SUMMARY
The Pennsylvania Story is a musical based on the Biblical birth of Jesus, as depicted in the books of Matthew and Luke – only in this version, the Christmas story unfolds in the present. Asking the audience to consider a world where Jesus Christ has never been born, a world complete with many of the problems we face today, The Pennsylvania Story brings Christmas to life in the American cities of Nazareth and Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Featuring ten original pop-rock, guitar-driven songs, the musical is both fun and full of spiritual inspiration, making it a wonderful outreach program to Seekers and a valuable community-building event for a Church or School.
Act I takes place in the month of March, and in it the audience is introduced to the three primary character groups that shape the play – Mary and Joseph, the Shepherd family, and three very wise men from the physics department at San Diego State University. Struggling already with wedding plans and the idea of starting a family in a chaotic world, Mary Blake receives an unexpected visit from the angel Gabriel. The news that Mary is pregnant does not sit well with her fiancée, the carpenter Joe Carter, who struggles with her explanation until he likewise receives a visit from Gabriel in his white three-piece suit. Meanwhile, at Bethlehem Steel, Tom, Luke, and John Shepherd lament their working conditions as cogs in the machine under the supervision of a CEO who cares little for their Jewish faith. And in San Diego, freshly hired SDSU astrophysicist Jerry Frankincense explains his dissertation on long sequence elliptical alignments to his professor buddies (who are also avid surfers), Byron Goldberg and Hezekiah Myrrh. In this scene, it is revealed that Jerry, who has been poring over ancient Hebrew texts in addition to the Cosmos, believes the alignment of the six visible planets will form a superstar structure in the Eastern sky that will signal the birth of the Messiah. Act I culminates with the rollicking wedding of Mary and Joe.
Moving nine months into the future, Act II fast-forwards to December, as a very-pregnant Mary and a very tired Joe make their way to Bethlehem for the government census, a requirement to update voter registration to an all-electronic system. Unable to find a hotel after the Relax Motor Inn loses their reservation, a kindly innkeeper named Rachel Tolcher eventually secures them a spot in the janitor’s closet of the Bethlehem Comfort Inn. That night, a horrific snowstorm drops twenty inches of snow on the ground, stranding Mary and Joe at the inn. With the snowfall, the Shepherds learn that they will be forced to work overtime through the night – that is, until they receive a hilarious visit from Gabriel and the heavenly host. And in San Diego, shortly after administering his last final exam, Jerry Frankincense calls Byron and Hez to tell them that the time has arrived. “How would you like to take a road trip? - Rock and Roll!” Jerry exclaims, and the three professors head east, following the superstar. That morning, Mary goes into labor, and the baby Jesus is born in a janitor’s closet, guided by the caring hands of Dr. Isaac Davidson, a kindly ear-nose-and-throat specialist who just happens to be staying in the hotel. After the baby has been born, Joe comes to grips with his role as step-father to God’s child, and he is filled with pride. In the musical’s final scene, all three groups converge together at the Comfort Inn, and the final musical number pulls the entire cast on stage, reprising the first song, and praising God’s answer to Joe’s earlier prayer.
