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Boar’s Head tale endures
By Sean Barron
YOUNGSTOWN
Noah Silver’s career goal is to be a high-school math teacher, but years of having performed in a longtime popular musical festival have added up to a deeper closeness to his church and to God.
You also could say the experiences have allowed him to move up through the spiritual ranks.
“When I was first cast at age 3, I was a Yule Log sprite [a character dressed in red and green],” the 19-year-old Bowling Green State University freshman and math-education major remembered. “Then I became a king’s page … and a jester for nine years. Now I’m a friar and a shepherd.”
Silver was referring to the progression of characters he’s portrayed through his childhood and teen years before assuming his latest role as part of Sunday afternoon’s 58th annual Boar’s Head & Yule Log Festival at St. John’s Episcopal Church, 343 Wick Ave., near downtown.
Perhaps more importantly, being part of the celebratory festival and pageantry each year has allowed him to develop a deeper spirituality, Silver added.
A climatic and emotional aspect of Sunday’s two dramatic liturgical musical and choral performances was the portrayal of the Three Kings presenting the gifts of frankincense, gold and myrrh to the baby Jesus, noted Priscilla Hays, the church’s administrative assistant.
Another central theme was the celebration of the Epiphany, also known as the Feast of the Three Kings, Hays explained. The occasion is celebrated 12 days after Christmas on Jan. 6, a day when many Christians remember the Kings’ visit to Christ and some churches celebrate his baptism.
“The celebration is filled with wonder and awe of God, and you can’t help going into the world to share it,” said the Rev. Grace Catinella, church rector.
The colorful pageantry also included musical adaptations of popular Christmas carols such as “We Three Kings,” “Deck the Halls,” “In the Bleak Midwinter” and “Hark the Herold Angels Sing,” with a medley of characters that featured a juggler, a magician, bagpipers, several cooks and an appearance by Santa Claus.
“It’s kind of a Cecil [B.] DeMille production,” the Rev. Ms. Catinella said gleefully, referring to the famous filmmaker, producer and director often acknowledged as the founding father of the cinema in the U.S.
In the 1920s and 1930s, he made several biblical epics such as “The King of Kings” and “The Sign of the Cross.” In 1956, DeMille’s final and perhaps most famous film, “The Ten Commandments,” was an Academy Award nominee.
Hope doesn’t exist in a vacuum, so it was a goal of Sunday’s performances to further allow attendees to feel and bring into the world a sense of hope and peace inspired by the light of Christ, she continued.
“I hope they take home the joy of the pageantry and royalty,” added Meg Silver, director and stage manager.
In addition, Silver, who’s also Noah Silver’s mother, mentioned the shows’ all-inclusiveness aspect, saying that anyone associated with St. John’s Church or even some people from out of town might be asked to be part of the performances. They also can be invited to make guest appearances, she said, adding the performances ended “with a moment of reverence,” to give glory to God.
Complementing the church’s regular choir were members of Illuminare, formerly the Salem Youth Choir, Silver continued. During the prelude, Illuminare lent its vocal renditions to the songs “Bethlehem, of Noblest Cities” and “I am Changed.”
Other show elements included musical interludes during the Boar’s Head processional arranged from “Ancient Airs and Dances, Suite I,” by Ottorino Respighi, an Italian composer, just before the shepherds’ entrance during organ hymns such as “From Heaven Above.”
Long after the final act, it is hoped that attendees will carry with them a deeper desire to spread compassion and peace in a world that seems to be undergoing a tremendous amount of upheaval and tumult, Ms. Catinella said.
“I hope the audience appreciates the church patrons and music, but on a deeper level, I want them to feel that it’s possible for good things to happen,” she added.