Musician, Actor, Humorist, Artist. This is Christopher MacDonald.
I found him in the chorus room singing the 1985 A-ha classic, “Take On Me” with fellow Senior Scott Kamp. Their voices created a Bass-Tenor trail mix of sorts that no boring Potato Chip Bag could disguise. MacDonald listed his largest musical influences as folk icons such as Bob Dylan, Neil Young, a sprinkle of Ed Sheeran and most recently Dave Van Ronk (The inspiration to the Coen Brother’s “Inside Llewyn Davis”). MacDonald is also enrolled in Scituate High School’s Select Choir, he has recently started taking up the guitar, but looking to the future he only sees music as a hobby.
I found him at the end of drama rehearsal. He had just finished up working on “The Raft of Medusa” which Scituate Drama will be representing with at the METG Drama Festival in late February. The show tells the story of 13 children stranded in the ocean after their ship was shot down in World War II. The cast will be led by MacDonald and Aisling Sheahan ‘15 playing the roles of Allan and Ann. MacDonald has been acting since middle school, performing in all genres of theatre. Earlier this year Chris was cast as the main antagonist, Caldwell B. Cladwell in Greg Kotis’ hit musical “Urinetown.” When I caught him after rehearsal he told me his favorite part of acting is, “Seeing it all put together in the end and knowing that people are coming to see something that I’m apart of and entertaining them.” And very rarely does an audience leave his company without feeling entertained.
I found him on Twitter expressing his thoughts. In most cases people might not consider humor an art form but in Chris MacDonald’s case he is admired by friends and peers for his quick wit and improvisation inside and out of class. Some psychologists might tell him he is in touch with his fluid intelligence; meaning that he is quick on his feet when it comes to wit. His Twitter and Facebook accounts are filled with short comments, each with their own comedic twist to them. He is always full of interesting ideas, some of which I won’t risk putting into this profile because they are too brilliant to openly talk about without first applying for a copyright.
I found him on Facebook sharing his latest art work. Chris shows excellence in most style of fine art, but considers animation to be his favorite style because it “ties in with all of those [Music, acting, humor, and illustration].” He’s received numerous Scholastic Art Awards for his illustrations including most recently an honorable mention for his animation. He cites Charles Schulz (The Peanuts), Bill Peet (The Wump World), and Bill Watterson (Calvin and Hobbes) as his biggest influences. Yet he is not so attached to his influences that his art is just an imitation. In fact it’s all quite the contrary, he has found his own angles and from them developed a very unique style of cartooning and creating characters.
I found him one year into the future. He has graduated. And has moved onto college, he’s majoring in art and animation and is using his excellence in art to excel in his classes.