Twenty-three years ago, Michael McLean didn’t have the money to buy his wife a Christmas gift, so he wrote a story for her.

On Friday night, the story McLean penned for his wife and three years later turned into a musical production, “The Forgotten Carols,” will come to life for the first time in the Southeast, at the Vicksburg Auditorium.

The story, directed and performed by actors from Los Angeles, is a Christmas story told through the eyes of Bible characters who have “sort of” been forgotten, said McLean.

One is the innkeeper, who turned away Joseph and Mary; another is the shepherd who fell asleep in the field and missed the angels singing. The characters tell and portray their stories of how Christ came into their lives.

McLean is a Utah native, composer, singer, author and filmmaker who has composed more than 20 albums of original music and has produced “The Forgotten Carols” for 20 years.

The Vicksburg show is being produced by McLean’s close friend Michael Young, an Emmy Award-winning TV producer.