Kids and Scientology: Stray Cat presents satirical Christmas pageant

A Very Merry Unauthorized Children's Scientology Pageant

The Arizona Republic
Kerry Lengel
Publication Date: December 4, 2008

Tom Cruise, John Travolta and Kirstie Alley are just a few of the characters who pop up in A Very Merry Unauthorized Children's Scientology Pageant. There's also a shiny box-headed robot with wire-whisk antennas and, of course, Xenu, the diabolical interstellar overlord.

But Gary Minyard, who's directing a cast of 8- to 12-year-olds in this anti-holiday show from Stray Cat Theatre, insists the butt of the joke is not Scientology or its founder, L. Ron Hubbard.

"To me it's about the pageant, it's about the Nativity play," he says. "I'm thinking about that scene in the movie Love Actually when they are taking all the kids to the pageant, and one of them is dressed as a lobster."

Ron May, the company's artistic director, chimes in: "It definitely takes its jabs, but they are not as overt as the South Park episode (about Scientology). I think it's the fact that it's coming out of the mouths of kids who don't necessarily know what they're saying" that makes the show funny.

Oh, save it for the lawyers. The gimmick of Scientology Pageant is that it's a satire for adults performed by children, but there's no question what the butt of the satire is when 11 cherub-faced youngsters burst into the joyous refrain: "Now the sun will shine / And we'll be just fine / We have got the science of the mind!"

Be that as it may, that gimmick does present unique challenges, both for the show's director and its star.

"I really wanted to research L. Ron Hubbard, but we weren't supposed to know too much about Scientology," says Maxx Carlisle-King, who at age 12 already is a veteran of local stages, winning an ariZoni Theatre Award for his performance in The Who's Tommy at Nearly Naked Theatre.

Looking too much like a pro might be a concern for the older cast members. For the younger kids, well, let's just say there are a lot of lines to remember, marks to hit and props to keep track of.

"I'm riding a fine line between having the kids being kids and having the kids being actors," Minyard says.

"What's funny is all those multiple levels. There's an 8-year-old boy who's playing Tom Cruise, who kind of knows who Tom Cruise is but doesn't really understand his connection to the story of Scientology. How do I get him to jump on the Oprah couch without actually having him watch the video clip?

"I go through an internal language translator in my brain."

http://www.azcentral.com/ent/arts/articles/2008/12/04/20081204scientolog...