The holiday season is upon us, which means it’s time again for jingle bells, decorative mangers and L. Ron Hubbard. Yes, you read right: L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of glorious Scientology. Featuring an exuberantly smiley singing and dancing group of children spouting off buoyant musical ditties like “Hey! It’s a Happy Day!”, A Red Orchid Theatre’s Chicago premiere of the 2004 Off-Broadway sleeper hit "A Very Merry Unauthorized Children’s Scientology Pageant" is equal parts The Polyphonic Spree concert and Second City sketch night.
Mimicking more familiar pageant plays, this hour-long Scientology satire centers around a group of children gathering together on a winter night to recount the life and times of L. Ron Hubbard, whom they revere as an accomplished “teacher, author, explorer, atomic physicist, medical engineer, choreographer and horticulturist.” You get the idea. From a “manger” in Tilden, Nebraska, to the halls of George Washington College and the Pacific Ocean during World War II, Red Orchid lays bare the life and times of L. Ron Hubbard in a hilarious mix of deadpan comedic moments and unabashedly cheesy musical numbers. For good measure, A Red Orchid throws in the inevitable and unexpectedly brilliant Tom Cruise impersonation.
And while the layout of the show is intentionally low-budget, appropriately paired with an unpolished vibe, this cast bucks such veritable assumptions, landing laugh-out-loud jokes and sight gags with perfect comic timing befitting actors twice their age. Najwa Brown and Chaz Allen are especially memorable, the former for her over-the-top antics as an angelic narrator and the latter for his impressively dynamic (and slightly haunting) L. Ron Hubbard.
But I know what you're really wondering: What does the L. in L. Ron Hubbard stand for? What is an e-meter? And how do you control your reactive mind? You'll get answers to these and many more life-altering questions from a group of young actors in flowing white robes. They'll also provide the most engagingly hilarious hour you could spend in Chicago between now and December 28th. Especially since we all know that the holiday season is incomplete without a decent explanation of Dianetics.
Reviewed by Centerstage!
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