Heart song

View larger image Kelsey Wakeman, left, as Mary, and Timothy Cox, as Joseph, rehearse a scene from “Before the Crown: The Musical” recently at Valley Baptist Church in Edinburg. The play is one rendition of the Christmas story that churches in the area will portray this month in preparation for Christmas. Andrew Thayer/Daily Plan ahead for plays "Before the Crown: The Musical" Where: Valley Baptist Church 408 Stony Creek Road, Edinburg When: Dec. 11-12, 7 p.m. Phone: 335-9306 Website: www.beforethecrown.com "Home ... The Heart of Christmas" Where: Columbia Furnace Church of the Brethren in Woodstock, 2.8 miles south of WalMart on Va. 42 When: Dec. 11-12, 7 p.m. Phone: 459-5955 Recommend This Print This Get E-mail News Alerts Buy Photos/Page Reprints * Breaking News If local news is breaking and you know about it: * Call Us: 800-296-5137 * E-mail Us * Upload Your Photos View larger image Luis Rincon gives a cup of water to Brieanna Rincon during a rehearsal. The play combines four Bible stories to tell the story of Christmas. Andrew Thayer/Daily View larger image Luis Rincon, as Mattaniah, reads a letter given to him by Brieanna Rincon, playing Zemira, during the rehearsal of "Before the Crown" on Saturday in Edinburg. Andrew Thayer/Daily View larger image Mattaniah, played by Luis Rincon, stands next to his servant, played by Joe Miller, during the rehearsal of "Before the Crown" on Saturday in Edinburg. Andrew Thayer/Daily View larger image Colt Nutter, left, directs Brieanna Rincon, right, playing Zemira, and Luis Rincon, as Mattaniah, during the rehearsal of “Before the Crown.” The play will be performed by members of the church on Dec. 11 and 12 at 7 p.m. Andrew Thayer/Daily

Two local pageants add pomp, music to Christmas story

By Josette Keelor -- jkeelor@nvdaily.com

Traditional Christmas plays are taking on a new level of pageantry this holiday season as some churches around the area are producing musicals that are grander and more jubilant than ever.

"Before the Crown: The Musical," a play that will premier at the Valley Baptist Church Theatre in Edinburg, and "Home ... The Heart of Christmas," a new play at Columbia Furnace Church of the Brethren in Columbia Furnace, are both expected to delight crowds with rolling scenery, live animals and music from local musicians.

"Every year our church does a mainstay production, usually at Christmastime," says Colt Nutter, who has written three other productions at Valley Baptist Church. His first was in 2005, when he wrote a passion play for Easter.

"It presents a different viewpoint on the traditional Christmas story," he says.
What's different about "Before the Crown" is that it weaves together four Bible stories to tell the story of Christmas.

"[They] flow really well with the overall story line," he says. One is "a dream sequence that one of the wisemen tells that foretells the coming" of Jesus.

With music that Nutter describes as "epic" and a collaboration of about 50 people -- the most the church has ever had -- the production aims to draw in its audience, moving them with the spirit of Christmas.

Music director Matthew Smith is "the best we've ever had," Nutter says. "His musical talents are stellar, to say the least."

Tickets are free and are going fast, Nutter says. The show will take place on Dec. 11 and 12 at 7 p.m.

"Home ... The Heart of Christmas," written by husband and wife team Debbie and Chip Crawford, is "a drama within a musical drama," according to promotional materials for the play, and builds on a past show the church performed in 2005 and 2006. Local contemporary Christian band Grace 101 will perform traditional and contemporary Christmas music for the play, which tells the story of Christmas with the secondary message that even if love is lost, there is always hope, says Mrs. Crawford.

"It's a message of encouragement, it's a message, hopefully, of eternity," she says.

The play will take place in the church on Dec. 11 and 12 at 7 p.m., but much of the atmosphere begins outside the church's doors where luminaries will guide visitors up the driveway, three wisemen leading the way as if still following the star of Bethlehem.

Other characters present outside the church will be Caesar Augustus, a census taker, the cast of the village, an innkeeper, a choir and an angel.

Mrs. Crawford says the 68-member cast and crew set the scene before the play.

"Before the drama begins, it's an experience," she says. "We're having shepherds watching over their flocks by night. [At the door,] it begins the actual Bethlehem village." Dancing and singing will greet visitors at the doors to the church, and inside a marketplace will stretch out before them, offering them smells and tastes of what residents of Jerusalem might have experienced 2,000 years ago.

"The whole idea -- what Bethlehem was like, it's sort of a prelude to what's to come inside," says her husband.

Mrs. Crawford agrees: "Hopefully it captures them and draws them in even before the drama begins. We want them to feel like they're an integral part of the drama."

The idea for the play began eight years ago when the Crawfords attended Grace Community Church in Winchester. The couple felt "burdened by what society has done with Christmas," Crawford says.

"It's a celebration of the birth of Christ," he says.

They wanted to produce a play that would remind community members of the reason for celebrating Christmas and how the message is relevant even two millennia after Jesus lived.

"The story can mean something to you only if you apply it to your life today," says Crawford.

For this reason, the play begins in modern-day America, with a family celebrating Christmas and gathering together to read the Gospel of Luke, which tells of Jesus' birth.
As the family begins reading, the scene changes, and actors begin portraying the Bible story.

Crawford plays Joseph, and fellow Grace 101 band member Michelle Davies plays Mary.

"We've added more characters to the present-day drama," Mrs. Crawford says, explaining that most of the changes made to the 2006 version are in the modern portion of the play.

"The modern day part is 50 percent rewritten," her husband says.

"It's going to be very heavenly," Mrs. Crawford says. "We feel very blessed that we have the opportunity to do this."

Tickets to "Home ... The Heart of Christmas," are free. Donations will go to The Love Center food pantry.