'Christmas in the museum'

Century Assembly has treated Lodi to its Singing Christmas Tree for 30 years, but church leaders have decided that three decades are enough.

Instead, the church will present "Christmas in the Museum," a holiday spinoff of "Night in the Museum," next weekend.

"It is no more; it's been retired," said Amy Miranda, who has been involved with the Singing Christmas Tree the past 17 years. "We have the talent, the acting, the drama. We didn't need the tree to entertain anymore."

This year's production will take people into the "Century Museum of Lodi," where actual people dressed as a lumberjack, ice skater, ice fisherman, skier and snowman will stand still — frozen — for 20 minutes in the church lobby.

The sanctuary turns into a museum, where some Christmas archives will come to life. Characters like Bing Crosby and The Grinch will appear. Bing will be portrayed by a worker at Smart Foods who looks just like the legendary singer. He will lip sync some Christmas favorites, Miranda said.

Forty children will dance in costume to a Christmas medley of "really busy, high-energy songs," Miranda said. "It's nostalgic, it's funny, it's moving."

The children will also sing in sign language.

"It's almost like a little Broadway show," said Miranda, who wrote the script and will produce and choreograph the performance.

There will be two backdrops with rotating scenes by a billboard artist, Jerry Boyd.

"He's done a phenomenal job on these sets," Miranda said.

The performances are open to the community. About half the production involves people outside of Century Assembly, Miranda said.

"People will be pleasantly surprised," she said. "They won't miss the tree."

The show will be held at 7 p.m. Friday, 6 p.m. Saturday and 2:30 p.m. on Dec. 14. The church is at 550 W. Century Blvd., Lodi.

Admission is free, and no tickets are required. Doors open one hour before each performance. For more information, call 334-3225.

Other performances this holiday season

Several churches in the Lodi area will have special performances this month. Here are some upcoming presentations:

This weekend

Christmas by the River: 7 p.m. today and Sunday, Calvary Bible Church, 18621 N. Highway 99 (western frontage road), Acampo, 367-7940. The event features a living nativity, a blend of contemporary, familiar and instrumental favorites.

Christmas concert: 7 p.m. today, English Oaks Seventh-day Adventist Church, Century Boulevard and Ham Lane in Lodi; 2:30 p.m. Dec. 14 at O'Connor Woods Retirement Community, 3110 Wagner Heights Road in Stockton; and 7 p.m. Dec. 16 at Zion Reformed Church, 105 S. Ham Lane, Lodi. The concert features the Lodi Children's Chorus and the Lodi Youth Chorale performing "Ring the Bells! Ring the Bells!" Directed by Robert Tan, 42 chorus members ranging in age from 4 to 18 years will sing several musical selections, including many solo performances. The event is free, and an offering will be taken.

Next week

"That's Mandie": 7 p.m. Friday; 2 and 7 p.m. Dec. 13; and 2 p.m. Dec. 14, Bear Creek Community Church, 11171 N. Lower Sacramento Road, Lodi. The show, a Christmas play written by Worship Pastor Jebby Moates, is about an aspiring writer who is stuck running his father's hardware store. The story centers around a fictitious television show called "That's Mandie," which is so popular that everyone in town is talking about it. The show's popularity annoys James, the main character, because one of his rivals from school, Shawn Riley, is on the writing staff. It is full of comedy, drama, and original and traditional Christmas music, with a theme that points to Jesus in the manger. Admission is free, and all ages are invited.

Putting Christ Back in Christmas: 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Friday and Dec. 13-14, Zion Reformed Church, 105 S. Ham Lane, Lodi. The event will feature a living nativity, more than 20,000 Christmas lights and a driveor walk-through experience, beginning with the stories behind well-known Christmas symbols such as wreaths, candy canes, poinsettias, "The 12 Days of Christmas" and the Christmas tree. New this year is a section devoted to Christmas trees from around the world, which is the result of a Lodi High student's senior project. There will also be an 85-foot, fully illuminated Christmas tree. Enter through the north parking lot.

— News-Sentinel staff

Contact Religion Editor Ross Farrow at rossf@lodinews.com.

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