A STAR IS BORN. by Wallace N. Davis

A STAR IS BORN by Wallace N. Davis

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A STAR IS BORN A children s Christmas Play By Wallace N. Davis

A STAR IS BORN A STAR IS BORN A Children s Christmas Play By Wallace N. Davis SYNOPSIS: J. Diamond was a child star, but now that he s a teenager, he s losing fans. JD comes home to star in a reality TV show. His Hollywood agent, Greta Greed, and the show s director, Ace, are going to reinvent JD, kick start his popularity, and make him a star. Meanwhile, JD s Nana is directing the annual Sunday school Christmas play. As the Hollywood crowd tries to take over the message of Jesus and replace it with their own warped story, they dazzle the kids in the play with fantasies of fame and fortune. Things get out of control until they realize that Christmas isn t about glitz and glamour, it s about Jesus. He is the only true Star. CAST OF CHARACTERS ( females, male, either; -0 extras) J. DIAMOND "JD" (m)... A teen idol wannabe, this former child star is aging out of his popularity. ( lines) GRETA GREED (f)... JD s agent who is trying to reactivate his career (and hers) by branding him as a reality TV star. ( lines) ACE ASHFORD (f)... Director of the reality TV show. She knows how to make a star sparkle, but it has nothing to do with reality. (0 lines) KRIS DAVIS (f)... Younger sister of JD, she idolizes all things Hollywood. ( lines) NANA DAVIS (f)... Grandmother who is raising Kris and JD and trying to show them the right way. ( lines) JAMEY (m/f)... Friend of Kris who is at first caught up in the Hollywood hype, but then comes to his/her senses. ( lines) SHAWN (m/f)... Knows the true meaning of Christmas. ( lines)

WALLACE N. DAVIS HALEY (m/f)... Sees through all the Hollywood hoopla and tells it like it is. ( lines) GROUPIES (m/f)... People who hang out at the filming because they want to be on TV. (Non-speaking) DURATION: minutes PRODUCTION NOTES CAST: This play may be performed by any combination of upper elementary through high school students. The youngest performers should be Kris, Haley, Shawn, and Jamey. (When the stage directions say kids, it refers to these four.) The Groupies may also be young, as they do not have specific lines. If desired, Ace, Greta, and Nana may be played by adults. SET: Think small-town America. Scene takes place outside Nana s house (no set pieces required). Scene is in Nana s kitchen. You ll need a table and chairs, and the table should be set for a meal. Scene is set on the church stage. Place a manger On-stage, as well as a few Christmas decorations and a chair for Nana. COSTUMES: Angel and shepherd costumes; dazzling Hollywood-style sunglasses, hats, and scarves; and ordinary clothes.

A STAR IS BORN PROPS megaphone clapperboard hand-held camera hand-printed Welcome Home signs a glitzier Welcome Home sign signs for audience participation: Laugh, Applause, Cheer; Awww clipboard water bottle flower centerpiece napkin pen cue cards with characters lines as follows:. SHAWN: I have a ginormous crush on J. Diamond. I think I am going to faint.. JAMEY: J. Diamond, you re my favorite star. Can I have your autograph?. NANA: Yes, I believe my grandson is amazing. I do not know where he got such talent. Certainly not from me.. JD: I remember when I said my first lines here. I could feel the energy and love from the audience, even when I was a kid.

