A Very Merry Unauthorized Children's Scientology Pageant at A Red Orchid Theatre

Chicago Tribune - Highly Recommended

"...Considering the fearsomely litigious reputation of the Church of Scientology, it's a bit of a holiday miracle that this brilliantly satirical little gem ever got an airing at all, let alone that it became a—pardon the phrase—cult hit. What's most remarkable is that Jarrow and Timbers' show manages to mostly avoid cheap shots at Hubbard and his adherents. This show, though it pulls no punches in its portrait of Hubbard, also reveals just how easily a religion—any religion—can become necessary balm for troubled souls."

Chicago Sun Times - Highly Recommended

"...The most hilariously funny, perfectly realized and in many ways most profound hour of theater now on a Chicago stage can be found at A Red Orchid Theatre in the Old Town neighborhood. That's where a cast of 10 sensational young actors, ranging in age from 10 to 14, are performing "A Very Merry Unauthorized Children's Scientology Pageant," the ingenious musical satire that debuted Off-Broadway several years ago and became one of the 2003-04 season's quirkiest hits. History should repeat itself here."

Chicago Reader - Highly Recommended

"...Move over, Jesus, Santa, and Scrooge, and make way for the latest holiday icon: L. Ron Hubbard, founder of the Church of Scientology. In Kyle Jarrow's sly spoof--directed for A Red Orchid Theatre by Lance Baker and Steve Wilson--a cast of ten child actors in white choir robes perform sketches, songs, and dances illustrating how Hubbard traveled the world in search of enlightenment before realizing that he could provide same--for a price."

Centerstage - Highly Recommended

"...while the layout of the show is intentionally low-budget, appropriately paired with an unpolished vibe, this cast bucks such veritable assumptions, landing laugh-out-loud jokes and sight gags with perfect comic timing befitting actors twice their age. Najwa Brown and Chaz Allen are especially memorable, the former for her over-the-top antics as an angelic narrator and the latter for his impressively dynamic (and slightly haunting) L. Ron Hubbard."

Time Out Chicago - Recommended

"...Performed by ten guileless, enthusiastic and mostly unsmug preteens, Jarrow’s hysterical send-up of the orthodoxy practiced by TomKat and Kirstie Alley (who, naturally, make appearances) is a ticklish breeze to watch. Simple narration and Up with People–ish tunes guide us through Hubbard’s journey from Eagle Scout to Eastern Hemisphere tourist to pop-science theorist, played out with the same beaming glee one might expect from both a megachurch’s children’s spectacular and the truncated, unvetted history you’d get in a second-grade re-creation of the Mayflower landing. (All ten tykes are great, but lest they grow into lonely, susceptible celebrities, we won’t single one out.)"