The Lompoc Civic Theatre has been providing the small town with live community theater for 40 years now. Four decades of experience is a lot to bank on, but a steady stock of fresh new faces makes the volunteer theater group a dynamic entity that is always presenting plays in new and interesting ways.
In the spirit of the holiday season, the theater is presenting the production The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, which follows a family in the midst of a church’s Christmas pageant, including the planning stages and the execution. The dynamic of the show is upset when the Herdman children—a group of new-to-town youngsters living under the poverty level—hijack the show without knowing anything about the Christmas story.
“They show up at Sunday school for the free cookies and they take over the Christmas Pageant, so of course chaos ensues as these crazy kids take over,” director Sarah A.M. Barthel said. “It’s a really a beautiful story about these kids who, during the course of the show, learn about the Christmas story and ideas change on both sides.”
Barthel is well versed when working with youngsters in theater; she is the drama teacher at Lompoc High School. The Lompoc High School Drama Department is collaborating with the civic theater to make this production happen, as it requires several teenage actors along with some adult actors.
[image-2]
“It’s really good to see the high school students have interaction with adult actors,” Barthel said. “Most of the people involved in the Lompoc Civic Theatre and any community theater really aren’t professional actors; they are people who love the theater and do it for fun.”
The play also calls for several kids younger than high school aged, as it portrays a church and its parishioners. The combined cast makes for a cast larger than most civic theaters are used to.
“There was a lot of adjustment in getting used to how many people we have and working with 20 kids among a full cast,” Barthel said. “My students end up bridging the gap between the older folks and the baby angels. It’s nice to inspire the little kids and let them know that they can do this in high school, and to plant the seed early on.”
The students in Barthel’s drama program are learning a lot from their elders as well, she explained.
“It’s nice for my students to see that theater doesn’t end in high school,” she said. “It’s great for them to see people who aren’t professionals enjoying the arts in a community theater.”
The Lompoc Civic Auditorium, where the civic theater performs, seats more than 400 people, a number many local theater groups would find daunting to fill. Barthel hopes, with the added stimulus of youthful actors, that more of the community will make it out to the show.
[image-3]
“It gets harder and harder to get people to leave their house and experience something, and when they do I think they really enjoy it,” Barthel said. “You can watch a DVD 20 times and it is the same every time, but the live theater experience is different every time because we bring a unique energy to it every time.”
The funny and family-friendly production of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever is being performed for the next two weekends, including evening and matinee performances in Lompoc. Whether they’re already in town or need to drive, families and friends looking for holiday-themed fun won’t want to miss out on a great community performance.
Arts Editor Joe Payne appreciates a community effort. Contact him at jpayne@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Dec 5-12, 2013.
