Glory of Christmas

Excellent presentation of the birth of Jesus Christ by actors, vocalists; musicians, & hundreds of volunteers. I miss this wonderful presentation. I’ve seen it several times. It was a tradition that no longer is available. I hope it comes back.

As I sat in the audience watching this play, the only word that kept repeatedly coming to mind was «bizarre.» I’m very familiar with the Christmas story (the particular Christian-​version, that is) so this was a real head-​scratcher.
First of all… ballet? I kid you not, the show opens with 2 ballet dancers traipsing through an entire song. The fact that their backdrop is 2,000-year-old Israel just makes it all the more surreal.
The singers were all competent and flawless but, like the ballet, seemed out of place as they belted out song after song after song after song (etc.) in loud, bold, opera-​style vocals. This is first and foremost a musical, that much was made clear. There is little to no dialog, so you’ll either need to know the story in advance or pay as close attention to the lyrics as you possibly can in order to keep up. There’s some general narration that helps a bit, too.
The story is biblically flawed in places, one such instance being when the 3 kings were portrayed as visiting the newborn Jesus in the manger. (It wasn’t until 2 years later that they actually visited him, and this was in his home. I’m surprised the Crystal Cathedral allowed that to be shown.)
One huge flaw that I realized at the end of the show was that they left a huge, dramatic element of the story unanswered. They literally created tension in the plot… then dropped it all together. I’m referring to the 3 kings visiting King Herod, who instructs the kings to go see Jesus and report back to him what they think, as well as instructing that Jesus be brought before him so he, too, can worship. This is all done in an air of dastardly-​ness as we know for certain that King Herod means to have Jesus killed, yet it is completely DROPPED at that point; it never comes up again! The next time we see Herod, it’s merely the actor playing Herod as he’s walking off stage and waving to the audience.
Overall the production values were top-​notch, and I’d say that the set was the highlight, but if you’re looking for any deep, religious experience while watching this you’ll have to overlook the over-​the-​top strangeness and pageantry of it all.

After visiting Crystal Cathedral and passing it on the way in Orange County on the I-​5, I’ve been meaning to see their Christmas production. After doing Christmas plays, recitals and concerts at churches when I was little – this production is a Christmas church production on steroids. and in a good way!
5 Unilocal Stars for:
1 Unilocal Star: the details and pains that the church takes in replicating the Bethlehem on stage, along with the massive twinkling lights and Star of the East is really quite impressive. One has to crane the neck to really see all the complex staging and theatrics that they have put into this production. Who uses real live camels, sheep, goats and Middle East-​ish animals like donkeys to traipse over a church stage? It’s ridiculously over the top, but amazing to see how animals could be used in a stage production!
2. Unilocal Star for quirkiness and unpredictable nature of the production which makes it authentic: during various times of the production, one sheep decided to roll over and stop in the middle of the walking line. This was hilarious, as you could tell that the actor shepherd almost cracked up as the sheep was hamming it up and loving the laughter from the audience. Another incident was when the camels decided to drop their offerings all over the carpeted stage, and the actors proceeded to walk carefully around their animal waste with grave faces. This is hilarious, and I laughed so hard I almost died!
3. Nothing left to guess in detail and plot: anyone is who is anyone knows the Bethlehem story, but who would believe that you have six flying angels on cables floating right above your head? I have never been to a church production that had flying angels, but we had six women racing around in the open space above the floor where the audience sat. It really seemed like we were transported to another time.
4. Pricing for seats competitive with similar stage productions: compared to Wicked, this production is really a bargain. We were able to get front row seats at a discounted price!
5. Gets you in the Christmas spirit, and the true meaning of Christmas: beyond the glitz and shallowness of the holiday shopping season, attending Glory of Christmas really is a Southern California tradition. Attending will make you feel that you are in another time, all while you are sitting in your seat. Highly recommended for you to see how Jesus Christ came to our earth for us on stage!
I do wish that the production did not use taped orchestral music as much, and I’d suggest that they incorporate contemporary Christian Christmas music to refresh the production. However, the actors are volunteers – so I’d commend them for giving up holiday time with family and friends for so worthy a cause.
Five Unilocal Stars for Glory of Christmas. I’m going to Glory of Easter this spring, and I’ll see you there!

I went this year and thought it was pretty well-​done. They have a very good organ player, you have up to seven angels suspended overhead, the singers varied but there weren’t too many clunky notes, you get all the animals and their droppings, the set was well-​done.
They did use recorded music and narration extensively, however, which you may rightly deduct points for.
Let’s put it this way: you’re not going to see a more dramatic Christmas theater production than this.