Crystal Cathedral
12141 Lewis Street
Garden Grove, CA 92840
(714) 54-GLORY
Glory of Christmas Web Page
Glory of Christmas is held annually from late November through the end of December
The Crystal Cathedral's Glory of Christmas is, at its heart, an old-fashioned Christmas pageant. The same story of the Christ-child's birth has been celebrated for decades in churches throughout the country, but this production is anything but old-fashioned. Instead of standing wearing tinsel halos and aluminum-foil-and-cardboard wings, Glory of Christmas angels fly through the air. Live adult camels, horses and other livestock appear on stage rather than cardboard cutouts.
The soaring Crystal Cathedral is the perfect venue for the flying angels, who upstage the rest of the performance both literally and figuratively. Suspended from rigging mounted from the ceiling, they soar as high as 80-feet and travel as fast as 25 miles per hour.
Performed to an orchestral accompaniment pre-recorded by the London Symphony Orchestra, the Glory of Christmas features all the traditional scenes of Jesus' birth from Mary and Joseph's engagement through their trip to Bethlehem and the visit of the three kings.
Each scene is beautifully staged. The dance numbers are nicely choreographed and enthusiastically performed. Traditional Christmas carol favorites mix with contemporary songs, and you may find yourself humming along. The Glory of Christmas shares one characteristic with the simplest of pageants: nervous performers sing a little off-key here, too.
Adding to the Glory of Christmas pageantry are an impressive group of well-behaved creatures, among them three adult camels, six horses, a llama, a burro, a donkey, sheep and goats. Perhaps this constant parade of animals is one of the reasons the children, even the smallest ones, never seem to get bored during the hour-and-a-half Glory of Christmas performance.
Glory of Christmas Tickets
Make reservations for Glory of Christmas in advance, as the 2,500 seats sell out often. Order tickets online. Tuesdays through Thursdays are discount nights at Glory of Christmas.Getting to the Glory of Christmas
The Glory of Christmas is performed at the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, just a few miles from Disneyland. The Glory of Christmas website includes directions from all the local freeways.
As is common in the travel industry, the writer was provided with complimentary tickets for the purpose of reviewing the Glory of Christmas. While it has not influenced this review, About.com believes in full disclosure of all potential conflicts of interest. For more information, see our ethics policy.
