“You know I’ve seen this a bunch of times, right?” – 11 yr. old
“I Can’t Wait!” – 10 yr. old
“This is going to be SO boring” – 7 yr. old
Three kiddies. Three different reactions to finding out we were spending our Friday night at the Cape Fear Regional Theatre to see this year’s production of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever! As a Pro Mom, I probably should have expected this but I was still a bit disappointed.
Did I know my two girls had seen this play a few times through school trips?
Yes, I’d been there as a chaperone for every single one!
Did I expect my home-body, video game lovin’ seven-year-old to protest even though he’d never seen it before?
Yep. Called that one a mile away!
Still, somehow I thought they would all be excited just to get a chance to go out – somewhere! I was wrong – or so I thought!
Oh! In case you’re wondering, here was my reply to their complaints:
“Listen. I’ve got these tickets and we are going to this play! End of story. Get in the truck!”
The Show
Our tickets were for the 7 o’clock show. This would be our first time at an evening show since all our field trip visits were obviously during the day. I picked this time hoping it would add to that feeling of going to a play and a real theater. For me, it did. For my kiddies – not so much. It was a bit crowded in the lobby as people waited for the theater to be opened for seating. Thanks to the cool photo area set up in a corner I knew what we could do as we waited!
Pictures! Cape Fear Regional Theatre had a really cool step and repeat set up with a Christmas tree and I was determined to get a memory from this night if I had to bribe it out of these kids!
Let’s just say I got my pic sans smiles – only aftet a promise of candy from the concessions booth. Listen, a mom’s gotta do what mom’s gotta do! A pack of M&Ms, KitKats and a Snickers later I had my pictures. My youngest daughter – ya’ll know the one who actually wanted to be there – even got to try a cup of hot apple cider! She kinda gulped it forgetting about the hot part as she recovered – I got to finish it. It was so yummy!
We waited a few moments more before the usher came out to announce we could be seated! I shoved my two grumpy kiddies along as my youngest and I chatted about signing her up for the studio classes Cape Fear Regional Theater or one of the CFRT Summer Programs. At least I’ve got one win from the night…LOL
The Theatre
Once in the theatre, the usher directed us to our seats. I promise I have never had a bad seat at Cape Fear Regional Theatre. I count it as one of the benefits of such an intimate theatre.
After going over a few ‘Mom Rules’:
- no more complaining
- if you need to go to the bathroom – go now
- don’t kick the seat in front of you
You know those rules. We settled in for the start of the play.
The curtain opened and my excitement was brand new. You wouldn’t even know I’d seen this play a few times. The fact that each night of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever has a new cast may have helped with that – our cast was called the Mistletoe Cast. Unless you attend a few nights in a row you will never see the same set of actors twice! Kinda cool, right? My youngest daughter noticed this immediately.
“Hey! That girl is in Girl Scouts with me! She wasn’t in the show before”
That’s the other cool part about going to a locally produced play like those presented at Cape Fear Regional Theatre. Many of the cast are residents and local kids – people you know!
The Story
My youngest daughter had to read the book version of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever last year for school. At first, she saw it as the worst assignment ever. In addition to reading the book, she had to pick one of the characters and keep a journal in their voice.
She decided to go with Imogene Herdman! I was surprised because my youngest daughter is all sugar and spice. I honestly thought she would have gone with Alice Wendleken – the little girl who was always Mary but once Imogene Herdman showed up made it her mission to take note (literally) of all the things wrong with them!
It was really amazing to watch as she went through the story and wrote how she felt as Imogene discovered the true meaning of Christmas, church and most of all herself.
By the end of the book, we both agreed it was The Best Assignment Ever! *See what I did there? 😉
I don’t want to give away too many spoilers about the play itself because it is truly something you need to see and experience for yourself BUT I do want to give y’all an update on how my two grumpies were once the play started.
My son sat next to me. I expected to tell him to stop complaining a few more times but instead, I saw him leaning forward and completely engaged in what was happening on stage. He started rooting for Gladys Herdman to be the Angel and at one point leaned over to say:
“I’m sorry mom. This is actually kinda cool”
I know. He’s a man of few words but oh those words! I sat through the rest of the play with a smile and by the time the cast took their final bow he was asking if we were getting tickets for Annie!
My oldest daughter walked out of the theater in a heated discussion as to why her favorite character had to be Ralph Herdman because he wanted to Get King Herod!
My Take-Away
I started this evening in an attempt to expose my kids to art and true entertainment. To take them away from the screens and get them interacting with something real. Despite a bit of a rough start and a moment or two of discouragement The Best Christmas Pageant Ever ended up being the best night ever for me and my kiddies! *See that? I did it again 😉
Cape Fear Regional Theatre
If you’re a Fayetteville local or looking to visit be sure to check out Cape Fear Regional Theatre online for show & events, ways to support and the education options they offer. Don’t forget to follow Cape Fear Regional Theatre on Facebook and Instagram.
“Believe in yourself, your passions, and your dreams. Your voice is unique - build on that. Embrace what is different about you and make it your greatest asset!”
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