WALLACE N. DAVIS 0 0 0 SCENE AT START: JD s hometown. A small crowd of family and friends waits with a homemade welcome sign. J. DIAMOND, GRETA GREED (with a handheld camera which she uses to film throughout the performance), and ACE (with a clipboard) walk toward the house but stop before the crowd sees them. GRETA GREED: (Looks around.) This is what I call motivation. JD: What do you mean? GRETA GREED: If you don t want to end up as a nobody stuck in this backwater town, it s time to light a stick of dynamite under your career. JD: Hey, I m somebody. I m J. Diamond, star of my own TV show. ACE: You mean former star of the show that just got canceled. Sorry to tell it like it is, JD, but you re fast becoming a has-been. JD: (Shakes his head.) I don t believe that. I still have my fans. GRETA GREED: Exactly, but fans are fickle. They'll love you today and forget you tomorrow. We need to get you out there, JD, and show em you still have star power. ACE: (Air frames hands around JD s face, as if taking a picture.) That s where I come in. If I can t make you a star, no one can. JD: I told you I m already a star. ACE: You coulda fooled me. Look at this. (Points to the little crowd.) I ve seen bigger turnouts at the dog pound. (Shakes head and frames the shot with his hands.) This is all wrong. I thought you told me there d be a huge party to welcome you home. We need a bigger crowd. JD: (Shrugs.) I called Nana and told her I was coming. (Shakes head.) I knew this was a bad idea. GRETA GREED: Are you kidding me? This is perfect! The audience is going to eat it up. (Extends arm toward the welcome party.) Hollywood sensation J. Diamond comes home to save the small town that knew him back when. ACE: Small town? More like microscopic but this is your brainchild, Greta, so let s take it from the top. Action! JD: (Calls to crowd.) Hey, everybody. I m home!

A STAR IS BORN 0 0 0 JD walks into the crowd while GRETA GREED films it. NANA hugs him. ALL drop the welcome signs and clusters around him, talking. ACE steps back and watches. ACE: Cut! (ALL stare at her.) This isn t working for me. Where s the emotion? Where s the hype? NANA: What do you mean? This is a private moment. I m welcoming my grandson home. This is reality. JD: No, Nana, this is reality TV. It s Hollywood s version of what s real. KRIS: I wish I could go to Hollywood. GRETA GREED: No problem, kid. Hollywood has come to. [Insert your town here.] Who wants to be on TV? ALL: (Bunch closer, jumping and raising hands and saying popcorn style.) I do! I do! JD: There s your hype! ACE: That s a little more like it. OK, then. Let s do this right. (She produces a dazzling welcome sign and sticks it in NANA s hand and fusses with NANA s clothes. NANA flicks her hand away and glares at her, forcing her to focus on the others.) You kids come over here. You ll be perfect! KIDS step closer to ACE. SHAWN: What can I do? ACE: Can you scream and faint? SHAWN: I guess so, but why am I doing it? GRETA GREED: Never ask the director why; just do it. JAMEY, KRIS, and HALEY: (Ad-lib) What about us? What can we do? Pick me! (Etc.) ACE: I need a script girl, an assistant, and a water girl. (Hands out cue cards to JAMEY, a clapperboard to KRIS, and a water bottle to HALEY.) NANA: This is wrong on so many levels. GRETA GREED: Go with it, Grandma. NANA: Excuse me! I am not your grandma. JD: It s OK, Nana. Just roll with it.

WALLACE N. DAVIS 0 0 0 NANA: (Hands on hips.) But I made your favorite supper! Let s go home and relax and catch up. JD: Later, OK? I have to do this first. It s important for my career. NANA: Your career? Bah, humbug! Home isn t about your career. It s about getting back to your roots. It s about faith and love and GRETA GREED: Can it, Grandma! JAMEY: (Uses megaphone.) Quiet on the set! KRIS: Star Comes Home, take one! (Snaps clapperboard.) SHAWN screams and faints. ACE: Not yet! SHAWN: But you told me to scream. ACE: Not yet. Quiet! Not a peep! HALEY: Peep! JAMEY holds up Laugh sign and everyone laughs. ACE: Water! ACE frowns and snaps fingers for the water bottle. HALEY won t give it up. They have a short tug of war before ACE grabs it and takes a sip. JD: You guys, stop it! Just do what the director says. Is that so hard? GRETA GREED: Rolling! JAMEY holds up signs saying Awww, Cheers, Applause, etc. and flashes them around. ACE points to the congregation and motions with arms to get them to join in as well.

