The Best Christmas Pageant...ever!

Now that Thanksgiving is out of the way- and some of Barbietown's decorating and building projects are done, Mrs. Greene, Bob Greene's mother, can concentrate on the participants of the Christmas pageant for the church. Mrs. Greene is the church's coordinator, and this year she is at her wit's end- she has enough shepherds, the main cast- Mary, Joseph, and Baby Jesus(Bob's youngest son, Steven), as well as one of the Wise Men, Joe from the local Hardware store. But she needs two more Wise Men. Angelica, Becky's cousin, has volunteered to be the Angel of the Lord. Whew! Meet Mrs. Greene...

Besides coordinating the members for the cast of the Christmas pageant, Mrs. Greene also coordinates the costumes, scenery, and helpers who make all of this happen. The old disused Abbey chapel on the church grounds has been cleaned up and Buck and Bob (Bob is playing Joseph) have repaired the door, cleaned up the grounds, and made a nice, open scenery. The trees also have been strung with lights. Mrs. Greene wanted a candlelight service while the pageant was in progress, but the committee nixed that idea since young children would be attending. According to Mrs. Greene, despite all of the upheavals, she speaks like a true Chairperson- 'This will be the BEST CHRISTMAS PAGEANT EVER!'(Anyone remember that book?)

So let's peek in and see how Mrs. Greene is managing. A bunch of things went wrong today....
First, Joe cannot find his headgear, or crown, or he never had any....

'What do you mean you can't find that crown thing Joe? Wasn't it in with your costume?? I did the inventory myself!' Mrs. Greene is astonished.
" I know Mrs. Greene, but it wasn't in that large bag- could it still be in the church storage closet??"
"I'll get Becky to take a look Joe, she may have overlooked it." (Becky is Mrs. Greene's daughter in law, and helps at the church.)
After making a note to look in the church storage closet, she was informed one key tree near the manger needed new lights because there was a short in the old lights from last year.

'Buck, I thought you had tested those lights," Mrs. Greene began...
"Well, I did. But after we put them on the tree they just went ker-plooey.' Buck said, struggling with the tree. (Buck should really put on a t-shirt before doing work like this.)
'Ker-plooey??' Mrs. Greene shook her head.'Is that a technical term? Are the lights working or not?? '
Buck laughed. Not technicial, but they're done...we'll need another string.'

The newcomer to the church, Darren Smith, introduced himself. 'hello Mrs. Greene, Buck said ya'll needed some help. If there is anything I can do, please let me know. Buck and I can pick up the lights and put them on tomorrow when there isn't much traffic around.'
'Thank you so much Darren, it is so nice to meet you. Forgive me and the cast about here, it is a little crazy just before the pageant.' Mrs. Greene says. Darren smiles and helps Buck get the lights off of the tree. After this, Mrs. Greene's attention is called to one of the shepherds, Ryan, who is complaining about having to hold the sheep during rehearsal....

Mrs. Greene is prepared for this one.'Ok Ryan, what is the matter. That sheep is just a lamb, so he shouldn't be that much trouble. '
'I know Mrs. Greene, but dang! do I have to hold him all during rehearsal??I have a date after rehearsal tonight, and I smell funny. My Costume smells like sheep, I smell like a barnyard. '
Mrs. Greene's cold look silences him.....and he is aware he has been given 'the look'...Mrs. Greene never says anything disagreeable, when she is displeased, but gives a very, long, hard look.
Briskly she says...'Well Ryan, no, you do not have to hold the sheep during the entire rehearsal. You will have to wash or dry clean your costume- as that is your responsibility. I will see about contacting the farmer who was kind enough to lend us some of his lambs and see if he can provide a lead or harness. It may not be necessary to have the lambs here at rehearsal, so you have a valid point. BUT" , and here Mrs. Greene pauses, " you should think of this young man, our Lord was a shepherd , was He not?'
Ryan is contrite,'Mrs. Greene, I'm sorry, but the animal gets squirrely'....Mrs. Greene smiled and moves on to the next problem........

