By Michael McLean
When I wrote The Forgotten Carols—a Christmas story with an accompanying collection of songs—back in 1991 I never intended, let alone DREAMED that I’d be telling the story and singing the songs every holiday season for the next twenty years. Back in 1991, the ONLY reason I dared share the story on stage was because I didn’t know any other way to introduce it to the world. I figured that if I could act out all the parts and get through the songs in front of an audience, it would encourage them to create their own Christmas program using my book and songs as a script.

When requests for my performance of The Forgotten Carols came in the fall of 1992, I was shocked. I couldn’t believe that I could possibly inspire a demand for an encore performance. I, however, saw this as an opportunity to introduce the book/songs to a larger audience. Now, 19 seasons later, the show has grown from what was essentially an author’s reading to a full blown musical complete with sets and props, along with a cast and crew of almost a hundred people. Over the years I’ve asked myself why people keep coming to this show and through the years I’ve come up with an explanation.

Christmastime, to me, is a time for tradition. In fact, that’s what Christmas is: A wonderful, spirit-filled, glorious excuse to be with loved ones and celebrate the things we all too often forget about the rest of the year. Some traditions at Christmas are such treasures that without them, it feels like something essential is missing. The food, the smells, the sights and sounds, the lights, the music, the gatherings, and the SWEET FAMILIARITY; these all encompass the definition of tradition.

Whether your tradition includes going to see A Christmas Carol, The Nutcracker, or watching It’s a Wonderful Life while dipping Aunt Theresa’s Christmas cookies in Grandma Nona’s Mexican hot chocolate; you know that without those things you might as well give the season a pass.

I think people have added The Forgotten Carols as one of their must-do traditions because it’s a Christmas story that is unapologetically about Christ. It looks at Christmas through the eyes of two strangers who see it from disparate points of view. Constance is a nurse who sees it as an annoyance while Uncle John is a crazy old man who sees it as an opportunity to testify about Jesus – though in unconventional ways.

As the story unfolds, audiences experience feelings deeper than the topical message of Christ. As they listen to the songs audiences can liken themselves unto the characters, pondering their personal relationship with Jesus. The INNKEEPER song (Let Him In), for example, is really about those of us who sometimes get so busy we miss opportunities to let the Author of Peace bring peace to our hearts.

Many feel as the shepherd did; he fell asleep and missed everything. He then had to choose if he could believe in the miraculous events of that first Christmas based on what others told him. He sings, “Somehow I did believe it, though I’d not seen a thing. I didn’t go to Bethlehem or hear the angels sing, but there was something magic in the air that made me feel AS IF I had been there.”

Some relate to the childless woman who helped Mary with her newborn son and then she discovered, “Those like me who can’t have children, still can be mothers. Something in His eyes convinced me I could serve so many others.”

We can all relate to the Homeless guys who croon, a cappella style, “He came down to earth to lead us, and he vowed He’d never leave us Homeless, Homeless, He showed it’s HOW we live not where.”

Throughout the story and songs, we discover that Uncle John is trying to bear his testimony of Jesus to a woman whose life has made it nearly impossible for her to open her heart; to her these stories don’t make any sense. As her patient mirrors the unconditional love of the One whose birth we celebrate every December; she slowly and sweetly changes to at least desire to know that “three kings found the Lord and so can we.”

Although everyone involved in this annual production gives their best professional efforts to present it in the best way possible – lighting, sound, costume, sets, choirs – in the end people come back because for them, the message of what Jesus offers us through His life and mission resonates in the deepest part of their souls…..and happens to be a great preamble to going to our favorite cousin’s cabin for cider.

Families can share in the magic of the holiday season as Michael McLean— the No. 1 best selling LDS songwriter, playwright and producer—brings his holiday classic to Las Vegas on December 21 in the Cashman Center.

Tickets for The Forgotten Carols are $22, $17.50, and $13, and are available at www.deseretbook.com or by calling 1.866.832.8211. There is a 20% discount for groups of 10 or more. The Forgotten Carols is now available on DVD at www.deseretbook.com.