THE STORY

The play opens with busy shoppers hurrying about in front of New York’s Central Park, two days before Christmas of 1932.  (see video of “CITY OF LIGHTS”)  The country is in the depths of the Great Depression, and a band of out-of-work performers has set up a shanty town camp in a dry reservoir that today has been covered over to make the Great Lawn of the park.  Con men like Gentleman Jim Cabot and his sax-playing buddy Spats work the streets, trying to make a quick buck.  Jim was a former Broadway producer who has fallen on hard times, and now runs a shell game on unwary victims.  Spats pretends to be blind to get more tips, but he is actually quite able to see everything that’s going on.  Officer Casey is a good-natured Irish cop, who sees all their shenanigans but turns a blind eye.

Reaching out to the homeless is Sister Angelina Regina, a street wise preacher who, with her Bitty Committee, provides soup and spiritual guidance to lost souls.  Into this mix of colorful characters walk two children, Johnny and Maggie.  They work the streets with Johnny acting as a fast talking distraction, while his little sister Maggie picks the pockets of people listening to her brother’s story of being two kids “lost in the big city”.  (see video of “WE’LL GET BY”)  Sister Angelina’s mothering instincts kick in, and she takes the children under her wing.

But when the kids run up against the local hoodlum, Killer Joe, who doesn’t appreciate them working a con without paying him protection money, Angelina knows she has to hide them somewhere.  Since Gentleman Jim knows the park well, she insists that he hide the kids until the situation is safe again.  Though Jim agrees, he is reluctant because of the demons from his own past.  While the kids sleep, he remembers how the wife he loved was lost in a tragic fire, and how he was unable to save them.  He lashes out at God for letting his life be filled with such tragedy, as he once again drowns his sorrows as the night closes in on him. (see video of “LIFE GOES ON”)

Jim gathers up his homeless friends the next day with an idea to raise the money so the kids can be sent back home.  They will put on a Christmas pageant, right there in the park on Christmas Eve.  But when the local Director of Parks (Mr. Pendragon) balks at the idea, Jim connives to give him a part in the “cantata” so he’ll go along with the plan.  And since Jim is a showman, he dreams of the cantata being a great extravaganza.  (see video of “VERY BEST CHRISTMAS CANTATA”)

When the time comes to perform their cantata, everything falls apart.  (see video of “CHRISTMAS EVE CANTATA”)  But they still are able to raise enough cash to get the kids two bus tickets back home.  That is, until Killer Joe shows up and steals the money from Jim after knocking him down.  Jim wants to respond, but listens to Killer Joe’s taunts about how he couldn’t save his family, so he must be a loser after all.  Jim responds by getting drunk, and Sister Angelina finds him passed out on a park bench.

After Jim despondently tells her about losing the money, Angelina shames him for giving in to self pity.  She tells him that he must stop letting the pain of his past rule his present.   Even though he may never understand why God let those tragedies happen in his life, he must begin to trust God again with his life.  People need him now, so he must “walk on through” the pain right now for them.  (see video of “WALK ON THROUGH”)

Officer Casey then rushes in with some good news.  He has found the Johnny & Maggie’s mother, and she is reunited with them.  She tells them that though she had been in prison, she has gotten her life back together and is ready to start over with them.  They’re both happy, but say that they had plans to spend Christmas with Jim and Angelina.  When the mother says she’s already got their bus tickets to go, Jim angrily tells them they need to go ahead and get out of his hair.  They leave, and Jim tells Angelina it was all for the best.

Jim is confronted by Killer Joe, who has been hiding in the shadows and saw the kids leaving with their mother.  He again knocks Jim to the ground, taunting him with his plan to go after them and kill all three.  Jim finally decides to stop caring only for himself, and risks himself for the good of the children.  He runs off the stage after Killer Joe, and a fight ensues.

When the lights come back up, Killer Joe walks back in, feeling victorious over Jim’s attack.  But as he taunts some passersby, he wonders why they do not respond.  Then he looks down at his shirt, which is covered with blood.  As more people pass him, he realizes they cannot see him.  Then suddenly, demons come from the shadows, and start to creep toward him.  It is then he realizes he is actually dead, killed in the fight with Jim, and he screams as the demons drag him into hell…

Jim limps back in, bleeding badly from his stomach.  As he lays across a park bench, Officer Casey comes back in with Johnny and Maggie.  They just couldn’t leave without saying goodbye, and their mom said it was OK to invite him to celebrate Christmas with them.  Jim hides his wound from them, and explains to them that he will try to come see them sometime later.  But until then, he asks that they just imagine him an angel watching over them, just like one of the stars in the sky.  They leave him, and sends them his love.

As Jim waves to some of his homeless friends, he notices now that they don’t see him either.  Officer Casey tells him that is because he has changed now.  Casey tells him to get up and walk with him, and that someone has been waiting for him.  Jim then realizes that he has just died, and asks Casey where they are going.  Jim then looks up and sees her, waiting for him in heaven.  With tears in his eyes, he asks Casey “What happens now?”  Casey says, “That’s easy, Jimmy boy…you all live happily ever after!” (see video of  “CITY OF LIGHT FINALE”)

Synopsis by the playwrite