A STAR IS BORN 0 0 0 SCENE AT START: Inside NANA s home. KIDS are gathered around the table. NANA: Supper s getting cold. HALEY and JAMEY: (Together) We re starving! SHAWN and KRIS: (Together) We re hungry, too! JD: You won t die of starvation. We can t eat until we get everything just right. ACE: (Holds up a plate.) We need real china here. Maybe some floral centerpieces and candles. I want a nice homey dinner table scene. (Fusses around rearranging things.) NANA: In case you haven t noticed, all the flowers in my garden are under a foot of snow. And these plates will do just fine. We eat off of them every day. (To KIDS.) Everyone hold hands. KRIS: Wait! Quiet on the set! JAMEY: Star Comes Home, take two! (Snaps clapperboard.) SHAWN: (Uses megaphone.) Action! HALEY: Peep! ACE: Hold it! NANA: No, you hold it! Everyone, join hands. We re saying grace before we eat. Right now! ALL except ACE and GRETA GREED join hands and bow their heads. ALL: (Except GRETA GREED and ACE, reciting together.) God is great, God is good, and we thank him for our food, amen! ACE: (To GRETA GREED.) Did you get that? GRETA GREED: No way! We don t want J. Diamond looking like a religious freak! That s not the way to boost his career. It ll kill it for sure. ACE: Gotcha. Stick to the script, people. Pretend you re eating and talking. Places, everyone. Act natural. Action! Camera! Roll em! KRIS holds up cue card for SHAWN to read her lines.

WALLACE N. DAVIS 0 0 0 SHAWN: (Reads mechanically.) I have a ginormous crush on J. Diamond. I think I am going to faint. (Shakes her head.) That s stupid! I lived beside Jude Davis before he became (Air quotes and rolls eyes.) J. Diamond. I would never say that! KRIS passes cue card to SHAWN. SHAWN holds up card for JAMEY. JAMEY reads card. JAMEY: (To JD.) J. Diamond, you re my favorite star. Can I have your autograph? JD: Sure! I love hanging out with my fans. (Pretends to sign a napkin from the table and gives it to JAMEY, who scowls at it.) JAMEY:: Hey, you didn t really sign this. I ve been ripped off! KRIS: (Leans in front of JAMEY to be closer to the camera.) My brother is so wonderful. He is the most talented star in Hollywood. Don t you think so, Nana? NANA: I can t read this rubbish. JD: Please just read it, Nana. It won t kill you. I read whatever they put in front of me. KRIS: Come on, Nana. It s Hollywood! NANA: (Woodenly.) Fine. Yes, I believe my grandson is amazing. I do not know where he got such talent. Certainly not from me. JD: Aw, Nana, stop! You re making me blush. SHAWN: This is so phony. HALEY: Yeah, phony baloney. ACE: Quiet! Not a peep out of you. HALEY: Peep! ACE: Cut! SCENE AT START: The setting is the church stage. GRETA GREED, ACE, and JD are Off-stage. ALL others are practicing the Christmas program. They are wearing partial angel and shepherd costumes. NANA: OK, we need to get busy. We ve got a show to put on in just a few days. Has everyone learned their lines?

0 A STAR IS BORN 0 0 0 SHAWN: Why do we have to learn our lines? JAMEY: We can hold up signs and read them. KRIS: Yeah, just like they do it in Hollywood. HALEY: Places, everyone. (Snaps the clapperboard.) Action! NANA: No, no, no. (Takes clapperboard from HALEY, who doesn t want to give it up.) We re here to rehearse our church Christmas play. This isn t Hollywood, thank goodness. SHAWN: But it could be our ticket to Hollywood. JAMEY: You re right. Our Christmas play could be on reality TV. KRIS: We could be discovered. I could be a star. I could be K. Diamond! HALEY: Cut! NANA: Get serious, everyone. This TV show isn t real, and it definitely isn t important. Jesus is the only Star, and we re here to show his love, salvation, peace, and joy. That s true reality that lasts forever. Let s get the props and get to work. ALL hurry around setting up the scene as JD, GRETA GREED, and ACE enter. ACE: (Frames shot.) This looks like it has potential. JD: No, it doesn t. I don t ask for much, but I won t do this. (Reaches over and puts his hand over the camera that GRETA GREED is pointing in his face.) This isn t something I want in the show. GRETA GREED: Cool it, JD. We want raw emotion. Trust Ace. She s got good instincts. ACE: That s right. I know what it takes to make you a superstar. JD: No, you guys said you didn t want me to come across as a religious freak. Hello! We re in a church. NANA: Nonsense. I think this is a wonderful idea. JD: Seriously? NANA: Absolutely! This is where it all started. Remember how you used to dress up like a shepherd or a wise man or Joseph in the Christmas plays? JD: (Groans and shakes head.) That was ages ago. NANA: But you loved it. You loved telling the story of Jesus.

