MUSIC FROM THE SHOW
Beautiful Star:
An Appalachian Nativity
A Seasonal Celebration
by Preston Lane
original music by Laurelyn Dossett
November 27 – December 23, 2009
Come home for the holidays.
The best tales are the ones worth repeating. Returning for the fourth and final season of celebration, Reverend Ledbetter and the Open Heart Community Fellowship gather again for their rendition of the Christmas story, with down home laughter, toe-tapping music and a tug at the heartstrings. Come experience the joy and wonder that have made Beautiful Star the biggest hit in Triad Stage’s history.
“Whether you’re rolling with laughter at Lane’s offbeat shepherd’s story...or thrilling to Mary’s...musical musings about her mystical pregnancy, this show leaves you with the same transcendent feeling that must have overcome audiences of the medieval mystery plays.”
–Classical Voice of North Carolina
Click here to read the full review
Production Sponsor |
Soundtrack CDs available at the Box Office for only $10. |
Beautiful Star is presented as a special event and is not included in the Season Pass package. 2009-2010 single ticket prices apply. Passholders can purchase Flex Tickets at the special rate of $30 each if purchased in conjunction with a 3-Play Season Pass.
Medieval Mystery Plays
Beautiful Star takes its inspiration from the Mystery Plays of the Middle Ages, which have been described as the greatest writing that exists between the Greeks and Shakespeare. Written primarily in England, these mystery, or miracle, plays tell the stories of the Bible, from Creation through Doomsday. The stories have multiple authors and come from many regions, among them the English towns of Chester, Coventry, Wakefield, and York. The York Mystery Cycle is the most complete collection, consisting of 48 biblical episodes. This Cycle was composed in the mid-1300s and was widely performed during the next several centuries.
Just like Beautiful Star, these plays are rooted in storytelling and folk drama – they are plays of the people that celebrate a community coming together. Each region’s collection of Mystery Plays was performed at an annual festival in celebration of Corpus Christi. Each of the various episodes would be enacted by one guild, or trade – for example, the Tanners presented the story of the Fall of Lucifer.
Each cycle begins with Creation and continues with plays of the Fall of the Angels and the Fall of Man. Next are the plays of redemption: the stories of Noah and Moses, and Abraham and Isaac. There are a great many Nativity plays, such as the Trial of Joseph and Mary, and the Adoration of the Magi. One of the most interesting episodes is the Second Shepherd’s play, a tale of sheep-stealing based on Luke 2:8, “And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.”
Beautiful Star concludes with the Nativity, but the Mystery Cycles continue with the life of Christ, the Passion, and the Last Judgment. Many American Passion Plays have been created from this source and are performed frequently to this day. The full York Mystery Cycle is still performed in England in four year intervals.
