Sometimes it’s difficult – amid the rush for Playstation 3s,
Ipods and mp3 players – to remember what the Christmas holiday is
really about.

Bradford Little Theatre’s “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever,”
which opened Friday night to a packed audience in O’Kain Auditorium
of the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford, was a funny and
colorful reminder that Christmas is not solely for giving and
receiving gifts – it’s a celebration of love and faith for millions
of people around the world.

Maybe it was the sweetness and innocence of the young actors, or
that the holidays are always emotionally-charged, but “The Best
Christmas Pageant Ever” certainly tugged at parental heartstrings –
even for those whose children weren’t on stage.

The story gets rolling as the headstrong neighborhood woman who
normally directs the Christmas pageant, Mrs. Armstrong (Cindy
Graham), breaks her leg, leaving the job to the much younger and
slightly more timid Grace Bradley (Rebekah J. Cramer) at the last
minute.

And as if that weren’t enough of an obstacle, when the six
Herdman children – “the worst children in the history of the world”
– decide to come to Sunday school to partake in the plentiful
desserts, they learn about the upcoming Christmas pageant. Much to
the dismay of Mrs. Armstrong, the other children and the ladies of
the church, the Herdmans lay claim to the pageant’s star roles.

“They swear, they steal and they smoke cigars … even the girls,”
the story’s narrator, Beth Bradley (Steph Mackowski), said of the
Herdmans.

They bully the children into letting them have the star pageant
roles, they steal from the collection plates, drink the grape juice
and the youngest Herdman, Gladys, even bites, according to Charlie
Bradley (Zachary McCammon).

Imogene Herdman (Ariel E. Palmer), who initially flings the baby
doll meant to represent baby Jesus about like a sack of flour,
livens up one pageant practice when a church lady mistakes the
thick cigar smoke she has left in the ladies’ bathroom for a fire
and calls the fire department.

Gladys, who plays the Angel of the Lord, just can’t abide by the
quiet and serious nature of her lines, opting instead to announce
her arrival with a loud “Shazam!”

The Herdmans’ antics are so bad that the cast never completes an
entire practice before opening night is upon them. It seems the
pageant is doomed, and that the young Grace Bradley has failed her
post.

But then, a Christmas miracle happens.

Ariel shines in her portrayal of Imogene, who suddenly seems
taken with her role of Mary, the mother of Jesus, and begins to
handle the baby doll – the same one she flung about with disregard
only minutes before – with reverence and love. Ralph Herdman
(Trevor Quick) stands solemnly over the manger as the shepherds and
wise men come to see the baby. Leroy Herdman (Ryan Daughenbaugh), a
wise man, decides to abandon the impractical gifts of gold and
incense brought by the wise men and instead brings a ham from the
Herdman home as an offering to the baby Jesus.

In short, the Herdmans show the other children, Grace Bradley
and the pageant’s audience that they really do understand the
meaning of Christmas. And that they’re not as bad as most of the
neighborhood church ladies think they are.

Perhaps the most touching moment of the show was after the
pageant was over and the children were celebrating at the Bradley
home, Imogene slips away to hold the baby Jesus doll one more time,
hugging it close.

“The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” closes with Gladys, the Angel
of the Lord, reminding the audience that “onto you a child is
born,” or as Grace Bradley puts it for the Herdmans, “onto us all,
a child was born.”