The Unofficial Shawnee Smith Information Site -- Los Angeles Times, 11 December 2004

The Los Angeles Times, 11 December 2004

Angels usher in holiday spirit. Students give rocking twist on Christmas at holiday production at St. Robert Bellarmine Elementary School.

By Jacqui Brown HILLSIDE DISTRICT — Jessica Mouawad, 5, has never played an angel before, but to look at her you couldn't imagine her playing any other part with her big dark eyes and long dark hair curling gently around her soft little angel wings. "It was really fun being an angel, but what I liked best was singing 'Silent Night,' " Jessica said. The two kindergarten classes at St. Robert Bellarmine Elementary School played to a standing-room only crowd Thursday during their Christmas production. Kindergarten A opened with an energetic version of "The Legend of the 12 Days of Christmas." The young performers belted out the words to an appreciative audience, their heads bobbing in time to the beat.

Shawnee Reposar, also known as Shawnee Smith of television and film fame, helped out with the play, but was really there to enjoy her daughter Verve's performance. "We decided to really take on the opening act idea and really went with it," Reposar said. "When I researched the background on the song, I realized it was kind of 16th-century punk rock, so I found this piece of music and the kids really had fun with it."

The second portion of the show, performed by the kindergarten B class, drew a silence among the audience as the angels made their way from the back of the auditorium toward the stage. Barely more than three feet tall and fully decked out in long flowing white dresses and halos, the little angels, along with the innkeeper, played by Gabriel Reyes, led the cast of characters to the stable on stage. There, sitting beside Louis Alfonso Gatal, who played Joseph, was Miguela Gonzaga as Mary, who on perfect cue accepted the baby Jesus, a doll swaddled in blue satin. "I never played Mary before," Miguela said. "The best part was when I was singing Silent Night." Kindergarten B teacher Wyomi Fernando narrated the second performance. "We sent home the carols at the beginning of November so the students could memorize them and the kids were so excited we sang them through Thanksgiving," Fernando said.

Father Lawrence Signey, pastor of First Presbyterian Church where the production took place, sat in the front row to watch the performances. "This builds a lot of community with the children," Signey said. "It's entertaining and it gives us a little bit of the meaning of Christmas and what it's really about."

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