Singing and Dancing Give Life to Nemo

A cast of 14 youthful thespians lit up the stage with enthusiastic performances in the Arts Center Theatre’s production of “Finding Nemo KIDS.”

Their joy was shared by the large audience of family, friends and theater lovers who attended the play. Held recently at the ACT, the show was the culmination of Marco Island Center of the Arts 2024 children’s summer program theatre intensive class. 

“Finding Nemo KIDS” is a 30-minute-long, musical adaptation of “Finding Nemo,” Pixar’s 2003 Academy Award winning animated movie. The plot centers on the overly protective Marlin, who is concerned about his son Nemo, and his longing to experience life beyond their Great Barrier Reef home. When Nemo is captured by a diver, Marlin sets off to rescue him. Along the way, he’s joined by a series of lovable characters, such as Dory the blue tang fish, Bloat the Puffer Fish, the laid-back sea turtle Crush, and the supportive Tank Gang.

The entire production from receiving scripts, building sets, and learning dialog, songs, and choreography, was accomplished by youths seven to 14 in just two weeks under the direction of Chris Dayett, who leads Marco Island Academy’s theater program. 

“Putting a 30-minute musical together in 10 days is very ambitious, especially when working with kids who are new to theatre,” said Dayett, who also handled set and puppet design. “But magic often happens on the last day and the show comes together. They see what they’ve been working towards, and the stress goes away and the drive to bring out their best kicks into action.”

That abbreviated process was in no way apparent from the moment the play began. The sets were well done, cleverly creating an underwater feel. Puppetry also played a role, with oven mitts converted into sharks and orange umbrellas draped with streamers portraying jellyfish. 

“I just thought that was so creative,” said Michele Kelly about the sharks and jellyfish after the show concluded. She was there to watch her grandson Marcus Fowler, who brought visceral energy to portraying cautious and worried Marlin. “The play was just wonderful. The kids were so engaged with the whole thing, and they were all on the mark.”

“This is his second production with Chris Dayett, she said about Marcus. “Chris has done wonders with him. He enjoys it so much. But you could tell that right there on the stage.”

Braeden Rianna, 14, portrayed two characters, Crush and Bruce. He raved about the entire experience of bringing “Finding Nemo KIDS to the stage. 

“It was just great, he said. “You get to meet a bunch of kids, and if you want to go into acting it just really helps jumpstart your career and everything. And in just two short weeks, we put on a great play.” 

Dayett has headed the Center for the Arts’s performing arts summer programs since 2021. 

“It’s really exciting to see our performing arts programs at the Center for the Arts grow each year.,” he said. “Each year, we offer an assortment of summer classes for all ages. This year, we offered a puppet-making class, a digital storytelling class, and of course the two-week theatre-intensive class that culminated in “Finding Nemo KIDS.”