Each year, more than 100 Des Moines children get together to try to become the worst kid in history – a Herdman.

For 15 years, the Des Moines Playhouse has continued the holiday tradition of the production of “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever,” a play based on the classic Christmas novel by Barbara Robinson.

The cast, consisting mainly of children, has been practicing at least five nights a week since the beginning of November.

“They showed up at an audition back in mid-October. You can cast as few as 20, but it’s better to cast a little larger so more kids get an opportunity,” says director Ron Ziegler of the cast of 45 children and 10 adults.

“We had, I think, 172 kids audition and 15 or so adults and we shook it down from there. There are eight kids with principle speaking roles and another six or seven other speaking parts; the rest are extras that are in the Christmas pageant itself and a couple other scenes.”

The kids gain acting experience and have a lot of fun with the opportunity, he says. Ziegler says working with a large number of children can be quite a task, but it is also rewarding.

“The young people tend to be more adept at learning lines than adults are because they’re not afraid of it and their minds are open,” he says.

“They don’t have all that clutter that we adults have. Learning lines is really the least of the problems. The difficulty is directing large groups of children. The secret is you don’t talk down to them, you approach them on a level that they can understand without it being too preachy or talking down to them like they don’t get it, because they do.”

Getting to that final product is one thing that really interests Ziegler and was part of the reason he became interested in directing theater.

“I love the process. I like seeing where it begins and where you come to at the end,” he says. “It’s interesting to me to see how I can work with the actors to take the authors work from written work into action. I just think the process is fascinating.”

This process is familiar to some of the cast members, who have taken part in the traditional production in years past.

Beyond just individual cast members, it has also become a tradition in some families, Ziegler says.

“Some kids grow up in it; they start out as baby angels and work their way up to being Herdsmen. Not all of them do, but there’s always a handful,” he says.

“With some families, it becomes a tradition. I’ve got every member of one family in this show – a guy that’s working backstage and playing a fireman and his wife is playing Mrs. McCarthy and their son has a speaking role and their daughter is a baby angel. It gives them a family thing to do during the holidays.

“I think it makes a difference for them as to how they perceive the holidays.”