One Night in Bethlehem Arranged by Derric Johnson
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The angel appears to Mary beneath the stars, with the Magi riding across the night sky

One Night in Bethlehem

A new Christmas musical by Derric Johnson.

Help us bring it to life.

Be part of it See what we're building
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What we're building

A new Christmas tradition.

For generations Derric Johnson's music has inspired audiences across America from around the world. In Orlando, thousands gathered nightly to experience his Christmas pageants as an annual tradition.

We invite you to help us bring this new live musical event to life, every Christmas, here in Orlando.

Carolers in Victorian dress singing beneath a gas street lamp in the falling snow

To Virtual Reality and beyond.

With state-of-the-art immersive technology we will capture and carry the greatest story ever told into a new medium, to immerse audiences around the world, for generations to come.

360° Drag to look around

Previsualization for illustration only. This is not the final content we will produce.

A message from the director

Ways to be part of it

Help us reach our goal.

If you or someone you know loves Christmas, or has ever been moved by Derric Johnson's music, please help us give this gift to future generations. Every contribution brings this musical production one step closer to the stage.

Contribution received

Thank you. You're a Friend of the Nativity.

Your support helps bring a living nativity musical back to the stage. We'll keep you posted as it comes to life. The best thing you can do next is tell someone who loves Christmas.
$25Tribute

Give a tribute to Derric and the team, and follow along as a living nativity musical comes to life.

Thank you!

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$50Voices

Enjoy the digital soundtrack this Christmas, with the full music and narration of a living nativity musical.

Thank you!

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$100Preview

Get access to the XR teaser of the immersive experience to come, delivered in December.

Thank you!

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$1,000Legacy

Join us in person at the Private Viewing Event in Orlando in December 2026, with two seats reserved in your name. See the live staged reading and an XR teaser of the immersive experience to come.

Thank you!

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Name a song. Name a scene.

Sponsorship opportunities.

The production is built from songs and scenes, carried by one narrator. Each one can carry a name: yours, your company's, or someone you want to remember.

A choir director who changed your life. A parent who took you to see the pageant every December. A spouse who loved Christmas more than anyone you've known.

Tell us which moment means something to you, and we'll help you put a name on it.

Sponsorships begin at $10,000. Songs and scenes are available to sponsor. The executive producer speaks with every sponsor personally.
The program In order of appearance. Press Listen to hear a song. Choose any moment to see what sponsoring it includes.
Sponsorships begin at $10,000
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Or support the whole production.

Angel Sponsor The whole production

"Made possible by" credit at the head of the experience, in every format, in perpetuity. Named across the 2027 live performances. Six seats at the Private Viewing Event, and the opportunity to join us at the live capture.

Event Sponsor Private Viewing Event, December 2026

Recognized as the sponsor of the Private Viewing Event in December 2026, at the event itself and in everything that announces it.

Every sponsor is named in the credits and on this site.

One promise: no sponsor appears during the experience. Nothing interrupts the experience. All recognition sits at the beginning and the end, where it reads as this was made possible by.

Where we are

The project is already underway.

Our world-class artists have taken it upon themselves to begin the first phase. $1 million takes this from a design on a screen to a live show that comes back every Christmas, and then out to the world. Each phase funds the next thing that gets built.

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The goal $1M across three phases
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Future Opportunities

As we get closer to our goal, new doors will open for our patrons.
Be part of it

The people making it

Who's building this.

Stage production, lighting, sound and immersive technology, including people whose credits include Disney and Universal.

Ruscella Immersive

Produced by Ruscella Immersive, which builds immersive experiences for universities, government and industry.

Derric Johnson conducting a choir in front of Cinderella Castle at Walt Disney World
Derric Johnson conducting at Walt Disney World

The Inspiration

It began with Derric Johnson.

For well over a decade, audiences in Orlando and across the country gathered every December to experience his musical arrangement of the Living Nativity.

That work evolved into the Candlelight Processional at EPCOT, which Derric arranged and helped shape, and which still fills the park with Christmas music every year.

His Living Nativity is where this project began, and his new arrangement is the heart of the show we are bringing to the stage.

Questions

Everything people ask.

What am I contributing to?

One Night in Bethlehem is a musical meditation on the nativity, and a new, original work by Derric Johnson. It is being made in three phases: a private viewing this December, a live production in Orlando from Christmas 2027, and an immersive experience captured from the live show that can be shared anywhere in the world. $1 million in total. Every phase funds the next thing that gets built.

When do I get something?

The Private Viewing Event is in December 2026, with seats for sponsors and supporters at the $1,000 level and above. At the $100 level and above you receive the XR teaser of the immersive experience in December. The digital soundtrack at the $50 level comes out of the design phase, before the Private Viewing.

What do I need to watch it?

Nothing special. It works on a phone, a tablet or a computer. If you have a VR headset it's extraordinary. If you don't, you're not missing the story.

Can I come to the live show?

Seats for the 2027 live performances open once phase two is secured, and we'll write to everyone on the list when they do. Song and scene sponsors have seats included.

Is this a religious production?

It's the Nativity, told as the story it is. There's no sermon and nobody is asking you to believe anything. It's a musical meditation on the birth of Christ, made as beautifully as we know how.

Is my contribution tax-deductible?

No. This is a commercial production.

What happens if you don't reach the goal?

The work is moving forward either way. What the funding determines is how far we get and how fast, which is exactly what the phases above show you.

Can I give in someone's memory?

Yes, at any level. Song and scene naming exists for exactly this.

Who do I talk to?

info@ruscellaimmersive.com. A real person answers.