Influencers | Eric & Elic Bramlett

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December 2017 View more

Let It Be Christmas is celebrating its 10th anniversary season at Community Christian Church in Naperville. Brothers Eric and Elic Bramlett are the creative force behind this unique and wildly popular holiday musical that depicts the story of Christmas using only Beatles songs.

How would you describe Let It Be Christmas?

Elic It’s a rock-opera Nativity story. We use about 30 Beatles songs to tell the story. I use the term “rock-opera” because there is no dialogue—everything is told through song, except for the narrator, who speaks in poetic verse. It’s all original Beatles music. We don’t change the lyrics to make them more religious. The songs we’ve chosen work perfectly in their own right. It really has to be seen to be believed.

How did you come up with this idea?

Eric Granger [Community] Church in Indiana created a Christmas with the Beatles series that culminated in a 15-minute play using Beatles songs to tell the Christmas story. My brother and I saw the video online and thought we could turn it into a full musical. We contacted them and they told us to go for it. We began filling it out and ended up with a one-hour, one-act performance. Over the years we’ve added characters and moments to the show so that it’s now a full, two-act musical.

Elic I still get chills when I think about the first time I saw Mary and Joseph holding baby Jesus and singing John Lennon’s “Beautiful Boy.” I knew it was a dramatic vehicle we needed to explore. And, really we haven’t stopped—we just keep adding to the show.

How has the show evolved over the past ten years?

Eric Obviously the Christmas story doesn’t change, but over the years we’ve had opportunities to add scenes featuring different characters. Casting also plays a huge role in shaping the show. We’ve had some casts with really elite dancers, and we created opportunities to feature their strengths. Other times we’ve had some amazing singers and have added songs to highlight them. It depends on who shows up to audition and what their strengths are.

Elic We’ve moved from having several narrators reading bible verses to a more dramatic convention of having one narrator speaking in poetic verse. We’ve also tried different settings, and have landed on it taking place in a 1960s Abbey Road-type recording studio. The show is always evolving. With the Beatles catalog, it’s fun to switch things up, especially with the love story at beginning of the show. More than half of Beatles songs are love songs, so there is no shortage of material.

It’s impressive that people are buying tickets for this year’s show before you even began rehearsals.

Eric The show has developed a loyal following over the years. People come back every year and bring their friends. We are passionate about helping people find their way back to God. We do that by creating engaging experiences that help people get in touch with that. Let It Be Christmas fits that model perfectly. For some people it’s the first time they have been in a church in years. The experience is warm, enjoyable and inviting and we hope they come back.

Elic People who lean towards the Christian persuasion are looking for something at Christmastime to revisit the Nativity story. The way this story is told is accessible to anyone, because it’s not too preachy or traditional. And because of our theater background, we create a very professional show. It’s definitely taken on a life of its own.

Here comes the son
Let It Be Christmas performances at Community Christian Church’s Yellow Box location (1635 Emerson Lane) will be held weekends December 8 to 16. For more details and tickets visit communitychristian.org/letitbe.