Celebrating our 30th Anniversary!
The 2000 Christmas Revels Sanders Theatre, Harvard University
Revels celebrated the solstice "American-style" with a special 30th Anniversary production of THE CHRISTMAS REVELS at Sanders Theatre, Harvard University, Cambridge, December 15-17, 20-23 & 26-30The Christmas Revels celebrated its 30th Anniversary by quilting a tapestry of rich American folk traditions ranging from Appalachian to Gospel, and expanding to 18 performances at historic Sanders Theater this December.
For thirty years, Revels has been celebrating the winter solstice at historic Sanders Theatre. Revels audiences have traveled to many unfamiliar lands and times through music, dance and drama. This year's production finds Revels back home - in the mountains of Appalachia - as we celebrated the courage of the African Americans who traveled the "Gospel Train," and rejoice in the simplicity and warmth of an Appalachian Christmas.
Join us on our big front porch and enjoy the moving harmonies of The Silver Leaf Gospel Singers, a 7-voice a capella gospel choir that's been together for more than fifty years (and who've vowed to keep singing together "until the angels get happy"). And while you're there, stay a while and listen to the quiet beauty of a Tennessee lullaby sung by 7th generation Appalachian singer and storyteller, Sheila Kay Adams, another of our many featured performers. Also appearing was a wonderful string band, the 40-member Revels Chorus, The Rocky River Children, The Smoky Mountain Dancers, The Cambridge Symphonic Brass Ensemble, and frequent Revels performers Janice Allen and David Coffin. Join us this year, and dance through the grand lobby of Memorial Hall as David leads the audience in Revels' signiture piece, "Lord of the Dance," a true ritual of our own.
Roger Ide Photos Staged by Revels artistic director Patrick Swanson with music direction by George Emlen, the 30th Anniversary production of The Christmas Revels is filled with rousing Gospel music and soulful Spirituals, Appalachian fiddling and clogging, Shape-Note hymns and Shaker tunes, a breathtaking sword dance and a Mountain Mummers' Play. And, as in every Revels production, audience participation will be greatly encouraged!
For more information on The Christmas Revels or to receive a free catalogue of Revels recordings and songbooks, please call 617-972-8300 or e-mail us at products@revels.org. 
Founded in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1971 by musician John Langstaff and his daughter Carol, The Revels has grown into a national non-profit arts organization, offering a wide Variety of recorded music and theatrical seasonal celebrations using traditional folk materials from around the world. In December 2000, The Christmas Revels: In Celebration of the Winter Solstice will be presented in eleven cities across the country: Cambridge, Massachusets; Chicago, Illinois; Hanover, New Hampshire; New York City; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Washington, DC; Houston, Texas; Tacoma, Washington; Portland, Oregon; Oakland, California; and St. Paul, Minnesota.
Christmas Revels is supported, in part, by a generous grant from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.Revels would also like to thank the following businesses for their support of the 2000 Christmas Revels:
- The Inn at Harvard;
- Blue Hills Spring Water Company;
- Toscanini's;
- Underground Railway Theater.
You can look at pictures of:
The 2005 Christmas Revels
The 2000 Christmas Revels
The 1999 Christmas Revels
The 1998 Christmas Revels
The 1997 Christmas Revels
The 1996 Christmas Revels
The 25th Anniversary 1995 Christmas RevelsBack Sheldon Brown's Unofficial Revels Index Page
christmas00 Since May 21
Web site by Backstage Revels volunteer Sheldon Brown
Updated Tuesday, January 23, 2001
url https://www.sheldonbrown.com/org/revels/christmas00.html
