January 2010

Follow the Star

January 28^th -30th, for three nights only, the West End came to Oundle with a fabulous production of the musical, ‘Follow the Star’.  St Peter’s very own impresario, Jane Webster, gathered a cast of what seemed like thousands (but actually numbered around 70) from the local schools and the St Peter’s church family.  We had little tots through to teenagers singing and dancing for us.  It was a splendid evening!

‘Follow the Star’ is a fantastic show that retells the story of Mary and Joseph.  The rather small Gabby (the angel Gabriel) is desperate for a job so that she can grow (angels only grow taller as they do good work).  Olly, who is in charge of all the angels, gives Gabby the task of finding Mary and telling her of her forthcoming baby.  Having found Mary, the over excited Gabby shows herself to Joseph, something Olly had strictly forbidden.  However, Gabby is given one more chance and told to be the star that the three wise men follow.  The other angels, Lofty, Jelly and Angy, have to make the three wise men follow the star.  During their journey, the wise men meet the evil Herod and inform him of their trip.  On hearing this, Herod decides that this new baby, who is to be king, must die.  The play closes with an epic battle.  The good guys are victorious and Mary and Joseph and the baby Jesus are sent on their way with a happy song.

The youngsters all performed so well and it was great to see the teenagers acting and working behind the scenes on staging and choreography.  Many people were involved in making ‘Follow the Star’ such a success, helping out with costumes, lighting, make up, music, sound and publicity.   One of the joys of Oundle and St Peters is that we live in community and all ages and stages were involved in making ‘Follow the Star’ such a delight and success.  BRAVO!