All-in-the-family fun in ‘Best Christmas Pageant Ever’ from Triune Entertainment

The cast of Triune Entertainment’s latest production, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever: The Musical, features members of two families — and the beloved story is one that will captivate audiences with its heartfelt message and uplifting music.

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever: The Musical is a story of unexpected grace, kindness, and loving thy neighbor. The musical is based on the story by Barbara Robinson with orchestrations by Malcolm Hillgartner and a book by Jahnna Beecham. It has become a perennial favorite of the holiday season and is now in release as a full-length feature film starring Judy Greer and Pete Holmes and directed by Dallas Jenkins.

For this local stage production, Triune Entertainment founder Matt Moore assembled a team of professionals from the DC Metro area and beyond. “We are excited to bring Best Christmas Pageant Ever to the community this holiday season,” Moore said, “and I know it will leave a lasting impression on our audiences.” The team is led by director Renée De Ponte, a local professional with many credits from the stage and screen. She is thrilled about the opportunity to bring this hilarious show to life: “I have always wanted to direct a show with lots of families, and this was the perfect story to do that! I love how much heart there is in the script, and our cast and crew are working so well together to put on this really beautiful show.”

The Wagner and Mills families are two examples of De Ponte’s vision. Rebeccah and Steven Wagner play the lead roles of Grace and Bob with four of their five children also in the cast: Elsie, Jeremiah, Nora, and Peter while the youngest Wagner, Philip, watches his bigger siblings in rehearsals. Rebeccah shared, “This is one of our favorite stories, and it’s really special to get to be a part of this production. Our life can get a little crazy this time of year, and we’re really thankful we get to do this show together as a family!”

Rebeccah plays Grace, the reluctant director of the Christmas Pageant who leads her family and her community on a journey of love, compassion, and grace. Rebeccah loves helping kids learn to sing, and her most recent theater credits include serving as the music director for The Sound of Music and Newsies as well as the assistant music director for Disney’s The Little Mermaid. Her husband Steve is returning to the stage after being away for several decades. He’s excited to help bring to the stage the story from the best book ever written about Christmas pageants as he reprises his favorite roles of the past 17 years: husband and dad. Elsie Wagner plays Betty and is a junior, and her favorite past roles include Katherine Plumber in Newsies, Doris in Miracle on 34th Street, Mersister in Disney’s The Little Mermaid, and the assistant director for Pinnochio. Her sister Nora is a freshman and plays the Reverend’s Assistant and the Nurse to the crabby Helen Armstrong. Her favorite past roles include Brigitta von Trapp in The Sound of Music, the White Witch in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, and Tommy Boy in Newsies. Jeremiah is excited to play brother Ollie Herdman with his real-life brother Peter playing Leroy Herdman. Jeremiah is a fifth-grader who recently played the role of Pinocchio in the Torch Drama Club Embers production. Peter is 13 years old and recently played Les in Newsies and Geppetto in Pinocchio. When not onstage, both boys enjoy playing sports including soccer, baseball, and swimming.

Mother-daughter duo Laura and Susan Mills portray the roles of Helen Armstrong and Gladys Herdman. Susan is 11 years old and is excited to play the ferocious and precocious Herdman kid. Her favorite past roles include Hei Hei in Disney’s Moana Jr, Coral in Finding Nemo Jr, and a Munchkin Teacher in The Wizard of Oz with Pied Piper Theatre. Laura Mills works for Prince William County Public Schools and volunteers with many local schools and arts organizations, including Gainesville Community Choir, where she serves as a board member. She most recently played Katherine Blake in Upper Room Theatre Ministry’s Freaky Friday and Doralee in Prince William Little Theatre’s 9 to 5: The Musical. Although Laura and Susan have many previous stage credits, this will be their first production together. Laura is excited to have this experience with her daughter: “There’s something really special about sharing a passion with your child and getting the opportunity to go through the same rehearsal process and performing together. I’m really glad whenever there are shows like this where we can have fun together and tell important stories like this one!”

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever: The Musical comes on the heels of Triune’s critically acclaimed world premiere of Peter Filichia’s Larry the Big-Time Broadway Producer and Jason Robert Brown’s Songs for a New World. Triune is an independent, non-Equity production company dedicated to providing artists with opportunities to direct and perform in exciting and original ways. Triune’s mission is to create exceptional entertainment experiences while being respectful to its audiences and participants and to provide opportunity and access to the best in live production, publishing, training and education, and beyond.

Triune Entertainment’s The Best Christmas Pageant Ever: The Musical plays Fridays to Sundays from December 20 to 29, 2024, at Journey Church, 4175 Bludau Drive, Warrenton, VA. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit triuneentertainment.com/bcpe.