 

Next, she moves onto the main cast who are practicing their entrance and poses for the main scene..

 

 

"Kat, you look very well. I see my grandson isn't being a problem like this afternoon. Bob your costume looks better and drapes better and looks perfect with Kat's mantle. I think you have this part down pat, maybe you can get out of costume now and help with the setting up of the lights?" Mrs. Greene sighs with relief that something went correct this afternoon....

Mrs. Greene turns absently and talking to herself...'Now WHAT we are going to do for the other 2 Wise Men? I need all three together in one scene!!!' Her attention is drawn in another direction, as Darren Smith, who has been helping Buck, calls her name.

'Yes Darren, what is it?' Mrs. Greene asks.
'Well Mrs. Greene, I couldn't help overhearing how you needed some more members to help with the pageant. Would you like me to help? I could be one of the Wise Men for you.'
Mrs. Greene is so relieved. She has someone else on the backburner she has approached, but had not told anyone. Darren has out of the blue volunteered! This really makes her day, she gets quite emotional after all of the things that have gone wrong.

Darren laughs at Mrs. Greene's relieved over-reaction!'Hey, now don't faint! I will still help with the scenery setups!' Darren jokes, and Mrs. Greene laughs too.
'Thank you so much! You don't know how much you've helped out! '

Mrs. Greene heaves a sigh of relief. 'You don't know what a blessing you are! I was worrying about the last two cast members we needed, thank you so much Darren!'
Darren grins. 'Not a problem Mrs. G. Do you mind if I call you Mrs. G? Mrs. Greene is so formal.'
Mrs. Greene laughs' No not at all! I will get right on getting your costume to you as soon as possible, and if it needs any adjustment, let me or Becky, Bob's wife know. And you should bring your family to the pageant!'
'Thank you Mrs. G. My son, Julian is new here, and I would like for him to meet some kids his own age. His mother is in the middle of transferring down here to Barbietown, but I have moved here so he could start school on time, and got us settled until she leaves her position.'
Mrs. Greene smiles,'That is wonderful. I have a bunch of grandchildren he can start with- Todd, is in the pageant as a shepherd boy, and his sister will be attending. Thank you again Darren.'

So that ends our little story right now on the Christmas pageant of Barbietown. As you can see, like any play or Christmas pageant, many things in the course of its production have gone wrong, but Mrs. Greene, our coordinator, has muddled through and made a go of it. I don't know what I would do without her!
Now onto our new resident, Darren. Darren is a S.I.S. doll, I found for $9.99 today at Tuesday morning. I love him! His whole body is jointed! Why they cannot do this with the Fashionistas is beyond me, as Ryan over there has knees that will not bend. I am trying to decide on what S.I.S. doll should be his new wife. Julian I couldn't find and I wanted him in this story, but not in time for the pics.

Another thing I like about him is he stands without a stand so well! He is going to be quite a catch for the ladies of Barbietown. His outfit and shoes are nicely made and detailed too. Now that the first wave of these dolls are moving on, I am glad to find them at places like Big Lots and Tuesday Morning.
Onto the decorations of Barbietown...the Boutique window is also done....in silver and gold!

The window is not as nice as I would have liked...I will probably re-do the background on it. The background is foamcore covered in silver wrapping paper. THe tables are from the nightclub diorama with my friends- two mirrors glued onto two 5 inch high glass tealight holders from the Dollar tree. The gold reindeer are ornaments for a $1 from Roses, and the nutcracker on top was from Michael's, I think. The wreath is from a package of wreaths I picked up somewhere. The bottom of the window is covered with white taffeta material and the star is made of plexi and from the Christmas Mouse in Williamsburg. The silver balls in front of the mannequin are actually a bunch of silver 'grapes' or resemble a grape bunch that you put on the Christmas tree- I bought these in a bag of stray ornaments at ayard sale for $1. I have a bunch more ideas for decorating the Latte shop next door, so onto that.
Please enjoy the little story and pictures!~Lisa