MONROE — The holidays at Monroe Theatre Guild will be bursting with laughter and merry melodies as they present The Best Christmas Pageant Ever with Voices of the Season. The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, written by Barbara Robinson, is directed for MTG by first-time director Marcia Bredeson, with Melissa Schnepper as Assistant Director. Bredeson and Schnepper bring years of community theater experience to the role as they team up to present a family-friendly holiday play on the MTG Colony Brands Stage.

Voices of the Season brings together local performers who begin each show with festive songs and stories. Each performance showcases a mix of musical artists — many familiar from previous MTG productions — sharing their favorite holiday tunes through solos and duets. Santa Claus himself will also make an appearance, delighting children by reading “A Visit from St. Nicholas” (commonly known as “’Twas the Night Before Christmas) in his own special style.

Following the musical preludes, the featured presentation begins. The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, a comedy, centers on the Herdman children, the town’s most notorious delinquents, who take over the annual church Christmas pageant. Once the siblings assert themselves to secure all the lead roles, Grace, the director, faithfully guides the children as they discover the origins of the first Christmas. The townspeople are horrified by the Herdmans’ roles in the town’s traditional celebration. But as the chaotic rehearsals progress, the Herdmans begin to learn the true meaning of the Christmas story, leading to an unexpected and heartwarming performance. The play explores themes of grace, kindness, and inclusion, showing how the most unlikely people can teach the biggest lessons.

As part of the Colony Brands performance series, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever with Voices of the Season will be presented in eight performances at the Monroe Theatre Guild, 910 16th Avenue, Monroe. 

Tickets can be purchased online at monroetheatre.com, at the ticket window on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., or by calling 608-325-1111.