"Poshest" roles in a typical nativity play

[SympatheticSwan]

Lighthearted obviously.

It's this time of the year again and, as a foreign parent, I am again amazed by the level of intrigue around the casting decisions for the school's nativity play.

AIBU to ask you to help me understand what is the "hierarchy" of roles in a typical nativity play? I deduced myself that Mary is the lead role (but it does not seem that Joseph commands the same level of respect for boys), and livestock ranks below all, but what about the rest? Shepherd? Three wise men? Townsfolk? Innkeeper? Talking penguins?

Dsis was a wall once in a school play.
She had to stand holding a piece of a "red brick wall" printed wallpaper.

She's still smarting at the injustice of it.

I spent primary school desperate to be an angel - but only blonde children were allowed. I once was on the shortlist for Mary - but that went to a blonde as well

My dizzy heights of stardom were as narrator, as a six year old. There were only four of us - hit the biggish time then

I suppose the hierarchy is driven by number of [solo, obviously] words, with a sung word counting for roughly double a spoken word.

Mary is most often the best role, but it's far from unhead of to have a scene-stealing angel or star or whatever.

Boy goes home to his DM after school play casting. "What role did you get", she asks. He says "the Welsh husband" - this is not really a nativity play. DM asks "couldn't they give you a speaking part?"!

@WombleishOfTheThighs I had Flint Street Nativity recorded off the TV on video and used to watch it every Xmas Eve. I will have to look it up again.

Ooh my youngest has Joseph this year, so proud and excited not going to lie. Also gutted as due to work I won't get to go and see it it

My battered copy of "Carol, Gaily Carol" (A&C Black) contains the words and music for "There Isn't Any Room" and I see that this book was first published in 1973; many of the songs are acknowledged as not specifically written for the book.
The words are by Peggy Blakely, the music by Don Harper.
Somebody's teacher needs to be told (after the journey back in time?) that Baby Jesus would not be cross, but very very disappointed...….

@twoshedsjackson 🤣

My son is a chicken in his first school nativity! He's happy enough, his friends are livestock too. Last year at Nursery he was a shepherd, along with dozens of others. Basically standing at the back and singing I think in both cases.

Flint Street Nativity is on YouTube!

Infant teacher here- different plays do different things. Last year our camels had a huge part. This year the big parts are. ... Wait for it... Aliens. Some years animals speak. This year in ours they don't. We ask the kids about big, small or non speaking parts and allocate accordingly. It's literally what children ask for. There's no secret code!

@twoshedsjackson we're talking about roughly 1984/5 here and if I didn't think this teacher was probably dead by now, I would very much be tracking her down and expressing my strong disapproval. We were quite a rural community and she must have (rightly) surmised that we wouldn't have heard that song anywhere else!

DS went to an all boys school. He was off sick for the day and came back to be cast as Mary🙃. His friends had said to the teacher that he wouldn’t mind at all!

Highlight of the dress rehearsal was a voice piping up “Pooh baby Jesus’ heads come off”. Best line in the play.....

Certain parts at our school were allocated according to age and this system was used at least once when DD was in Infants. The oldest girl in the class was Mary, the oldest boy was always Joseph, the Kings and the main shepherd parts were also given to the senior class members. The youngest children were angels, animals and visiting Little Children From Around The World.

DD usually ended up as the Star, in a dancing role. One year she was a dancing campfire flame as the shepherds sang a song. The Star carried a big star on a stick onto the stage in a dancy manner. She was a mouse in The Night Before Christmas one year as well.

One year my DD was a donkey - I thought that was quite lowly (and helped her devise a funky dance she could do in the background and shamelessly upstage all the big parts)

But the next year (possibly as a result of the dance) she was cast as 'Myrrh Salesman' - and entirely fictitious part and her word line was to say 'Myrrh ?' at passing kings.

Therefore I would put any kind of roadside hawker of gift items below even animals

Narrators are the top reading group - good, but don’t get a costume, just ‘wear your own party dress’ - bad.

After being a Narrator in Nursery, Reception and Year One, DD finally cracked and begged to be a non-speaking star with a tinsel headdress!

I was Mary the year my sister was born. Apparently there never was such a frequently burped Jesus and I kept smelling his nappy to see if he’d done a poo!

In later years I was the narrator. I knew it was a compliment for being a good reader and good at remembering lines and delivering them dramatically but I did also know I wasn’t one of the stereotypically pretty popular girls and was a bit sad at not getting a fun costume.

DH says he was waiter number 3!

EoinMcLoves Cake Jumper, you make me feel very old; my copy of the book in question was bought in 1980, according to the flyleaf, and I still help out with a local Music Festival, so you could have been my pupil in 1984.
My favourite response from a child about their role (I was strictly in charge of note-bashing, while others dealt with the acting) is, "Oh, I'm just a people!"

Mary doesn’t tend to be a lead role in modern versions. It’s usually a traditionally subsidiary character that takes centre stage.

I'm sure I remember when I was at school it was the Archangel Gabriel that everyone wanted to be - but then it was a relatively progressive primary school for the 1970s, and one year we did a performance of the Twelve Days of Christmas instead...

Oh no! I was very proud of my little dancing donkey :) But reading this I now realise he's considered bottom of the heap :(

I was angel Gabriel at school when I was 11
This was a big deal as it had a very long speaking part
It made up for me not being chosen as mary as I couldn’t sing.
It’s opened loads of doors for me 😂

At my son's infant school the headteacher's pets always got the lead roles. Parents used to mutter and complain. But when they had a carol concert at a local church with other schools, the head's pet girl was overcome with shyness and couldn't cut it. Much as the parents were peed off with the favouritism shown towards her it was a real shame for her.

A friend had a daughter at nursery and her best friend was cast as an angel. Her daughter was cast as a noisy camel. She was really upset about it and I don't blame her for feeling that way. Nativity plays aren't always as fun as everyone thinks.

I was one of four narrators 😁

Mary - a major part of the play in my school - went to the daughter of the head of the PTA. I'm not still smarting about it..... Not at all.....

There's not always a star angel in dancing shoes, but when there is, that is obviously the best part. Shepherds are good, but only when there's four or less. Otherwise, that's a bad part. Kings are clearly the coolest boy role, although Joseph has technically higher status he has less comic potential. Same problem with Mary, she's too demure a part. But still, any role is better than having to crawl around with a sheepskin rug on your back.