Christmas Musicals for Church
Issue link: http://read.jwpepper.com/i/1182452
3 CGC66 I wanted to make sure all children felt they had access to any role, so, all roles may be played by either male or female performers. The characters in this musical are named for personality traits or special aspects that are important to any faith community. Since only one character is ever called by name, there was no reason to give them an arbitrary (and ultimately forgettable) place-holder name. Roles are listed in order from most lines to fewest. PEP – the real encourager of the cast, PEP's main role is to build up others. Ideally played by an older child or youth who has a sense of confident assurance. HANDY – every church has those members who step up to volunteer all the time. Their work can often go unnoticed, but it's absolutely vital to the health of the faith community. HANDY is that character - but also has some self-doubt, unsure if he/she even has a true calling. THEO (or THEA) – short for "theologian." This is the one who knows more than mere Bible facts and is able to understand and unpack the deeper Bible truths. Like PEP, this part needs to be played with confident assurance. Q – short for "questioner," this is the natural skeptic of the cast. Q isn't necessarily weak in faith but is definitely open to challenging conventional thought. Q questions out of a sense of natural curiosity, rather than puzzlement. STEWARD – understands the value of responsibly using financial resources in order to fulfill God's call. GREEN THUMB – believes in the importance of caring for the natural world. If STEWARD focuses on financial stewardship, GREEN THUMB focuses on earth stewardship. LITERALIST – this is the one hold-over name from my previous musical – In the Image (Choristers Guild, © 2016). Children (especially young children) are concrete thinkers. This role should be played straight, despite the fact that it has some of the more humorous lines. BUSY B – a perpetual busybody. Only happy when doing something. WHAT IF – one of the great questions of childhood. Children contribute so much to their faith communities by being unfettered by traditional logic. They aren't afraid to dream irrationally big. WHY NOT – the perfect companion question to "What if?" WHAT IF and WHY NOT are optimistic through and through. JUSTICE – a social justice warrior. Passionate about fairness and positive change. FRETS – worries about everything. A lot of hand-wringing. Production Notes The Cast of Characters