The theme this year for our paper is laugh out loud Christmas gifts, or LOL in texting language. Christmas concerts can offer some of the best LOL Christmas gifts.
I loved school and Sunday school Christmas concerts and they were one of my favorite gifts during the holiday. The lights, costumes, backdrop and pageantry were all a perfect blend of all that encompasses Christmas. I considered them a gift, while they were not wrapped under the tree, they were given from the heart from those who organized them, teachers who practised for hours and led the performers and those littles who performed from their heart and bag of tricks sure to evoke a laugh.
Bull fight during concert while angel flees with Jesus
My niece, whose mom (my sister) was battling cancer needed extra support at her Sunday School concert that year. It was a typical nativity scene running along smoothly when the young lads playing the cows, decided to become bulls, and staged a head-to-head bull fight in the choir loft. While the director tried to stay focused on the performance underway, she also attempted to calm the bulls and return to their proper place. The millisecond distraction of the teacher director, gave the perfect opportunity for one of the angel’s to quickly snatch ‘Jesus’ out of the manger and swing the baby (doll) around in the air, all while proclaiming, “I got Jesus”.
The poor director who still hadn’t tamed the bulls was not also trying to reclaim baby Jesus and restore order to the cast and performance. The more the audience chuckled at the ad lobbing, the more the performers added to their impromptu performance and those cast members who were determined to stay on cue became frustrated and upset, adding even more chaos to the concert.
Alas, through prayer, and perhaps divine intervention, order was restored, the show concluded smoothly and the audience was left with the gift of this memory that would be recounted year after year.
Actor’s line borders on scripted or swearing
Ah, the school Christmas concert, much anticipated by parents and grandparents, well rehearsed by students thanks to their teachers but there is always at least one moment or occurrence each year that brings an unexpected surprise.
Several classrooms had performed their numbers and the feel-good moments continued to grow as proud family members watched on. Next was the traditional kindergarten nativity scene and plenty of sighs and aahhs erupted as the little ones filed out in their adorable costumers representing all of the characters part of Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem.
One of the shepherds, seemingly quite proud with his staff and robe, stepped up the microphone and as the teacher reminded him to speak loudly into the microphone his voice bellowed “Jesus”, followed by a long silence. Small giggles started to wave across the audience wondering if this was the shepherd’s only line or if he was making a signature concert statement. After more than 60 seconds passed, the shepherd soon recited the rest of his line, “…was lying in a manger.”
While the shepherd likely had no idea what was entertaining in that moment, I am guessing video clip taken that day will be shown to him for years to come as his family reminds him of his moment.
While we don’t often get the opportunity to see school or Sunday school concerts any more, I jumped at the chance to join my son in his school’s annual Christmas concert, where he is finishing his fourth-year practicum in the city. The concerts are always a gift to their audience, and we’ll see if there are more LOL moments to add to the list.
