While all Twin Cities theaters lay dormant in 2020, a merger happened. St. Paul’s most prominent presenter of shows performed by and for kids – SteppingStone Theatre for Youth – moved in with downtown St. Paul’s Park Square Theatre. But it feels as if the coming-out party for the merged companies didn’t really happen until this weekend.

That’s when Park Square’s production of “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever!” opened. Featuring a cast of three adults and 18 kids and a story that has an all-ages appeal yet also a devilish irreverence, it might be the ideal choice for Park Square’s first holiday show since reopening in October after 18 months of darkness.

While Park Square now plans to focus upon new American plays, “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever!” doesn’t really qualify as new, for Barbara Robinson wrote the novel for middle schoolers in 1972 and adapted it into a play 10 years later. But it feels quite fresh and fun in Park Square’s high-energy production, which ably conveys the chaos baked into assembling a Sunday school presentation about the birth of Jesus.

Director Ellen Fenster-Gharib has admirably marshalled this ample crew of kids into an ensemble in which each is allowed to celebrate the individuality of their character. They help make this “Pageant” a smile-inducing 70 minutes of theater that’s mostly built for laughs, but convincingly displays some tenderness, as well.

Robinson’s novella is about a mother who steps in to direct a church’s annual Christmas pageant when its longtime leader is laid up with an injury. The tradition is upended when the town’s most unruly clan of kids, the Herdmans, shows up to audition and intimidate the Sunday school regulars into not competing against them for parts. So you end up with a cigar-smoking Mary, a skateboarding king and an angel who imagines herself a superhero.

Cast members from Park Square Theatre’s production of “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever!” in Barbara Robinson’s adaptation of her comic novel about a church Christmas pageant gone awry. The show runs Dec. 6-22, 2024, at the St. Paul theater. (Dan Norman / Park Square Theatre)

Park Square puts a twist on the tale by having the director not be a mother, but a father, half of a gay couple with two kids, one of whom serves as the narrator. Berto Borroto’s Gabe proves convincingly committed to the task, projecting a fine balance of warmth and hysteria.

Among the kids, River Clementson stands out for her nuanced take on the character who undergoes the show’s key transformation, the girl who would be Mary. Meanwhile, Fenster-Gharib has done a fine job of tapping into the young actors’ endearing hamminess, particularly Freya Larson as the youngest Herdman and Eva Muchungu as an angel who’s clearly watched too many music videos.

While it’s wonderful to see a Twin Cities theatrical veteran like Beth Gilleland back on the boards, it’s too often evident that Robinson wrote the play with 10 adult actors in mind instead of three. Gilleland does her best to bring multiple disapproving church ladies to life, but some minor changes in lighting, costuming or props to differentiate the characters would make her scenes even funnier.

Otherwise, I have nothing but praise for the lighting design of Shannon Elliott and the costumes of Rebecca Gardner. The same with a Kirsten Lee Jolly set that conveys both church and home, and a clever sound design from Richard Graham. They help add to the fun of this celebration of childish exuberance.

‘The Best Christmas Pageant Ever!’

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When: Through Dec. 22

Where: Park Square Theatre, 20 W. Seventh Place, St. Paul

Tickets: $60-$25, available at 651-291-7005 or parksquaretheatre.org

Capsule: Park Square returns to family-friendly fare with a fun little holiday comedy.

Rob Hubbard can be reached at wordhub@yahoo.com.