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BY KLINT LOWRY

THE SUNCOAST NEWS

Published: December 9, 2009

Christmas is being celebrated in a big way this year at First Baptist Church of New Port Richey, with a holiday musical event that will literally reach new heights as local pageants go.

The church, at 6800 Trouble Creek Road, will present a pair of free concerts called "The Singing Christmas Tree" at 7 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 12 and 6 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 13.

The moment audience members enter the worship center, they will understand how the concerts get their name as they see the giant metalwork scaffolding "Christmas tree" big enough to hold a 100-member chorus.

"We're shoulder to shoulder, and there isn't much room," said Madelyn McKinnon as she showed the narrow, curved built-in risers where the singers will stand.

This year is the church's debut of their giant singing Christmas tree.

"There's a man in Clearwater who put this together, his name is Earl Bailey," McKinnon said. He built it for Calvary Baptist Church in Clearwater, where it was the main attraction at their holiday musical for years.

"They decided they were ready to make a change," added Madelyn's husband, the Rev. Kurt McKinnon. The church in Clearwater was aware First Baptist of New Port Richey had just moved into a facility large enough to accommodate the big tree, so they offered it to them.

Kurt McKinnon is minister of music and media for First Baptist, and is familiar with singing trees. For years, he staged an annual singing tree show at his church in Augusta, Ga.

"It's quite a lot of work just to put the show together musically," he said. Placing the singers on a 10-level Christmas tree adds a whole different dimension to the challenge. They have to be positioned not just by voice, but by height.

At ground level, older members of the choir will sit at the foot of the tree. The rest of the choir will stand at 10 levels inside the tree, with greenery in front of them so that they will only be seen from the neck or upper chest up. From the audience, the effect is that of 100 singing Christmas ornaments.

As the tree was built, each level could be adjusted, but everyone on that level must be about the same height. For rehearsals, he's been using the theater seats to get everyone into position, placing the singers' names on seats in 10 rows.

"These people are about 5-foot-9 to 6 foot," McKinnon said, referring to one of the rows, "These are about 5-foot-1, 5-foot-2," referring to another.

While placing everyone by height horizontally, they were also placed by voice vertically, so that sopranos, tenors, altos and basses formed columns from top to bottom.

Amber Dillman, a church member, will have the honor of standing alone at the top level. When she takes her place at the top of the tree, her vantage point will be about 30 feet above the stage floor.

Amber is young enough, limber enough and willing to take the lofty perch, McKinnon said, which were the main criteria how she got the honor.

Along with the tree and its inhabitants, the production will include a 30-piece orchestra and a cast of about 30 stage performers. The church's 50-member children's choir will sing "Wishing on Stars" while a dozen preschoolers dressed in gold star costumes parade up and down the aisles. The program, which will be about 75 minutes long, will open with a Christmas carol sing-along. The singing tree portion will start with a medley of 1950s tunes and then include a variety of secular and spiritual Christmas selections.

"The climax of the presentation is a song called 'Heartbeat,' which takes you from the manger to the cross and features a dramatic video presentation as the choir sings," McKinnon said.

Admission is free on both nights, on a first-come, first-seated basis in the 1,000-seat worship center. For more information, call 727-849-4210 or visit www.fbcnpr.com>.

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