A California Suite Christmas 2003
Scenario conceived and written by Craig Tavani
MARCUS
STEPHEN
SONIA
DANIEL
MATTHEW
As the Tavani families celebrate Christmas together this year,
all the Tavani kids prepare to present the whole story of Christmas.
Each child is to have some role.
NICHOLAS
approaches Vincent with the idea;
VINCENT
immediately consents and
volunteers Michael as well,
making several suggestions.
When told that he is going to participate,
MICHAEL
is very reluctant at first and
gives several excuses
why he cannot to do so.
VINCENT
insists, and
NICHOLAS
hands Michael a KJV Bible and
tells him to
take the part of Zechariah.
VINCENT
claims the part of Gabriel
and
the three
begin to set up a make-shift stage.
MATTHEW
comes in banging a drum and says,
“I want to be the little drummer boy.”
NICHOLAS
decides against telling him that
there is no drummer boy in the Bible;
instead, he tells him to
go outside and practice.
MARCUS and STEPHEN
offer to help move furniture but
end up undoing the efforts
of the other three.
For example,
the two bring back a large piece
that had just been removed.
This happens a couple of times before
NICHOLAS
finally discovers what they are doing.
As he patiently
explains what needs to be done,
VINCENT and MICHAEL
bring in something bizarre;
“It would be interesting
to include this.”
MARCUS and STEPHEN
agree that it would be interesting,
making several suggestions
what could be done with it.
NICHOLAS
interrupts to point out,
“You two have no idea
what we were thinking of doing.”
As he begins to explain his idea,
SONIA
runs in with
DANIEL
chasing her.
Both then hide
when they see
COCO and SIERRA
run in looking for them.
NICHOLAS
finishes his explanation and
tells Marcus and Stephen,
“Now, once more, please,
remove the large whatchamacallit.”
SONIA and DANIEL
have been crouching behind there.
COCO and SIERRA
squeal in delight when they
discover the two hiding there;
the four then proceed
to chase each other around the room.
NICHOLAS
yells,
“Everyone, calm down!”
He then tries again to explain
what they are attempting to do.
SONIA
immediately claims the part of Mary
while
COCO
insists on being one of the fairies.
SIERRA
explains,
“There are no fairies
in the Christmas story.”
but
COCO
doesn’t stay to hear her explanation.
SIERRA
runs out after her, and
SONIA,
shrugging to the boys,
follows her.
DANIEL
asks Nicholas,
“What roles are left?”
NICHOLAS
tells him
“You can be one of the shepherds.”
DANIEL
agrees only after asking Nicholas,
“Do you promise to
let me wear a beard”
NICHOLAS
says,
“You’ll have to find one.”
DANIEL
leaves to practice his part.
MATTHEW
comes walking through
playing his drum.
VINCENT and MICHAEL,
who have been privately
conferring with one another,
tell Nicholas they want
to try to improvise the scene
when Gabriel appears to Zachariah.
NICHOLAS
begins reading the passage
from Luke in the KJV
while
VINCENT and MICHAEL
mime the action,
using a candle and matches to represent burning incense.
MICHAEL
keeps on breaking matches
as he tries to light the candle,
which requires
NICHOLAS
to repeat the part where
Gabriel is about to speak.
VINCENT
finally takes out a butane lighter
to light the candle himself,
doing so behind Michael’s back.
This surprises
MICHAEL,
turning around to find the candle lit,
and
VINCENT
seizes the opportunity
to speak the words of Gabriel.
MICHAEL
falls down as though in fear,
knocking over things while doing so.
They continue to play out the scene
until
NICHOLAS
ends it by reading about
Zechariah leaving to return to his wife.
SONIA
returns and
starts introducing herself as
“Version Mary.”
NICHOLAS
corrects her, telling her,
“The word is ‘virgin.’ ”
SONIA
then asks,
“Was Mary’s father was a king?”
Puzzled,
NICHOLAS
shakes his head no, asking,
“Why would you think such a thing?”
SONIA
replies,
“You said
we were using the King James virgin!”
VINCENT,
taking a drink of water,
overhears this
and
spits out the water,
while
MICHAEL
rolls on the ground
laughing.
NICHOLAS
shakes his head and
decides to begin reading again,
this time from the passage in which
Gabriel appears to Mary.
VINCENT
taps Sonia on the shoulder,
saying,
“Hail, Mary!”
SONIA,
startled,
jumps and asks,
“What kind of greeting is that?”
Just then,
COCO
runs in,
wearing fairy wings,
shouting,
“Fear not, fear not!”
VINCENT
tells her,
“Don’t be a fairy, Coco!”
NICHOLAS
corrects him,
“Gabriel doesn’t say that! The line is,
“Do not be afraid, Mary.’ ”
SIERRA
rushes in
looking for Coco;
seeing her in fairy wings,
she declares,
“I want to be a fairy, too!”
Picking up a pencil and
tapping Sonia on the head,
SIERRA
says
“You are going to have a baby because
you found the right flavor with God.”
COCO
asks her
“Which flavor did Sonia find?”
“Can I have some ice cream, too?”
SONIA
asks Vincent,
“How can I have a baby
by eating ice cream?”
It is time now for
MICHAEL
to spit out water
he’s been drinking while
NICHOLAS
just shakes his head.
VINCENT
takes the Bible and reads how
the Holy Spirit will come over Mary.
When he gets to the part about Elizabeth,
SIERRA
jumps up and says,
“I want to play that part!”
SONIA and Sierra
begin acting out
Mary’s visit to Elizabeth
as
VINCENT
reads the passage.
Then,
SONIA
asks if she and the girls
can read Mary’s song.
