Do you sometimes find it confusing to remember where in the Bible you can find the various characters in the Christmas story?Can you imagine how confusing it still is for children and youth? Dennis Hartin has created a wonderful and humorous way tohelp children, youth, and perhaps even some adults to learn the differences between how the Christmas story is told in the booksof Matthew and Luke. Act One tells the Christmas story as we learn it from the book of Matthew, complete with Joseph, Mary,Herod and Magi. Acts Two and Three tell the story as found in Luke; you hear from Gabriel, Zachariah, Elizabeth, Mary, Joseph,shepherds, and the Herald Angel.Double-Take! is designed for a production with no set, no budget, no live musical accompaniment, and where the cast reads fromtheir scripts. If you have a set, budget, live accompaniment, and decide to memorize it all, you can still perform this pageant.Cast members (and production staff) should be dressed to approximate shepherds, Mary and Joseph, wise men, and angels withcostumes and props.Only two full cast rehearsals are needed. The cast is arranged so that only one speaker appears in more than one act. Thegroup can rehearse all three acts (not including the music) during the first rehearsal! This allows each child to spend timepracticing, rather than waiting for a turn to say their lines. The second rehearsal is just a matter of going straight through thescript with actors and musicians. This pageant works equally well with no costumes or sets (read with scripts in hand), as it doeswith a full production of costumes, scenery, and every word memorized. Vocal/piano scores for the sung music selections of thepageant are included. The arrangements of the Christmas carols used during and between the acts afford you the option ofhaving a choir, a soloist, or instrumentalists, or others to participate in the pageant.