Christmas Pageant 2005

It's a fact of life in small parish churches like Trinity that young people seem to come along clustered by age.

For example, in the pictures for Pageant 2002 (also known as Pageant 2K2) and Pageant 2003, there were lots of big kids. We had multiple "Big Angels" and multiple Angel Narrators. However, if you look at the "Little Angels" and the animals in those years they were few in number. The subsequent years, not surprisingly, produced large Confirmation classes.

Now, in 2005, we find ourselves with few candidates for the Pageant's main speaking parts, yet we have an awe-inspiring (from our small parish perspective) 11 little angels and 5 animals (at least at the beginning of the rehearsal cycle), as well as a live Baby Jesus (with no fewer than two understudies!).

Here are just a few pictures from the first rehearsal for 2005, held on December 3. As you can see, the nave was set up for the Crescendo! concert set for that evening. (Click on any of the thumbnails to see a larger version)

Narrator practicing

Mary and one of the little angels

Joseph and Mary

Mary with two (of our 11) little angels

Assistant Director reviews the Annunciation with Mary

Narrator in action

Joseph practicing for his dream

Some of the small angels getting ready for their procession

"Away in a manger, no crib for His bed

"The Little Lord Jesus laid down His sweet head"

Cast on stage

The next batch of photos will be from Rehearsal #2.

Christmas Pageant 2005 -- Rehearsal Two

We had a great second rehearsal on December 10. Lots of kids -- really only a few absentees, surprising in view of the foot of snow we had the previous night.

Angel Gabriel leads Mary and Joseph down the aisle

Rehearsing the Annunciation

Joseph practices for his dream

"An Angel came to Joseph in a Dream"

A first for us: a real, live baby for rehearsal!

Mary holding the baby

The Angel Narrator moves things along

The little angels are now in place

The Heavenly Host meeting the shepherds in the aisle

...we continue...

A teddy bear, on hand to be blessed the next day for donation to child victims of Hurricane Katrina, stands in for the baby

...we continue...

Gospeller reading

Costuming

...more costuming

Costuming the shepherds

Probably a sheep

The cast gathers with Christine to review the hymns for the Pageant

Christmas Pageant 2005 -- Rehearsal Three

If the weather was bad on the day preceding rehearsal two, rehearsal three outdid it! Instead of last week's manageable snow, this week brought freezing rain! But there was still plenty to do at rehearsal. Our Gospeller and Angel Narrator worked on their projection, enunciation, pronunciation, and worked very hard indeed. Our little angels are becoming quite a unit. After Assistant Director Elizabeth Tarr was finished with them at rehearsal three, they processed confidently down the aisle in pairs, they returned to meet the shepherds in an organized way, they spoke their one big line ("Glory to God in the Highest....") in unison and with confidence, and, thanks to Christine's work with them, they also sang with gusto.

The only unfortunate part was that we were so busy with working on the details that we neglected to take pictures until the rehearsal was nearly over. Nonetheless, here's what we got, supplemented by two very nice photos by Ann Villano (Thanks, Ann!)!