'Black Nativity' gives Christmas back its soul

Criowds filling Intiman Theatre for "Black Nativity" -- the Christmas story with the punch of a gospel church revival -- are in for a jolt of soul.

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They'll feel the stirring poetry of Langston Hughes, whose words fuel the tale. And they'll clap hands and stomp feet because that's precisely what has happened to other Seattle audiences in the nine years of this annual holiday musical.

But the creative forces onstage -- the actors, singers, dancers and musicians -- are matched by the modest woman who works in front of the curtain and behind it: Pastor Patrinell "Pat" Wright, the production's musical director, with a smile that knocks the wind out of you.

Wright, 63, has even more reason to beam when the show opens Saturday for the production's 10th anniversary: Her 16-year-old grandson, DeShé Brooks, is in the spotlight for the very first time, along with his mother and aunt. It's a true family affair -- in addition to the "extended family" of fellow performers of all backgrounds and voice types.

The show's message is timely and timeless for a season so full of conspicuous consumption, Wright says. "We've commercialized Christmas," she says, "so much so, the meaning of it gets lost in all the hustle and bustle."

No wonder the audience appreciates her and the other cast members for wresting back the meaning of the season.

The show makes folks feel.

But I want to digress for a moment.

Wright, who calls herself "everybody's understudy" in the production, is the bright star offstage, away from the lights of the Intiman.

She's the director of the Total Experience Gospel Choir, an ensemble that has kept generations of Seattleites crooning on key for three decades.

The choir has performed in nearly two dozen countries, most recently a few weeks ago at the Busan International Choral Festival and Competition in South Korea. It took a silver medal.

After Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast in 2005, Wright took choir members to the recovery zone to rebuild homes and lives. And she's since made multiple trips to Louisiana and Mississippi to ferry supplies and money, and to observe, shockingly, "cars still in trees and trees still in houses," she said.

As it turns out, when Katrina struck, a member of her Total Experience choir -- 19-year-old Camila Recchi -- was visiting her grandmother in coastal Mississippi. For days, no one knew where she was. The young woman made it back home to Seattle, a bit shaken but with a deeper perspective on life.

When the curtain rises on "Black Nativity," Recchi -- along with members of Wright's choir, other Seattle-area vocalists who auditioned and even three former "American Idol" contestants who have cameos -- will sing for joy and blessings.

And so, too, will Wright's kin.

Her grandson DeShé, a tenor, is making his debut after years of lingering backstage and peeking out from behind the curtains. The 6-foot tall "baby" of the cast scoffs at the notion of getting butterflies: "Naaah -- not at all, sir."

His mom, Tanisha Brooks, an alto, relishes the power of song "to reach out and touch someone."

His aunt, Gena Brooks, gets a kick out of seeing crowds walk into the theater uptight. By show's end, the soprano says, folks are rump shaking in seats or on their feet.

And that's precisely how Wright likes it.

Years ago, when she was asked to help bring the music alive, she was given marching orders for the audience: Take 'em to church!

She hasn't disappointed.

Can I get a witness? Amen!

MORE INFORMATION

To see the schedule of performances or buy tickets, go to intiman.org or call 206-269-1900. The show runs through Dec. 28. Some performances may be sold out already.