The Glory of Christmas
is an annual musical performance of the story of the birth of Jesus which is performed at Christmastime at the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, California in the United States.
It has been produced annually by the Crystal Cathedral since 1981 and the widely advertised stage spectacular has become popular a holiday tradition in Southern California.
The play consists of a large cast of adults and children as well as many live animals. A few scenes come complete with angels flying directly over the heads of the audience.
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THE GLORY OF CHRISTMAS TICKETS
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Performance style
The performance is done in the style of traditional Christmas pageants done each year at many churches, but on a grand scale that straddles the quality and feel of a
Broadway show. The elaborate costumes such as those of Roman
centurions or the
Three Wise Men are professionally designed and produced. The musical numbers include popular Christmas music such as "
O Holy Night", "
Silent Night", and "Mary Did You Know?", and feature elaborate orchestral accompaniment. The vocal style of the performances range from operatic to gospel.
Special effects
The performance features live animals, such as camels, horses, sheep, and goats.
Angels, as many as seven at once, "fly" on a high-speed flying gantry and a high-volume smoke-machine (used to generate a notably convincing storm-cloud twenty feet above the audience).
Perhaps the most impressive effect is the departure of the angels. In each scene that involves angels, they exit in a rapid flight to the farthest and highest points in the Crystal Cathedral (each some 150 ft. from the center of the audience and roughy 90 ft. above the floor)
Notice that a star in the background will move higher each step until the end of the play.
Ballet
Throughout the performance, dancers perform beautiful ballet-type movements and various interpretive dance choreography.