by John Gessner
Thisweek Newspapers

It's quite a bit Christmas, a little bit secular, and all about that jazz.

Faith Covenant Church's annual Christmas production, "Let Heaven and Nature Swing," is hitting the road Thursday, Dec. 7 for a free 6 p.m. performance at Burnsville Center.

The Burnsville church's big-band production will return home for performances Friday and Saturday, Dec. 15 and 16.

The 100-person cast -- which includes a 15-member band, a 45-member choir, soloists, ensembles and drama teams -- will mix Christmas jazz standards with reflective, spiritual messages.

The audience will hear standards made popular by musicians such as Count Basie, Ella Fitzgerald, Glen Miller, Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters, said Michael Fischer of Savage, who's directing the show with wife Diane.

"Faith Covenant really does have a great number of good musicians, singers and instrumentalists," said Fischer, the church's worship-arts pastor. "What we've tried to do is pull people together that love to play and love to sing and develop that, and using each other's networks, to find some other musicians that would join with us for the show. We want to do something fun."

This is the sixth year that Fischer, who has a master's in music from the New England Conservatory of Music, has directed "Let Heaven and Nature Swing."

Post-9/11 comparisons to Pearl Harbor were in the air the first year, which inspired the show's 1940s feel, said Fischer, whose musical background is in jazz piano.

A Nov. 29 performance at the Mall of America and the Burnsville Center show are warm-ups for the full church performances. The scaled-back mall gigs don't include some of dramatic scenes such as the Nativity.

"It's not an in-your-face altar call," Fischer said. "We're not against that. But that's not what we're doing here."

Musical standouts in the show include alto saxophonist Doug Rasmussen, a popular freelance player and arranger; soprano soloist Angie Gislason; drummer Carlos Boyce, and the Andrews Sisters-style trio Shine, Fischer said.

Actors will perform dramatic scenes whose subjects include Black Friday bargain-shopping, Christmas in an unemployed household and, of course, the birth of Jesus.

"This is a chance for someone to come and hear about what we believe is the real meaning of Christmas," Fischer said. "And if you have questions or want to know more, we certainly have ways to give you what we believe is the answer."

The Burnsville Center show will run from 6 to 8 p.m. on the second floor outside Macy's.

The performances at Faith Covenant begin at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $8. The church is at 12921 Nicollet Ave. For more information, call the church at (952) 890-3110 and ask for worship arts.

John Gessner is at burnsville.thisweek@ecm-inc.com.