Book, music and lyrics by Kyle Jarrow, concept by Alex Timbers. At: Next Theatre Company at Noyes Cultural Arts Center, 927 Noyes, Evanston. Tickets: 847-475-1875, ext. 2; $20-$25. Runs through: Jan. 3
Children's Christmas pageants are often the only performances to which both "adorable" and "excruciating" simultaneously apply. Every year, immense effort goes into lavishly re-producing the story of Jesus' birth so that children can stumble through sacred material to the amusement of their camcorder-wielding parents and maybe start to develop a religious identity. It's in that spirit that Kyle Jarrow not so subtly pokes fun at the Church of Scientology in A Very Merry Unauthorized Children's Scientology Pageant, now running at the Next Theatre Company in Evanston through Jan. 3.
One of two productions of the 2004 Obie-winning music in the Chicago area ( the other at A Red Orchid Theatre downtown ) , Next's "Pageant" is an upbeat and non-traditional alternative for family-focused entertainment during the holiday season and one that's just as sharp as it is cute.
Although it's hard to speculate the extent to which the cast of eight North Shore children understands the biting social criticism and satire it's performing, it's that youthful and naïve energy also found in Christmas pageants that powers Jarrow's musical spoof.
Written by Jarrowbook, music and lyricsand based on a concept by Alex Timbers, A Very Merry Unauthorized Children's Scientology Pageant tells the life story of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard: triumphs, criticisms, tax auditors and all. Next Artistic Director Jason Southerland worked with Jarrow, his friend and colleague, on revising and updating the show after its Off-Broadway run. His production contains all the revisions including new musical numbers and an appearance by Tom Cruise.
Fitted with a soundtrack of simplistic '80s-style synth-pop that includes a couple catchy numbers, the show features aliens, boat rides across the world and an abundance of costume changes featuring cleverly recycled items true to the homemade pageant concept. Some might say, "My, what a cute and inventive kids musical," but this is indeed ( with obvious embellishments ) the story of Scientology; it's merely coincidence that the historical narrative contains many elements that also serve to amuse children.
Most family productions or films master two planes of entertainment: one for the kids and one for their parents. "Pageant" is merely a more explicit practice of this concept. And even if children leave unable to summarize what it was they saw, they're likely to be inspired by the hard-working and talented cast made entirely of their peers.
Without any adults to stand in their spotlight, these kids see their opportunity to shine as does their director, Kathryn Walsh. Walsh has supplied them with the clever stagingand confidenceto inspire laughs from the audience rather than achieve them by incident.
A quick 80 minutes long, Next has found its ideal production for the holidays: one that provides family entertainment while still serving its mission to produce socially conscious theater.