Music has big role in West Acres show

West Acres Baptist Church will present a Broadway-style Christmas musical about Mary and Joseph at 6:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

The production, Two From Galilee, is free and open to the public. Based on the book by Marjorie Holmes, it follows the couple as they travel to Bethlehem. It culminates with the Nativity scene.

"This is a behind-the-scenes story of Mary and Joseph and them seeking God's will," said Jan Bourdo, the production's director. The overall theme of the production is, "If God ordains it, He will make a way."

With about 90 people onstage, the play is full scale and features catchy music similar to that in productions such as Beauty and the Beast and The Phantom of the Opera, Bourdo said.

Chris Norris, the minister of music, is cast as Joseph, and his wife, Jenifer, portrays Mary. Church members will be other actors, and the members of the choir will serve as townspeople in some of the scenes. The church orchestra also will perform.

"This is a Christmas story, but it is applicable to different situations we face when life throws us a curve ball," Chris Norris said. "It's really a love story between Mary and Joseph. It deals with emotions that could have been and makes the story a little more real."

The musical was such a success when the church staged it in 1997 and 1998, that there have been repeated requests to bring it back.

"It's neat to revisit an old friend and restage it. It's like a revival. Everyone has enjoyed being part of something that is a little different from what we normally do," he said.

West Acres Baptist Church is at 555 Gibbs Road in Evans.