Spokane Children’s Theatre cast, crew look inward to combat bullying, reach those in need ahead of ‘The Best Christmas Pageant Ever’

The Herdman children are those kids your parents warned you about. The ones they see as a bad influence, who always seem to be up to no good.

In “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever,” the Herdmans are known around town as cigar-smoking, swearing, shoplifting misfits. Raised by a single mother who must work shift after shift to make ends meet, the children – Imogene, Ralph, Leroy, Gladys, Claude and Ollie – are often left to their own devices. The townspeople have a “grin and bear it” sort of attitude toward them.

After stopping by Sunday School for free snacks, the children surprise everyone when they volunteer for lead roles in the church Christmas pageant. With the other children bullied into silence by the Herdmans, the director – the mother of the story’s narrator, Beth – has no choice but to cast the rowdy crew.

Surprising the townspeople, the Herdman children take their roles seriously, leading Beth and her parents to think about the harsher elements of the nativity, including that the innkeeper forced a pregnant woman and her baby to sleep in a barn instead of welcoming them inside.

Their commitment to the story leads the townspeople to see the Herdmans in a new light and learn a little something about the true meaning of Christmas.

“The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” author Barbara Robinson later adapted the story, which was published in 1972, into a play and a television movie. A feature-length film adaptation of “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever,” with a screenplay by Ryan Swanson, Platte Clark and Darin McDaniel, was released earlier this month.

The Herdman children are played by Brooklyn Rumsey, Harper Drake, Maximus Davis, Kaya Koch, Matteus Brelia-Paulson and Luke Olson. Nyah Bischoff plays the narrator Beth Bradley.

Spokane Children’s Theatre Executive Director Tanya Brownlee chose “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” to ring in the holiday season for two reasons. With so many auditioners between the ages of 8 and 12, she needed to choose a production in which there were a number of roles for children.

She was also looking for a show that told an interesting story while also having a lesson behind it.

“This one, there’s just so much heart behind it and so much empathy that these kids have to realize,” she said. “They learn about it through the script itself, and with society the way it is right now, kids have it hard. They have it rough.

“They’re all different. They don’t know how to handle it. This is a great show to be able to teach them, not just on stage, but backstage as well.”

The musical also stars Tony West, Audrie West, Henry Swanson, Howie Smith, Briella Compogno, Sawyer Hahn, Sienna Miller-Thomas, Rhonda Eirls, Selma Rhodes, Kristi Swanson, Tracey Hirt, Craig Hirt, Mya Kenley, Kylee Swanson, Skye Bledau, Annabel Brown, Elionna Cornwell, Torin Davis, Hope Galster, Emerson Hargrove, Madison Sperry, Mia Sims, Evie Swanson, Jalin Jacobs, April Galster, Maranatha Sima, Joe Witmer and Lyndsey Witmer.

The play, directed by JoAnne Emery, opens Friday and runs through Dec. 22 at Spokane Children’s Theatre. The show is choreographed by Kayleen Geiger.

Brownlee and Emery talked with the cast during rehearsals about being bullied and reasons why someone might be a bully. Parent meetings for all productions at Spokane Children’s Theatre also include talks about how bullying isn’t always physical but can be negative talk about yourself or someone else.

“We try really hard for every show to do that, but this one, particularly, Jo’s been really good about diving even deeper into that,” Brownlee said.

The chance to share that lesson was part of the reason Emery wanted to direct this show. Though Spokane is a big city, she recognizes some of the smaller communities within the city are similar to the small town in which “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” is set, where families like the Herdmans might be ostracized.

Over the course of the show, Emery said, the townspeople realize they’re part of the problem and must change their ways.

“As the story unfolds, it’s beautiful to see the transformation and how the Herdman kids change when they realize that there is somebody out there that cares about them,” Emery said.

Wanting to care for local families the way the townspeople in “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” eventually care for the Herdman family, Brownlee, Emery and the Spokane Children’s Theatre team decided to make this holiday season special for four Spokane families nominated by the community.

The four families will receive tickets to a production of “The Best Christmas Pageant” as well as a gift card they can use to go out to dinner.

“They’ll be able to come and have a festive night together,” Brownlee said. “That’s what we wanted to do, because you’re never going to get that quality time back, so any way we can give memories for families.”