''Nativity Story'' is a re-telling of the Christmas story with

puppets A puppet is an object, often resembling a human, animal or mythical figure, that is animated or manipulated by a person called a puppeteer. The puppeteer uses movements of their hands, arms, or control devices such as rods or strings to mov ...

created by

Jane Henson Jane Ann Henson (Birth name#Maiden and married names, née Nebel; June 16, 1934 – April 2, 2013) was an American puppeteer and the wife of Jim Henson. Early life Jane Ann Nebel was born and raised in St. Albans, Queens, she met Henson when she ...

, the co-creator of

The Muppets The Muppets are an American ensemble cast of puppet characters known for an absurdist, burlesque, and self-referential style of variety- sketch comedy. Created by Jim Henson in 1955, they are the focus of a media franchise that encompasses ...

. It features live sacred music and a cast of puppets built by

The Jim Henson Company The Jim Henson Company (formerly known as Muppets, Inc., Henson Associates, Inc., and Jim Henson Productions, Inc.; commonly referred to as Henson) is an American entertainment company located in Los Angeles, California. The company is known for ...

Background

Collaborating with many artistic hands,

developed vignettes for ''Nativity Story'' at the 2009

Eugene O’Neill Eugene Gladstone O'Neill (October 16, 1888 – November 27, 1953) was an American playwright and Nobel laureate in literature. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into the U.S. the drama techniques of realism, earlier ...

Puppetry Theatre Conference and premiered the full show at the Orlando Puppet Festival in 2010, partnering with daughter

Heather Henson Heather Beth Henson (born December 19, 1970) is an American contemporary puppet artist, the daughter of Jim Henson. She serves on The Jim Henson Company, The Jim Henson Legacy, and the Jim Henson Foundation Boards of Directors. She is also a Tru ...

and

Ibex Puppetry Heather Beth Henson (born December 19, 1970) is an American contemporary puppet artist, the daughter of Jim Henson. She serves on The Jim Henson Company, The Jim Henson Legacy, and the Jim Henson Foundation Boards of Directors. She is also a Tru ...

. She subsequently sponsored performances in Florida schools and churches, like

Winter Garden A winter garden is a kind of garden maintained in wintertime. History The origin of the winter garden dates back to the 17th to 19th centuries where European nobility would construct large conservatories that would house tropical and subtro ...

’s Episcopal Church of the Messiah as well as St. Margaret Mary Catholic School and St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church, both in Winter Park. Henson died in 2013, but ''Nativity Story'' has continued to tour. The show has been seen at St. James Catholic Cathedral in

Orlando, Florida Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County, Florida, Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Greater Orlando, Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, acco ...

; the Cathedral of St. Andrew in

Grand Rapids, Michigan Grand Rapids is a city and county seat of Kent County, Michigan, Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 198,917 which ranks it as the List of municipalities in Mi ...

; and

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

’s St. Paul the Apostle Church. There, several of its puppetry scenes were filmed for 2013’s nationally broadcast

CBS Television CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...

special “A New York Christmas to Remember,” co-produced by

Paulist Productions Paulist Productions is a Catholic film production company founded in 1960 by the Paulist priest Father Ellwood "Bud" Kieser. The Paulists describe the company as a "creator of films and television programs that uncover God’s presence in the c ...

and hosted by

Regis Philbin Regis Francis Xavier Philbin (; August 25, 1931 – July 25, 2020)Archived aGhostarchiveand thWayback Machine was an American television presenter, talk show host, game show host, comedian, actor, and singer. Once called "the hardest working ma ...

. The premiere at Orlando’s St. James Cathedral featured actor-puppeteers Sarah Lockard, Anthony Bolante, Jenny Weaver Barbieri, Curtiss Mitchell, Russell Nauman, and

, with set and lighting by Vandy Wood, direction and dramaturgy by Sean Keohane, and music by the Olde Noyse Trio: John Rata, Cecie Catron, and Craig Thomas.

References

External links

* https://janehensonnativitystory.wordpress.com * {{Facebook, janehensonsnativitystagetour Plays featuring puppetry 2009 plays Cultural depictions of the Nativity of Jesus