REVIEWS
—Adam Burke
Artistic Director,
Children's Theatre of Charlotte
“This is the best-selling show in CTC’s 68-year history! We produced it again in 2017 and it was so successful, that we're doing it again in 2018!”
“Did ‘Best Christmas Pageant’ really need to be a musical? Yes.”
“The Best Christmas Pageant Ever: The Musical” may be the first play written for kids that would inspire me to buy the original cast album, if there were one . . . The show would be vastly less interesting if music and lyrics by Jahnna Beecham and Malcolm Hillgartner were yanked and the source material went naked. That’s remarkable, as the show adapts strong source material indeed: Barbara Robinson’s beloved book, in which the young pariahs of a town transform the staid annual Christmas pageant and are transformed by it.”
—Lawrence Toppman,
Charlotte Observer
—Jenni Strazulla,
Charlotte Smarty Pants.com
The Stars are Brightly Shining at the Children’s Theatre of Charlotte
“Children’s Theatre of Charlotte’s newest production, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever: The Musical is the PERFECT way to get you into the holiday spirit. It’s a musical the entire family can enjoy.”
—Perry Tannenbaum, Creative Loafing
“Turns out that the Robinsons were pretty prudent in choosing Beecham and Hillgartner. They seem to know what can be enlarged to musical proportions and how to get the job done . . . The catastrophic rehearsal scene causing the Reverend Hopkins to cancel the pageant, after the Herdmans have stampeded is rockin’ pandemonium!”
“Orlando Repertory Theatre gets the holiday theatrical season off to a twinkling start with its very fine production of "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever: The Musical." It’s a lively show and well-staged by director Jeff Revels, who wrangles a large cast of adults and children. Full of upbeat tunes, this winning addition to the holiday canon manages to also touch the heart. Jahnna Beecham and Malcolm Hillgartner adapted the tale with music in 2016. The tunes make a swell addition, especially a rockin’ "Die, Herod, Die" and the gospel-infused "Let There Be Joy" finale.“
—Matthew J. Palm
Orlando Sentinel
—Elizabeth Freeman
World-Herald, Omaha, NE
“Christmas is the perfect time to think about compassion, tolerance and friendship. This year, the perfect place to do that just might be the Rose Theater. “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever,” which opened Friday night at the Rose, is more than just a musical. It offers insight into how we should treat people who are different or difficult, especially those who are marginalized—and it makes the point with good, clean fun and honest sentiment, not saccharine platitudes . . . As the cast delivers their final message, “Let There Be Joy,” you’ll find yourself humming along and wishing you lived in this town.“