UNATTENDED BAGGAGE

A darkly funny and entertaining evening featuring the songs of the Obie Award-winning cult classic A VERY MERRY UNAUTHORIZED CHILDREN'S SCIENTOLOGY PAGEANT: IN CONCERT, an unforgettable celebration of Kyle Jarrow’s (with material by Alex Timbers) brilliant re-envisioning of a traditional Christmas pageant, which features E-Meters, Xenu, and L. Ron Hubbard’s DIANETICS. Experience incredible songs such as “Hey! It’s A Happy Day,” “Science Of The Mind,” and “Rain” like never before! Featuring an all-star cast of Broadway and New York’s most exceptional young talent, you’ll have an unforgettable Scientology-packed experience at this concert—it’s out of this world.

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A NOTE FROM THE DIRECTOR
I first discovered VERY MERRY when I directed my friend Ali Klein, who played the original Angel character, in an unauthorized non-musical production of Stephen King’s CARRIE back in 2008 at The Darress Theatre in Boonton, NJ. I was reminded of the show again in undergrad in 2014 when the documentary GOING CLEAR came out. I listened to the score on Youtube and found myself completely in love with its unique blend of humor and creepiness. As someone with a strong background in producing, writing, and directing horror and sci-fi theatre–and just in general having a vested interest in the occult and the psychology of cults–I knew I had to tackle this piece. A few years later, I saw RACHAEL LILY ROSENBLOOM at 54 Below in 2017. After seeing that show, I was convinced 54 Below was the perfect venue to re-explore this text, given their history of putting rarely-performed musicals in concert format. I flagged down Jennifer Tepper sometime after and begged her to let me direct something there, and after an initial meeting, concluded that this was the show to go with. Needless to say, the meeting went well, and the rest, as they say, is history.