Moriah Smallbone Reflects on JOURNEY TO BETHLEHEM: ‘Beautiful Combination’
By Movieguide® Contributor
Singer Moriah Smallbone, who is married to For KING + COUNTRY’s Joel Smallbone, opened up about what it meant for her to join the cast of JOURNEY TO BETHLEHEM.
“It’s a musical take on the nativity story,” Smallbone told Movieguide®. “So, the way I like to say is it’s like THE GREATEST SHOWMEN and HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL in the storytelling of Jesus’s birth. And so, it’s just this beautiful combination.”
“There’s so much color, there’s so much music, so much dancing. And I love that our director and his family who developed this script over the course of 10 to 12 years, really, I think is how long he and Nikki spent on it. They allowed for their imaginations to run wild and to breathe life into the margins of Scripture and text. And so, when you watch the film, there are things like Mary having a pet donkey and a little shepherd girl [and] Mary having two sisters, one of which I get to play. So, I love how we’ve been able to look at this story,” she shared.
Part of Movieguide®’s review of the movie reads:
JOURNEY TO BETHLEHEM is a heartfelt musical about the Nativity Story, the Birth of Jesus Christ. Taken mostly from the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, the movie starts by introducing Mary and Joseph, the three wise men, and King Herod and his eldest son. Joseph sticks by Mary when he has a dream where the Angel Gabriel confirms Mary’s story about Mary carrying the Son of God. Meanwhile, after the three wise men visit the palace, King Herod sends his eldest son to find the mother of the Christ child and kill them.
JOURNEY TO BETHLEHEM is a great musical with lots of jeopardy and some funny comic relief to lighten the mood. The songs are really good, and so are the performances. Although this is a musical version of the Nativity Story, the filmmakers treat the birth of Jesus with the proper reverence it deserves. The script and song lyrics refer to Jesus as Lord, the Son of God, the Messiah, King of all kings, Immanuel, and “God with us.” JOURNEY TO BETHLEHEM is one of the most enjoyable, uplifting movies of 2023.
Smallbone reflected on the musical’s focus on women and what women today can learn from someone like Mary.
“I think that we disassociate from that era and forget that women had feelings back then, too,” she stated. “So, kind of going back into their shoes and going, what would I, Moriah, feel like if I was living in that culture? And I had those expectations put on me, and how would I respond? And I think that’s why this version of Mary resonates with me so much because I don’t think Mary was particularly excited about everybody questioning her character and her commitment to her betrothed in getting pregnant. I’m sure she would have looked at that and counted the cost.”
“And yet, in hindsight, I think some of the most challenging things that we’re called to, can often be our greatest moments of opportunity. And we just don’t see it in the moment,” Smallbone reflected.
The singer also had a special cameo in season three of THE CHOSEN, and she has confirmed, “My character is returning.”
“I don’t know how much detail I can share about that,” she told Movieguide®. “But I did go back and film a bit more this year. And I would say that the scenes that I was asked to come back and film initially, my first response was absolutely not. Talk about being called to something you don’t feel like you’re capable of doing. I was just like, I can’t do that. I’m an artist. I’m not a thespian. But I’m so glad that I said yes. And I’m so glad that Dallas created an environment for me to step in as a professional, as an actress, and to use everything at my disposal to make sure that I could communicate this story and this character with conviction.”
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