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Mary and Joseph meet 50’s in Regent X-mas musical

Dec 13, 2014 | 11:33 AM

Students at Regent Academy alongside the Embassy Church are putting on a production this Christmas that will get most of Prince Albert toe tappin’ along.

‘Past, Present and BABY!’ offers a fresh perspective on the Joseph and Mary story and the birth of Christ, as well as tying in the classic Charles Dickens tale ‘A Christmas Carol’.

“Joseph finds out that Mary is pregnant and he kind of freaks out because he knows that it’s not his kid,” said Meghan Mayer, producer and director of the musical. “Three angels come from the past the present and the future and they show him what this baby means to the world.”

The musical is presented during the 1950’s but visits both the past and future while offering special musical numbers from these various time periods as well.

“There’s lots of 50’s music lots of oldies music, lots of music from the 60’s, lots of songs that we remember or like to hear and dance to.” said Mayer. “The words have been changed but it’s all oldies that we know, most people could sing along to them.”

She added that some of these songs include Rockin’ Robin, Rock Around the Clock and Runaround Sue.

Mayer is no stranger to writing these special niche Christmas plays.

“I always write Christmas plays for the kids and it’s always a spin-off of something,” said Mayer. “Someone told me to write a Christmas play in modern times about Joseph and Mary and this is kind of what evolved.”

The students began production on this musical in September, according to Mayer, with lots of time and effort put into bringing her vision to life.

“These kids are extremely talented but they’re also extremely committed,” said Mayer. “From the time that they come to the school they are in a class that’s a performing arts class, so the children are used to acting, singing, dancing.”

Not only will this play leave you with that warm Christmas feeling, it will also be giving back to the community.

“This school really focuses on community, we really like to do things for the community,” “When we were setting up the dinner theater we weren’t really trying to make a profit.”

A portion of the proceeds raised from ticket sales will go towards the repair fund for the Kinsmen Water Slides.

“Kinsmen is something that is near and dear to our hearts because we’re a school that houses kids.”

There will be two shows a Dinner Theater on Dec. 13 at 6 p.m. and a Family Night on Dec. 14 at 4 p.m.

Tickets for the Dinner Theater are $30 and available at Bocian Jewelers, Salon 6, Dazzling Divas and at the Embassy Church office until Dec. 10. For family night you can purchase tickets as the doors as well. 

For the Family Night, tickets are $5 for adults $2 for kids ages five to 12, under five is free and families of five cost $12. 

jbowler@panow.com

On Twitter: @journalistjim