To feel just a little bit sad that DD isn't Mary in her Nativity Play

[Bearwantsmore]

... I know, I know! But if you can't admit it on Mumsnet, where can you?!

Ahhhhhhhh! Have just cast our Nativity.....................................

Oh I still remember feeling devastated when my pfb informed me that she had turned down the role of angel Gabriel and chosen to be a camel in reception year.

Her reasoning? Well Gabriel was a BOY and the camels were the most important because they brought the wise men who gave baby Jesus his gifts!

Brown tights.

Thats all I think of when someone mentions Nativity plays.

To set the scene, the teachers pets all got the best roles and the other boys and girls were either shepherds or angels. I was not happy to be an angel when I should have been Angel Gabriel but got bumped down when the dd of a teacher joined the school 3 weeks before Xmas. It was very similar to Daffys experience, except it was the teacher/mother throwing the tantrum and my mother protested by refusing to help with the school party, a very big thing in those days!

On the day of the play it was effing cold, stupidly "wear everything you own" cold. My mother made me wear tights because of the cold, but the only tights I had were brown. Shit brown. And she wouldnt let me take white socks because I "would only lose them" (probably true, to be fair). But looking back it was her protest, she knew I had to take part but was making her feelings clear.

I can sort of see her point but honestly, I felt like ten types of twat, stood there in the middle of a row of pure white angels, in my shit brown tights.

2 of my 4 DD's have been Mary, and I was Mary in the town Brownie/Cubs Nativity, but I dont care.

SHIT BROWN TIGHTS.

My dd was the donkey in Year 1 (the donkey was the star of the show) and Mary in Year 2 and I liked her better as the donkey :)

She got to wear cool ears and her donkey costume was too long and trailed on the floor... She's a big Year 4 now and they don't do a Nativity play at all - boo!

On account of being plain and quiet I was always a shepherd. My brother's dressing gown and a tea towel over the head secured by my school tie.

DS has always been a good reader so cops for the narrator parts. DD was 'the brightest star in the sky' in Y1. She was stood on the top step and was supposed to twinkle (flutter her hands about) but just grinned and stared around gormlessly instead, in spite of my over the top twinkling from the audience whenever she looked my way.

OOh i know how you feel. I always felt that my eldest 2 were left out of everything and their noisier more obvious peers got all the good parts. But it has to be said that mine were so shy it probably would have been hell on earth for them.

Having said that my youngest, joseph, played the part of the divine cuckold in the Reception Nativity play. He didn't let the importance of his role go to his head. He swung on his chair, picked his nose, totally forgot to sing and held Baby Jesus by his foot.

I think it's safe to say my offspring are not destined for a life treading the boards.....

I was a christmas tree in a nativity place once. It was the main part (apparently but I didn't have to say a word.

I was Mary twice.....I was a brilliant Mary. Not many lines but I policed the baby Jesus' manger very well & thwarted several attempts by an angel to stuff a dinosaur in there with him.

My DD is only 10mo but I shall start grooming her immediately for Mary-dom which is obviously her birthright. She has brown hair so we're off to a good start...

PMSL at Fairy being a blade of grass!! I was an angel, and managed to fuck it up, net time i had one line " Last week my jimmy was run over by a camel" still remember it now because it was utterly ridiculous, but made the grown ups laugh!

I was Mary once - my teacher broke my heart when he told me that my beloved cabbage patch doll was too ugly to be Jesus!

DD was Mary one year. She had no lines, and was obviously bored so popped the baby Jesus against her shoulder and patted his back to burp him.

Another year Mary and Joseph had a an argument on stage about who got to hold the baby.

working

Mary's so last century. At our DC's school, she only floats onstage for final seconds and is SBB (silent but beautiful). The real stars are narrators, robots, toys and assorted insects (think the bumblebee was top dog one year?).

Aliasjoey For a hyper-realistic manger scene, Mary and Joseph could argue about who has to change Jesus's nappy...

Great thread :o I was the 'silver bell' in our slightly kooky nativity play. Had to sing a few solo lines and one day in rehearsal I decided I would sing them like an opera singer. Cue reducing whole class to hysterical laughter. The shame, even now, the shame!!!

I went back to singing normally after that and will be advising DD to do the same when the time comes. Stick to what ya know!

I was once the arse end of the donkey (the costume was in two parts)

DD is the star. No, not Mary but one of the twinkly, shiney variety instead. She is definitely my star, IMO being Mary is over-rated

dd was typecast as an angel both at school and church. This was because she could sing and dance! The angels had to sing a song and then do a dance routine so she was fine.
Having dark hair does not guarantee that your dd will be chosen as Mary. Usually she seems to have long straight blond hair in my experience.

DS1 only took part in one nativity play - he has Aspergers and didn't cope well at all with being on stage and everyone looking at him so helped behind the scenes in subsequent years. He was a snowflake.

DS2 has been one of the three kings, one of the three wise men (now, I digress, but I always though the three kings & the three wise men were the same thing. Not at DS2's primary school clearly), a shepherd, a winter child (child in coat, hat, scarf & gloves) and a star. He could never have been Joseph as his voice is not booming enough - luckily for the teachers though, the boy in DS2's year with the loudest, clearest voice happened to be called Joseph. Hence, none of the other children ever queried why he was cast as Joseph every single year - because he is Joseph . Mary varied from year to year .

And I agree that the Narrator is always the best reader.

Just remembering back many years to my own nativity plays - I never had a speaking part as I was too quiet. I remember being an angel, a villager & a potter (yes a potter). Basically, I was your all round crowd scene extra .

My DS turned down the Joseph role to be a wise man. He is a very well behaved child who cannot bear to stand out in any way at all. I was disappointed, and then terribly ashamed of myself for being disappointed. Apparently the wise men costumes are "really cool."

He wishes he could have been the donkey.

DD2 is a star this year. I think her nursery have got it right. Last year she and her best friend were shepherds.

I did the lighting at my school nativity [bsad]

I never played any roles on stage in school - right from Reception onwards I was always in the music section, which I thought was excellent because we got to wear proper choirboy robes - red cassock with white surplice and a high frilly collar. I thought I was the bee's knees in that get up!

Then again I've always been far more into backstage stuff & music than acting. DD2 is the actress in the family, whereas I've done plenty of stints as musician, stage hand, make-up artist, occasional pyrotechnician, lighting tech etc. So I pretty much started as I meant to carry on!

DD3 has been Mary once at her church playgroup - the boy playing Joseph ran off stage at the last moment leaving Mary by herself at the Inn, so she was a single parent Mary!

No idea what she is this time - the school hasn't announced anything yet. She's in Yr 1, and I think Yr 1 & Reception are having their own private Nativity/Christmas assembly, as the school is currently split between two sites. Last year she was a Chinese Lantern.

Speaking as a teacher who always produces the Nativity I have never allowed hair colour to be an issue when casting parts. My angels are not all blonde haired children and Mary is not always a brown haired child. All the children have lovely costumes and the children who make up the choir have special hats and choir tunics. The narrators also wear a special hat and tunic so everyone is dressed up and everyone feels special. Hard work but worth it to see the look on the children's faces when they perform and to see how proud the parents are. Happy Christmas everyone.