Assenting,
NICHOLAS and MICHAEL
pick up their instruments and
begin to play.
Sharing lines,
SONIA, COCO and SIERRA
improvise a dance as they speak.
When they are finished,
the three girls run off
laughing together.
NICHOLAS
then suggests that
VINCENT and MICHAEL
improvise the scene
in which John is named.
As the reading begins,
SIERRA
comes in, carrying
.
Followed by the rest of the Tavani children,
SIERRA
sits and says,
“No, we are not going
to name him after Zechariah.
He is to be called John.”
NICHOLAS
reads,
“There is no one among your relatives
who has that name.”
VINCENT
suggests,
“Let’s ask the father!”
Picking up a pad and pencil,
he brings them over to
MICHAEL,
who, fumbling with everything,
plays out Zechariah.
Everyone silently watches.
MICHAEL
writes the name Zechariah prefers.
Just as he writes the name, he says,
“John.”
Everyone
turns in astonishment to
look at him and
freezes.
After a beat,
MICHAEL
shouts,
“Praise God!”
Then
NICHOLAS
reads,
“Everyone who heard this
wondered about it, asking,
‘What then is this child going to be?’
For the Lord’s hand was with him.”
MICHAEL
quotes,
“His father was filled
with the Holy Spirit and prophesied.”
He then takes his instrument and
plays an improvised accompaniment
to the children’s
choral reading of Zechariah’s song.
At the line “horn of his salvation,”
SONIA
blows three notes on the French horn.
MARCUS and STEPHEN
answer with three trumpet notes.
NICHOLAS
joins Michael to
improvise the last part of the song.
Pausing after the reading is finished,
all say,
“And the child grew
and became strong in spirit.”
DANIEL,
now wearing a very fluffy beard,
takes the Bible from Nicholas and
begins to read
from the second chapter of Luke.
The other children
set up a manger scene,
as
SONIA
takes
from Sierra.
SONIA
lays him in a stroller
surrounded by stuffed animals.
MATTHEW
comes in
banging his drum.
NICHOLAS
tells him,
“Wait for your cue.”
MATTHEW
stops banging.
NICHOLAS
then takes the Bible from
DANIEL,
who picks up a broom handle and
goes out the door as
NICHOLAS
reads,
“And there were shepherds
living out in the fields nearby.”
NICHOLAS
calls him back in and
asks him
“Where are you going?”
DANIEL answers,
“Out in the fields nearby.”
Everybody groans
and
DANIEL
returns
with
MARCUS and STEPHEN
who are also
wearing beards and
carrying long handles of some sort.
NICHOLAS
continues the reading
as
VINCENT
prepares to
play the part of Gabriel again.
Suddenly
COCO
comes rushing through, this time with
SIERRA,
shouting,
“Fear not, fear not!”
MATTHEW
begins beating his drum again and
chases them out.
After
they run out,
VINCENT,
just shaking his head,
then reads Gabriel’s announcement
to the shepherds.
At this,
SIERRA , COCO and MATTHEW
come back
chanting,
“Gloria, Gloria!”
The others join in the chant,
which then becomes the chorus,
“Gloria in exelsias deo!”
NICHOLAS
continues the reading
and
DANIEL
goes with
MARCUS and STEPHEN
to look at
.
At the end of the reading,
they leave saying,
“Glory!”
“Praise God!”
“Hallelujah!”
As an interlude,
MATTHEW
sings
“Happy Birthday To You”
twice, the second time
the other children accompany him.
MARCUS
immediately follows the last note
with the solo
“Once in Royal David’s City,”
then
the children
join him with
VINCENT
leading.
The children
sing
“Do you Hear What I Hear,”
accompanied by
STEPHEN and DANIEL
on violin and cello.
When
all the children
sing
“Little Drummer Boy,”
MATTHEW
finally gets to play the drum,
SONIA
accompanying on piano.
VINCENT
sings the verses of
“The First Noel”
as a solo
with
everyone joining in on the refrain,
MARCUS
finally singing descant.
The interlude ends with
MARCUS, STEPHEN and DANIEL
wearing their beards again
as
everyone sings
“We Three Kings.”
NICHOLAS
then reads
the passage telling of
Jesus being presented in the Temple.
STEPHEN
returns and
reads the part of Simeon.
COCO and SIERRA
then take turns reading
about Anna the prophetess.
They then give the Bible back to
NICHOLAS,
who finishes the reading,
“When they had done everything
required by the Law of the Lord,
they returned home.
And the child grew and became strong;
he was filled with wisdom,
and the grace of God was upon him.”
Each child
in turn,
beginning with Nicholas,
steps out and repeats,
“the child grew and became strong.”
Finally, when it comes to
,
all repeat together,
“The child grew and became strong;
he was filled with wisdom,
and the grace of God was upon him.”
After pausing,
each child finds an instrument to play as
VINCENT
begins to sing,
“Oh, Come, All Ye Faithful.”
Everyone, including adults,
joins him
to sing or play all five verses.
The presentation ends with
the children saying a prayer
for each Tavani family,
then gathering around
to lay hands
on Grandmom and Grandpop
for
NICHOLAS
to pray a special blessing for them.
VINCENT
sings
“O Holy Night” solo,
then
SIERRA and COCO
sing a capella one verse of
“Silent Night”
then
SONIA, VINCENT and MARCUS
sing the verse in German,
accompanied by
NICHOLAS, MICHAEL, STEPHEN, DANIEL, & MATTHEW
on their instruments,
after which
everyone
joins in.
The last song is
“Joy to the World”
with voices
and instruments
and dance.
