It’s beginning to feel a lot like the days of the perfunctory take on holiday arts programming are behind us. Something in the air at Twin Cities performances this year suggests a renewed commitment among local artists to giving it all they’ve got. Perhaps the current troubled state of things and the attendant feelings of helplessness have theater artists and musicians recognizing their work to be all the more important, be it to offer solace or inspiration.

I submit as Exhibit A Penumbra Theatre’s production of “Black Nativity.” It’s the 33rd version of this show that’s been presented by the Twin Cities’ foremost purveyors of plays and musicals about the lives of African-American people, and I’ve caught several of them. But I don’t recall it ever being as electrifying as what I experienced at Thursday’s opening night.

In recent years, Penumbra has been making music more the focus of its “Black Nativity” productions, which combine Langston Hughes’ adaptation of the Christmas story with carols traditionally sung in African-American churches and modern dance centered on Jesus’ birth.

Albert “Coco” Conteh and MerSadies McCoy portray Joseph and Mary in the ballet sequences of Penumbra Theatre’s “Black Nativity,” which is being presented at the theater through Dec. 24. (Caroline Yang)

It’s always been a worthwhile holiday tradition, but this year’s production is suffused with so much energy, enthusiasm and masterful musicianship that the most docile visitors to Penumbra’s intimate theater in the Rondo neighborhood might find themselves bouncing in their seats.

The theatrical structure is very much that of a concert, with a chorus of six women and a five-piece band supporting the often breathtaking efforts of principal soloists Greta Oglesby and Dennis Spears. The singers’ résumés boast years of experience with such stars of spiritual-centered music as Sounds of Blackness and the Steeles.

But, as I let the waves of wonderful music flow over me, I found myself thinking about another Twin Cities group of similar vintage: Moore by Four. Back in the ‘80s and ‘90s, Sanford Moore led that vocal quartet through several successful years at local clubs, offering its own contemporary spin on jazz standards. Spears was a staple of that group, and it’s fascinating to find that music director Moore’s skills have transferred so successfully to the gospel realm.

There’s a lot of music in this “Black Nativity” that sounds like jazz, giving the sense that much of the good-natured one-upmanship between the singers could just as easily be used in wordless scatting and love ballads as singing the praises of Jesus.

Four vocal soloists — from left, Greta Oglesby, Deborah M. Finney, Angela Stewart and Dennis Spears — sing Christmas songs from the gospel tradition in Penumbra Theatre’s “Black Nativity,” which is being presented at the theater through Dec. 24. (Caroline Yang)

Yet make no mistake that these performances are clearly fired by religious fervor. Oglesby has been in these productions for years, but I’ve never heard her sing with such power and conviction as on opening night. Whether engaging Spears in an adrenaline-raising duet on “How Excellent is Your Name” or putting her own stamp on the most moving “O Come, All Ye Faithful” I’ve ever experienced, Oglesby seemed a performer who’s found another level in expressing herself onstage.

If she comes off as tapping into a fresh taste of liberation, so do dancers MerSadies McCoy and Albert “Coco” Conteh in their exhilarating execution of Marciano Silva dos Santos’ choreography. Add Jennifer Whitlock’s compelling straight-from-the-pulpit narration and Moore’s takes on the traditional that range from Louisiana swamp pop to slow-burning funk and you have a marvelous opportunity to experience some spiritual renewal, no matter your religious tradition.

‘Black Nativity’

When: Through Dec. 24

Where: Penumbra Theatre, 270 N. Kent St., St. Paul

Tickets: $45-$20, available at 651-224-3180 or penumbratheatre.org

Capsule: A particularly impassioned take on a holiday theatrical tradition.

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