Nativity Pageant receives positive audience response
Springfield Area Nativity Theatre Association ended its thirtieth season with its 100th and 101st performances of our community’s Christmas Pageant Friday and Saturday evenings, December 11 and 12.
The pageant performed in the mildest December weather ever during the past three decades and played to large audiences both evenings. The seven o’clock shows under the stars in Riverside Park performed in 37-degree weather Friday evening, and 39-degree weather on Saturday evening. Friday’s performance was attended by approximately 400 people, and an estimated crowd of 500 people attended Saturday’s show.
Part of what makes the Springfield Nativity Pageant unique is that it is staged outdoor in the midst of a Minnesota winter, and there is no doubt that weather is an important factor in the size of the audiences. The Christmas story has been told in a wide range of temperatures and a few times during the past 30 years in sub-zero temperatures and wind chill as low as -40 degrees. Some skeptics had said that a cold weather pageant in Minnesota couldn’t last; but the Springfield Area Nativity Theatre Association accepted the challenges and looked with vision to the future. Crowds continued to come to celebrate Christmas. Many people return annually; the pageant has become a part of their Christmas celebrations.
The season’s first significant snowfall on November 30 caused cancellation of the pageant choir’s scheduled rehearsal; and conflicts with other activities kept a few cast members away from rehearsals on the football field the evenings of December 7 and 10, but, the cast performed like pros and a very capable crew working behind the scenes kept the story flowing smoothly Friday and Saturday evenings. Arkansas the Donkey had a bit of stage fright when the theatrical lights shone on him during Mary and Joseph’s journey to Bethlehem, but those actions and his braying at the manger seemed to delight the audience.
The pageant angels were the youngest “flock” in 30 years. They performed well in the children’s choir and on the field, drawing a muffled-mitten-applauses from the audiences.
The Christmas Pageant knits the family of Spring-field together in different ways. Beyond the commercial clamor, a quieter Springfield expresses its seasonal sentiments and the soul of Christmas continues to shine brightly.
And, with memories like those, the Springfield Area Nativity Theatre Association plans to keep giving their gift of the Springfield Nativity Pageant for years to come.