One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, and then again, repeat.

The counting marked the musical beats of “C’est Noel,” and the children scurried to line up, almost according to plan.

With a few rough edges to smooth and only a few days to smooth them, the kids in the Jingle Jazz and Tinsel Tap workshop at the Whidbey Playhouse worked hard to get their steps and placement in line and on beat. The hope is that they have everything in order for the Christmas production on Dec. 20 and 21, where they will debut their song and dance choreography.

The jazz and tap workshop product is just one of four that will be shown in the Playhouse’s Christmas production. The other workshops showing in the production are “Songs of the Season,” “Yule Love Acting,” and “The Playhouse Christmas Chorus.”

The workshops meet five or six times each before the production.

Rebekka Handschke, youth theater development director for the Whidbey Playhouse, said each workshop gets about seven hours of rehearsal time.

“And what they end up with is incredible,” she said.

She said this is the first year the Playhouse has tried to do anything like this, and the participation exceeded everything they expected.

Many of the children who signed up for the workshops are first time participants with the Playhouse, and then of course, a few of the kids are returners who just can’t stay away from the stage.

“All the kids in the production are just incredible. They work so hard on this,” Handschke said.

Mark Coutee, 11, said he likes the jazz workshop, but not as much as football. With that said, he noted he does hope to do it again if possible. He said he is nervous for the production and would like it if NFL’s Michael Vick, of the Atlanta Falcons, could attend the show.

Heidi Schoonover, 13, said she enjoys the workshops because she thinks they are a great way to stay in shape. Between the Playhouse jazz workshop and cheerleading for Oak Harbor Youth Soccer and classes at Oak Harbor Middle school, Schoonover keeps herself busy. She said she hopes her family comes to watch the production on Monday or Tuesday.

Kathryn Young, the dance instructor and choreographer for the Playhouse, said the workshop was fun and challenging. A lot of work went into a small amount of time.

“They all try real hard,” she said.

She said the music is festive, and the kids like to move. It is just getting them to move with the music that is often the challenge, or getting them to concentrate on timing and location. But she hopes that is all behind them on Monday, for the first of the two productions.

Three of the workshop productions feature children-staffed performances, but the “Playhouse Christmas Chorus” consists of mostly adults. Overall, though, the production is the fruit of many children’s labors, and the time and effort of the workshop teachers and choreographers.

“I hope all the kids just have a good time,” Handschke said. “I hope the audience just appreciates the work that these kids have done.”