epcot candlelight processional with neil patrick harris

Wednesday night, Rhonda and I met up with my friend Clare to go to Epcot for the Candlelight Processional. It’s been years since Rhon and I have seen it, but she finally had a night off and actor Neil Patrick Harris (Dr Horrible, “How I Met Your Mother,” Harold & Kumar, etc) was the celebrity narrator for the evening.

For those who’ve never seen the Candlelight Processional, it’s basically a reading of the story of Jesus, from birth to crucifixion, narrated by a guest celebrity. Mixed in are choral renditions of secular holiday songs performed by a choir made up of Disney castmembers (aka employees), the Walt Disney orchestra and the Voices of Liberty, who normally perform at the American pavilion at Epcot. The show lasts about 40 minutes and there are three shows a day.

We got there early enough to get in line for the first show at 5pm, but it was a long line, so by the time we got in, we were five rows from the back of the theater. Thank heavens for the zoom lens on my camera or I’d never gotten any photos. And the lighting was atrocious – way too much use of red and dark golden yellow tones. Here are a few of the better shots I got of Harris and the CP performers:

As you can see from the second photo, I was quite a ways back from the stage. If you look at that second photo, you can spot Harris between the two singers dressed in red, just slightly above the last one.

I liked NPH’s rendition of the story, but I enjoyed his casual banter at the beginning and end of the show more. He comes across as a very pleasant, down-to-earth kind of guy. This was reinforced by a co-worker of Rhon’s who told us after the last show, they caught him just hanging out watching Illuminations and he was more than happy to sign autographs and pose for photos with fans. The choir and orchestra were also first-rate.

Unfortunately, we didn’t stay that long as Rhon and Clare were starving and we all agreed it’d be cheaper to eat outside of the park. Plus, my camera batteries died from all the extreme zooming. On the way out, I did try to take some shots of the Christmas decorations at Epcot with my cellphone. A few of them surprisingly turned out well. These were a few of my favorites:

I have a few more up from the CP and the decorations at Flickr.

I think Monday Rhon wants to go check out the holiday stuff at Animal Kingdom and then the Osborne Lights at Hollywood Studios. Depends how much writing work I can clear up over the weekend. I went in for another check-up on the hand and the doctor says it’s healing a bit slower than he’d like, so he’s gonna give it through the holidays and look at it again in January. If it’s not at 95%, I may have to go in for more tests to make sure there wasn’t any nerve damage. * sigh * At least he switched me to a brace I can take off every now and then to let my hand breathe.

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About zengrrl

I'm Michelle Snow, the writer and creator of Zengrrl. I write about travel, entertainment, women's issues, health, body positivity, and more, both for this blog and freelance. I have also authored/co-authored four guidebooks on Orlando and Florida. If you aren't already following me, the links are below, as well as on the top right of this page. Thanks!