Middletown >> After a two year hiatus the “Middletown Christmas Pageant and Feast” will return this year, making it the 19th production of the pageant at the Middletown Methodist Church, under the co-direction of. Kimberly Fordham and Dennis Fay.
For 18 seasons Middletown has been home to an event that began as a small church program. The pageant began in 1989 when the church”s choir director Claudia Listman found a simple script with directions for creating a Renaissance-type program with an authentic dinner and Christmas music. She assembled a cast from the church membership, while other members prepared the Renaissance recipes. The social hall of the historic stone church was decorated as a dining hall under the direction of Kathy (Hutchinson) Dunklin, who also assembled costumes for the cast. She painted backdrops and dubbed the church “Greystone Castle” and thus the pageant was born.
Voris Brumfield, who directed and acted in the first two seasons of the pageant, felt the pageant, while Christ centered, was missing the focus of the season: the birth of Christ. Brumfield”s degree in theater inspired her to write an original script that highlighted how the poor can be neglected and dismissed as being worthless. The pageant was presented annually for three seasons, followed by a six-year hiatus. It was reborn and entered a second phase.
More than 400 guests experience the pageant each year at two previews and six full dinner performances during the second and third weekends of December. For many people, attending the pageant with family and friends has become a traditional way to begin the Christmas season. For those who volunteer, the pageant is an opportunity to meet and work with people from all over Lake County. Guests experience an evening that includes singers, actors, noble lords and ladies, serving maidens, guards, pirates, dancers and other entertainers, but the picture is much bigger than that.
Behind the scenes, pageant organizers work almost year-round to develop this event. Over 60 volunteers are needed. Each year builds upon the work done in past years, and today the attic in the historic Methodist church is bursting with Renaissance costumes, sets, props and d?cor. Singers are cast in the summer. Local high school students earn community service credits by participating as dancers, serving maidens, guards, pages or by providing dinner entertainment ranging from musical acts to juggling and tumbling. Members of the cast and choir give special mini-previews at local venues to promote the pageant beforehand and often carol as a community outreach at local hospitals, retirement homes, care facilities, clubs and other events during and after the run of the pageant.
Seamstresses Carolyn Stifel, Karen Jennings, Kathy Hutchinson, Claudia Listman, Voris Brumfield, Laura Lamar and others have created dozens of costumes over the years. Costumes are created and modified in early fall when rehearsals begin to intensify. Donations from local businesses, such as Tri Counties Bank and MAX Design Studio, as well as donations of gorgeous fabrics and trims from local residents Judy Simon, Stephanie Regula and others have added to the collection of costumes.
Middletown residents Larry Menzio, Larry McDowell, and Frank and Susie Stephenson have provided boar deer heads to decorate the Great Hall, as the sanctuary becomes known during the pageant. Marsha Levie annually lends a set of authentic pewter goblets that adorn the nobles” table.
When Thanksgiving rolls around, the shopping and prep begins in earnest for a three-course sit-down feast.
This year, under the direction of music historian Kinene Barzin and Gail Albin, a program of music has been developed with old favorites and new songs to vary the program and challenge the choir. They began rehearsing in August, memorizing up to 13 songs since no music is allowed on set. During performances the songs are sung without accompaniment, although occasionally a musician will play guitar, mandolin, or another instrument.
Barzin, the only compensated staff, provides piano accompaniment during rehearsals. She is also rehearsal accompanist and historian for “My Divas”, a professional singing group that began singing together during the pageant. “My Divas” fans will be happy to know that the group will perform as part of the pageant cast this year.
Tickets are now on sale and performances will take place during the second and third weekends in December. Ticket price is $30 for individuals and $25 for groups of 10 or more. No tickets will be sold at the door. Contact Shari Garret at 987-2653 for information.
