiling children dressed as cherubs, Hughes said.
“The story of God coming to live among us is huge,” she said. “I wanted to tell the story in a new way. I wanted to go beyond cute kids in tinsel halos and cotton ball sheep. I hope I accomplished that.”
Two performances of “Emmanuel” will be held at the First Presbyterian Church, 2066 San Benito St., on Friday, Dec. 14 at 7 p.m. and Sunday, Dec. 16 at 2 p.m. A spaghetti dinner will be held prior to Friday’s performance in the church hall at 6 p.m. Admission is free, although a Free Will donation will be taken at both performances. For more information, call 637-4350.
