Opening closed doors

Andrew Glazer

COSTA MESA -- Most of the organizers of Rock Harbor’s Christmas play

weren’t worried two weeks ago when they still didn’t have a venue for

their production.

They knew their church would find a place for the 450 spectators, the

elaborate set made of wood scraps and the full band.

“God seems to open closed doors,” said an enthusiastic Pastor Keith

Page, 35.

The grand Spanish-style building on 19th Street and Newport Boulevard

was a long shot. Once the site of Pacific Savings, the 17-year-old

savings and loan headquarters has been closed since the company folded in

1991. Since then, the building’s owners have opened its doors for

occasional weddings, banquets and New Year’s Eve celebrations. Normally

it costs $5,000 to rent the ballroom for just one night, said Tom

Hasselbach, asset manager for the building’s owner, Nickolas Shammas.

“We don’t solicit business or advertise, but it’s such a special

building that people come to us,” Hasselbach said.

But Page, Pastor Todd Proctor and Chad Halliburton, who co-wrote the

production, said they kept praying. And Stacy Scott, the church’s

director of communications, said she kept worrying.

Last week, Hasselbach called Page’s nondenominational Christian church

to say they would welcome “The Unexpected King,” in the building for

free.

“We wanted to encourage peace on earth and good will to men and all

that stuff, “ Hasselbach said.

The play is the telling of the story of the birth of Jesus Christ with

insight into the characters’ thoughts and emotions, said Halliburton, 26,

Rock Harbor’s director of celebration.

“We wanted people to feel more connected to the stories,” he said.

“What was Mary, a 14-year-old girl, thinking? Was her husband jealous

when she got pregnant? How about her parents?”

The production will feature techno loops, percussion, violin and

guitar music melded with traditional carols, Proctor said.

The new take on the old tale is hardly unexpected from the church,

whose pastor has a shaved head and wears hoop earrings. And the

last-minute venue is nothing new for the congregation, which conducts its

services from the back of a trailer each Sunday.

Proctor said putting on the play in an often-noticed but little-used

building has a greater Christmas message:

“This is an empty building that everyone knows is here,” he said. “By

having this play here, we’re bringing a purpose to it. At holiday time,

many people feel empty and need to have a purpose. Hopefully our play

will help them find it.”

Info Box:

“The Unexpected King” will be performed at 6 and 8 p.m. today, Friday

and Saturday at 1901 Newport Boulevard. Admission is free.