O Christmas Trees is a never-seen-before, original one act show, created by Marco Island Academy’s very own Performing arts teacher: Christopher Dayett. This humble show is centered around four main Christmas Trees: Doug, Fraser, Colorado, and Ginny.
Though short, this show has an interesting plot. On the morning of the first day of season, these four christmas trees wake up on the tree lot and prepare for the big day. Excitement, misunderstanding, and laughter fill the space as the characters unravel their differences, discovering that they all have one purpose in common that acts as the glue that holds them together – the joy that they will bring to families.
Even with only four cast members, the students involved in this production were a surprising number of 10, the crew making up the efficiency and a fast-moving pace of everything happening backstage as well as setting up. Our MIA Thespians competed with their one act at Nova Southeastern University the day after their preview of the show at the school, earning several awards.
The four cast members: Madisyn Steiner, Samuel Zocco, Joaquin Perez, and Lukas Beal, put hard work and dedication into this show with every rehearsal, breathing life into what once was just a 30-minute script. Each of their interpretations of their unique character made for a fun and quirky performance. Zocco expressed that “It was really cool to get to originate a new role with my friends.”
Marco Island Academy hasn’t seen a production in the fall for a long time. Deviating from the annual spring musicals, this play was designed to make a good impression on audience members to benefit the Thespian club early into the year. In the past, this club had murmured ideas of a fall show but a lack of rehearsing space made it difficult. This year, Mr. Dayett worked it out with the athletics to make a space to perfect the show.
Costume designer Dakota Tenney expressed that the show took a lot of planning on her part to make the magic happen. Sketching out the costumes in advance and holding weekly fittings, the costumes were fine-tuned to each individual actor. She’s had fun every second in this hidden role, saying that “It was definitely a new experience that I would love to do again for our next musical!”
Now, with the bittersweet ending of the show, the community is looking forward to the next performance. With preparations underway for the spring, our island is going to see a full-scale musical very soon.
