This Al Carmines mock cantata — it has too much action to be an oratorio, too little action to be a musical play — is back at Judson Church, where it was first performed in the Christmas season of 1969. And the participants couldn't be happier about it. A huge chorus of 44 women and 34 men converges from all corners of the vast nave of the church, empty except for the temporary chairs around the edges holding the audience and a few benches that constitute the set in the middle. The singers, many of whom also sing solos, seem all solid of voice and determined in movement — in spite of their number — choreographed to a fare-thee-well by Thom Fogarty. Brent Frederick is the musical director, and his piano provides the only instrumental accompaniment needed. Russell Treyz directed the production overall, with brio. It's hard to single out actors; six of them portray the Virgin Mary at various times, for example.
About the second word of the title, rappings: as the piece predates hip-hop, it has nothing to do with that. It doesn't even refer to the word in the late 1960s or early 1970s sense of talking intently and intimately but informally about weighty matters, often late at night. The narrative here is a pretty straightforward account of the birth of Jesus Christ, taken from the four gospels, with a bit of prologue from the Old Testament (21 singers recite the begats, beginning with Abraham and ending with Mary). The rapping, or riffing, refers to the eclectic music by the late Carmines, a prolific composer who was also rector of Judson Memorial. His styles here range from Gregorian chant and grand opera to country waltz and gospel blues. Along the way there's a Middle Eastern belly dancer helping to announce the impending birth of John the Baptist; a vaudeville quartet, complete with straw hats and canes, to counterpoint the more usual "Hail Mary" six tango dancers explicating the birth-in-the-manger scene; and a female trio, a cross between the Andrews Sisters and the Supremes, as the Three Wise Men.
This is all quite effective for the first hour, but once Jesus is born (he is only seen as a piece of swaddling cloth) and visited by the shepherds and kings, we have another 20 minutes to go, portending the rest of his life story. Dramatically and musically the production loses its vigor, when earlier it had so much to give.
Presented by and at Judson Memorial Church, 55 Washington Square South, NYC. Dec. 5-20. Schedule varies. (646) 429-0901 or RappingsRSVP@yahoo.com for reservations.