A Very Merry Unauthorized Children's Scientology Pageant
December 2003-January 2004: The John Houseman Theater
November-December 2003: The Tank
Winner of a 2004 Village Voice Obie Award
This holiday season, a jubilant cast of children celebrate the controversial Church of Scientology in uplifting pageantry and song. The actual teachings of Scientology are explained and dissected against the candy-colored backdrop of a traditional nativity play.
A large ensemble cast of 8-12 year-old children tells the story of L. Ron Hubbard’s meteoric rise from struggling science fiction writer to supreme leader of a (highly-profitable) New Age religious empire.
Avant-garde performance art and children's theater meet in one of the funniest and most bewildering holiday shows you will ever see: A Very Merry Unauthorized Children's Scientology Pageant.
Conceived and Directed by:
Produced by:
Costume Design:
Scenic Design (Houseman):
Lighting Design (Houseman):
Lighting Design (Tank):
Graphic Designers:
Stage Manager:
Assistant Director:
Production Supervisor:
Assistant Stage Managers:
Casting Director:
Press Representation:
Alex Timbers
Aaron Lemon-Strauss
and Jennifer Rogien
Jennifer Rogien
David Evans Morris
Juliet Chia
Samantha Trepel
Sara Edward-Corbett
Rob Giampietro
Bailie Slevin
David Kilpatrick
Ronnie Tobia
Erin Funck and Michael Schulman
Paul Davis
Richard Kornberg and Associates
Cast:Seamus Boyle, Spenser Lee Carrion-O’Driscoll, Alison Stacy Klein, Joshua Marmer, Max Miner, Stephanie Favoreto Queiroz, Daren Watson, Emma Whitfield, Sophie Whitfield, Jordan Wolfe
For more information: www.lesfreres.org/pageant
New York Times| Feature Article
"The company's aim is to both celebrate and satirize historical icons by examining conflicting interpretations of them."
New York Times
"The gutsiest gimmick in New York theater for 2003... A spooky, sharp-toothed smile of a show... Pageant has already acquired a halo of hipness and daring... A cult-hit blueprint for a young generation that prefers its irony delivered with not a wink but a blank stare."
Time Out New York
"Wonderfully weird... Refreshing... Subversive... The show artfully succeeds at both telling and mocking the tale of Scientology."
New York Magazine
"A holiday classic-to-be!"
New York Sun
"Brave and lunatic... Hilarious and disturbing at once... No one has an excuse to miss the show's run at the Houseman."