By Debby Woodin

dwoodin@joplinglobe.com

Recruiters are looking for a few good men and soldiers. Specifically wise men and Roman soldiers, though not the U.S. military type.

Organizers of the Living Nativity event that will be part of Joplin’s Holiday Experience celebration the first week of December are seeking volunteers to portray characters in the Nativity scenes as well as choirs to perform traditional Christmas songs.

“Members of community groups, churches, school and civic organizations as well as individual citizens are all invited to participate in the Living Nativity,” said event co-chairman Roger Gladden. The Nativity will be a drive-through production to be staged from 6 to 9 p.m. daily Wednesday, Dec. 2, through Saturday, Dec. 5, at Landreth Park.

Gladden said volunteers are welcome to work one hour or as long as they wish. Organizers are trying to schedule the event so that volunteers can rotate every hour to limit their exposure in the event of cold weather, since it is an outdoor production. The goal is to have 100 volunteers each night, including support workers.

The production will depict eight scenes: the Roman census, Mary and Joseph’s trip to Bethlehem, no room at the inn, shepherds tending their flock, the stable and the holy family, angels and the shepherds, the wise men and camels traveling to the Nativity, and a chorus of the heavenly host.

People are needed to portray Roman soldiers, shepherds, an angel, Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus, the wise men, and roaming shepherds. “These are all nonspeaking parts,” Gladden said. “Anyone in the community can participate in this event. We need people to fill the various roles of the eight scenes as well as needing people to support the work behind the scenes.”

Backstage jobs will include such chores as distributing warm drinks, managing rotations and taking care of lighting.

People who have costumes for the parts may use those as long as they are close to the design of the ones to be used for the production, Gladden said. Costumes will be provided to those who don’t have them.

Jim Lile and Sam Claussen, theater professors at Missouri Southern State University, have designed the sets and plan to construct them with the help of some students, Lile said.

Additionally, three choirs are needed to perform traditional Christmas music each night on a covered pavilion in the park.

The event is one of a number of holiday activities that week that are planned not only as part of the Joplin celebration but in conjunction with a visit by dignitaries from the Holy Land city of Bethlehem, which has a sister-city relationship with Joplin.

Bethlehem Mayor Victor Batarseh and his wife; Bishara Awad, president of Bethlehem Bible College, and his wife; and the Rev. Ibrahim Shomali, parish priest of the Bethlehem district, will visit Joplin that week.

Batarseh will be the grand marshal of the Christmas parade on Tuesday of that week.