WALLACE N. DAVIS 0 0 0 GRETA GREED: (Claps hands together to get everyone s attention.) We ve got our angle. This is it, JD. This is where you knew you wanted to be an actor. Now you ve come back and you ll selflessly use your star power to pull your grandmother s little play out of the Dumpster. NANA: What? GRETA GREED: Just go with it, Grandma! Let s go, people. JAMEY and HALEY: (Ad-lib) Yeah! This is great! KRIS and SHAWN: (Together) Hollywood, here we come! NANA: No! We re telling the story of Jesus birth, just the way it should be done. Find your places, everyone, and let s get started. HALEY: (As an angel.) Glory to God! KRIS: (As an angel.) Peace on earth, and goodwill to all! SHAWN: (As an angel.) Today your Savior is born in Bethlehem. JAMEY: (As an angel.) He is God s Son, Jesus Christ the Lord. ACE: Cut! What is this, amateur hour? NANA: Shush! Did you even listen? Your Savior has come. Jesus is God in the flesh. He was, is, and will be the only Star forever. He gave up all the glory and power he had in heaven to come to earth to be made like us. ACE: So? I came from Hollywood to save your grandson from being a one-hit wonder. Why don t you sit back and let me handle this? NANA: No! You don t know what you re doing. GRETA GREED: Ace has made a name for herself in Hollywood. And as hard as it is to hear, you guys wouldn t even make it to the tryouts on The U.S. Has Mad Skills. JD: Hey! That s my grandmother you re talking about. GRETA GREED: (Holds up palms.) Just sayin. ACE: Look, JD. Do you want to be known as a burned-out child star for the rest of your life? JD: Of course not! GRETA GREED: Then let s do this. We need to go bigger. We need more sparkle. ACE: Come on, kids. Are you with me on this? KRIS, JAMEY, SHAWN, and HALEY: (Ad-lib) Yeah! We love sparkle! For sure. (Etc.)

A STAR IS BORN 0 0 0 NANA: Kids, please don t push Jesus aside. JAMEY: Just this once. KRIS: This is Hollywood. HALEY: It s showbiz. ACE: Come on. We need a new script featuring JD. SHAWN: What about Jesus? GRETA GREED: We ll give him a minor role. It s not his reality show. ALL except JD and NANA buzz around changing the props and trading in costumes for sunglasses and cool attire. NANA gets twirled around in the frenzy and pushed out of the way. JD takes her to a chair out of the action. JD: It ll be OK, Nana. You ll see. NANA: I don t think so. We ve lost sight of the Christmas message of hope and love in Jesus birth. JD: Don t worry. I still know who Jesus is, and I know he s the one who gave me my acting talent. GRETA GREED: JD, we re ready for you. NANA: Jude, don t forget the real gift isn t your talent. The real gift is Jesus in your heart. JD: I haven t forgotten. I promise I ll use my star power so we ll have this church packed for the Christmas program. (Goes to ACE.) Where do you want me? ACE: (Points to Center Stage. Manger is in front of JD.) Right here. Quiet on the set! GRETA GREED: Places, everyone. SHAWN: (Snaps clapperboard.) Action! JD: (Reads cue card.) I remember when I said my first lines here. I could feel the energy and love from the audience, even when I was a kid. KIDS crowd closer and push to get in front of the camera. JAMEY: What about us? KRIS: Where s my part? SHAWN: When do we get to say our lines?

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