Parishioners to perform dramatic musical ‘Shepherds and Kings’

Parishioners at Pahrump Community Church are inviting the community to a Christmas-themed performance on Sunday.

“Shepherds and Kings,” a dramatic musical for Christmas, is described as an emotion-filled story, rich with heart and designed to bring music and drama together.

Rehearsals began in September.

Church member Lynne Ivy said three performances are scheduled at the church.

Ivy performs with the church’s choir, while fellow church member Kim Walker is the music director.

The story, set inside a diner, is centered on two individuals, Susanna King, portrayed by Alisa Shoults, while Suzanne Fahey performs the role of Victoria Shepard.

Keith Walker is the diner’s owner, Mr. Matiello.

“Mrs. Shepherd has been coming to the same diner for years,” Ivy said. “She’s an elderly patron and the waitress that had been serving her for many years, decides that she’s going to do something nice for Mrs. Shepherd. Shepherds and Kings proclaims a strong, vibrant message about the power of love, our love for one another and most importantly, God’s love.”

With a nine-member cast and eight scenes, Ivy said the performance has a valuable lesson for everyone to learn.

She noted that for many, Christmas is a time of joy and celebration but for others, the same holiday only serves to underscore the loneliness and pain.

Song performances propel the story forward.

“In the story, Susanna King’s bright spirit and love for life override her circumstances,” she said. “Susanna has been recently diagnosed with cancer but in spite of the bad news, she lives with the joy of Christmas in her heart, while Mrs. Victoria Shepherd, in spite of being wealthy and in good health, finds no reason to celebrate the Christmas season.”

Ivy said each holiday season Pahrump Community Church visits other area churches to perform holiday productions.

This year, the church is actually hosting the production.

“Because of the huge drama part of it and the setup of the stage, we invited all of the churches to come to our location this year,” she said. “In the past years, it was usually just musicals with our choir. I have to give our music director Kim Walker credit because she’s the one who actually keeps us very organized.”

Times for the Sunday hour-long performances are 8 a.m., 10:45 a.m., and 6 p.m. Admission is free.

Ivy said she’s anticipating a good turnout.

“Anyone is invited to come to any of the performances,” she said. “The performances will take place in our big multipurpose room and we just hope that the community will come out and get involved and take in this performance. This is something for the whole family to enjoy.”

“Shepherds and Kings” was created by the award-winning songwriting team of Joel Lindsey, Jeff Bumgardner and Dr. Heidi Petak, who scripted the story.

The songs were arranged and orchestrated by Daniel Semsen.

Pahrump Community Church is located at 1061 E. Wilson Road. For additional information, call 775 727-5384.

Contact reporter Selwyn Harris at sharris@pvtimes.com. On Twitter: @pvtimes