Christmas Pageants, Cute Kids, Fun Songs And Scientology? Yep!
[Post submitted by guest poster "MX"]
The Christmas Holiday Season is upon us and with it, musicals and plays focused on children and the great themes of the holiday season: the moral lessons of Ebenezer Scrooge and his transformation, the spiritual stories of a poor child born in a manger destined to die a criminal but become the Prince of Peace, and of course, the grumpy Grinch who stole Christmas.
With the Grinch in mind, that brings us to another religious tradition, Christmas Pageants!
The Red Orchid Theatre in Chicago is presenting the Chicago premiere of A Very Merry Unauthorized Scientology Children's Pageant. The musical which features ten child actors, was written by Kyle Jarrow after a concept by Alex Timbers, the show's original director which opened in Off-Off-Broadway in 2003. Chicago Tribune religion writer Manya Brachear has described it in her post-preview report as "a most experimental Christmas pageant." The New York Times called it "a cult hit" (pun intended?) and The Los Angeles Times in 2004 stated that: "The show found a New York audience willing to move from the tongue-in-cheek childrens pageant concept to something that became startlingly adult."
Getting into the Christmas spirit of peace on earth and good will to all, the Church of Scientology has been less than thrilled with this endearing take on the classic holiday themed shows, and in the past have harassed the children who've been a part of the cast. There had been rumors of "fair-gaming" at the Chicago production, but we've been unable to substantiate them.
But it wouldn't be a shock to anyone familiar with Tom Cruise's favorite cult, as both the L.A. and New York productions experienced similar issues.
The mind boggles at the thought of a self-proclaimed church threatening to terminate the careers of adolescent actors during the Christmas season for a hilarious but essentially dead-pan and mildly satirical take on its founder L. Ron Hubbard. Can you imagine the uproar if the Catholic Church had fair gamed productions of Christopher Durang's Sister Mary Ignatius Explains it All For You, and threatened children with the extermination of their acting careers?
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