Musicals. Live Theater. Movies. Stories.
I love these works of creativity, this method of bringing messages, a way of sharing words.
There are many genres or storylines that aren’t for me or don’t resonate.
But for the many that don’t, other productions, do. For the ones where I am not the captive audience or ideal reader, other people are.
Today, I have a review and my opinions about a new musical and its telling of the Christmas story for you.
{With a giveaway for tickets if it sounds like YOU might be part of the captive audience. 🙂 }
Journey to Bethlehem dances onto the screen in a classic musical performance.
Song. Dance. Questions. Conflict. Comedy.
Think combination Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat with its irony and comedy and exaggeration plus a twist of characters. Think of King Herod with a Puss-in-boots accent, an insatiable hunger for power, and a bit of a numbskull drunk-on-power personality like Prince John in Disney’s Robin Hood.
Think of the animated The Star and throw in a dash of similar humor.
Add dance routines and the rhythms musicals use in the way they tell stories.
Add in creative license paired with the Gospel stories of the birth of Christ and powerful songs and lyrics and you’ll get a glimpse of what might be in store for you in this musical.
I like the creative license often added to Bible retellings in books and movies.
It adds a human element and gives us room to play with the details there wasn’t room to write about and record.
The musical journey begins with a narrator telling us the story and transitions to a song sung by Mary with questions and dreams she holds that don’t seem possible in her life.
We soon meet Mary’s pet and friend, Fig the Donkey.
We also soon learn Joseph isn’t fond of donkeys. 🙂
Mary’s song carries her and her sisters into the marketplace. Mary and Joseph are betrothed, but they haven’t met and in a fun, seems-very-much-like-a-musical scene, they bump into each other in a chance encounter. Of course, they don’t know each other, and of course they make a bit of a connection, and of course, they part ways still ignorant of the identity of the other.
If you want a deep telling or a largely serious movie, you most likely won’t be the ideal audience for Journey to Bethlehem. If you like laughter and humor and a lighter look, if you enjoy creative twists and characters written in to think about, if you appreciate the humor of an angel who’s a bit nervous and has to practice his announcement speech, then you most likely are part of the captive audience.
Herod sings a song at the beginning that I found to be a powerful metaphor and indication of the choices we make in life. It’s called Good to Be King and he has lyrics that proclaim “Mine is the Kingdom. Mine is the Power. Mine is the Glory. Forever.” He’s forgotten he’s not immortal. He’s not all powerful. He’s not as in control as he thinks.
We’re offered the same options. Who we choose to glorify. What we choose to consume and become consumed by.
Our free will allows us to choose Thine is the Power or Mine is The Power.
{Listen to the soundtrack here}
Like many versions of the Christmas story, as we’re used to hearing it or seeing it portrayed, the wisemen show up on the night of Jesus’ birth, everyone needs to flee the very next day, and Mary seems quite energetic even though she’s only just given birth. 🙂 {These are all common in tellings, but I don’t believe them to be accurate or authentic. I get it. We tend to sanitize the story and cram it all together in a short timeline AND a wooden nativity set is more fun with camels and wisemen in it.}
I enjoyed Journey to Bethlehem ~ beautiful music, some powerful lyrics, a few lines from the wisemen that provide great thinking points, a lot of humor in standard musical productions form, and several creative threads I found interesting.
If you watch it, I’d love to hear your opinion!
You can go here, to buy tickets.
Here’s a list of great resources:
- Spanish resources available here
- A variety of discussion guides for you to download ~ for Advent, Teens, Family, Kids
- Scroll clear to the bottom of the page here for downloadable coloring pages
Enter here to win tickets to go watch it!
Disclosure: A great, big thank you to AFFIRM Films, Inc. for providing a sample of the product for this review. All opinions are completely my own.