The Christmas Revels

A CELEBRATION of the WINTER SOLSTICE
with TRADITIONAL and RITUAL
DANCES,
CAROLS, PROCESSIONALS and DRAMA

conceived and directed bymusic director

Patrick Swanson

George Emlen

The 29th Annual "CHRISTMAS REVELS" RETURNS TO SANDERS THEATRE, CAMBRIDGE FOR 16 PERFORMANCES OF AN ITALIAN RENAISSANCE SOLSTICE CELEBRATION DECEMBER 10-12; 16-19; 22-23; 26

The 1999 Christmas Revels: In Celebration of the Winter Solstice begins a 3 week/16-performance run at Harvard University's Sanders Theatre on Friday, December 10th

with performances through the day after Christmas. Revels has produced annual winter solstice celebrations in Cambridge since 1971, taking audiences from the courts of Medieval Europe to the hills of Appalachia, from Victorian parlours to the plains of India, and from the icy tundra of the Northlands to the sun-drenched villages of Meso-america. This year, once again, Christmas Revels audiences will be transported across both time and continents...

This year's Christmas Revels is set in the Italian Renaissance,

an age when Science, Art and Music experienced a magnificent rebirth. This astounding burst of creative energy led to a tremendous flowering of the arts (including painting, architecture, music, sculpture and dance) and prolific invention in the world of science.

With a company of more than 80 actors, singers, dancers and musicians,

including brass, wind and string bands, The Christmas Revels is a large-scale, lavishly costumed production replete with Italian folk tales, a visit from Leonardo da Vinci, and a delightful feast of Renaissance music and dance (not to mention a total eclipse of the Sun!). Revels favorite David Coffin leads an extraordinary company of singers and musicians including the Renaissance dance band Renaissonics, led by John Tyson on recorder, pipes and fiddle, and the a cappella early music trio, Tapestry, with mezzo-soprano Laurie Monahan, alto Daniela Tosic and Cristi Catt, soprano. Additional performers include The Cambridge Symphonic Brass Ensemble; a zany company of Commedia dell' Arte actors directed by Ron Jenkins, a frequent collaborator with Italian clown and Nobel Prize winning playwright Dario Fo; and the 40-member Revels Chorus of adults and children. And, as in all Revels productions, the audience gets into the act, singing carols, and dancing with the cast through the theater and into the grand lobby of Memorial Hall during Christmas Revels' stirring signature piece, "Lord of the Dance." Production Staff includes Patrick Swanson, Stage Director; George Emlen, Music Director; H. Peet Foster, Set Design; David Rosenburg, Lighting Design; Heidi Hermiller, Costume Design; and Virginia Morton, Production Manager.
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New! Preview of the 1999 Christmas Revels Program Book--Click Here!

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Christmas Revels Performance Dates and Times are as follows:

Friday, December 10th 8pm
Saturday, December 11th 3pm & 8pm
Sunday, December 12th 1pm & 5pm
Thursday, December 16th 7:30pm
Friday, December 17th 8pm
Saturday, December 18th 3pm & 8pm
Sunday, December 19th 1pm* & 5pm
Wednesday, December 22nd 7:30pm
Thursday, December 23rd 3pm & 7:30pm
Sunday, December 26th 1pm & 5pm
* 1pm performance is ASL Interpreted

Tickets are $36, $26 and $18 for adults.

Tickets are $30, $20 and $12 for children under 12.

Christmas Revels tickets go on sale to the general public October 20th.

To purchase tickets (beginning October 20th):

  • By phone: Call the Sanders Theatre Box Office at 617-496-2222 from 12noon Ð 6pm daily or call TicketMaster at 617-931-2000 from 9am Ð 9pm daily.

  • Group Sales orders of 20 + tickets are handled through the Revels office at 617-972-8300 x22.

  • In Person: Tickets can be purchased at the new Sanders Theatre Box Office located in the Holyoke Center Arcade at 1350 Mass Avenue in Harvard Square and at all TicketMaster and Bostix locations.

Sanders Theatre is located on the corner of Quincy and Kirkland Streets, a five minute walk from the Harvard Square T stop on the Red Line.

Sanders Theatre45 Quincy St
Cambridge, MA 02138-3003
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New Release!
New release from Revels Records!
divider 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.

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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 1999, The Christmas Revels: In Celebration of the Winter Solstice will be presented in ten cities across the country: Cambridge, Massachusets; Hanover, New Hampshire; New York City; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Washington, DC; Houston, Texas; Tacoma, Washington; Portland, Oregon; Oakland, California; and St. Paul, Minnesota.

The Boston Globe
The Christmas Revels is made possible in part from funding from the
Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.

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You can look at pictures of:

The 1998 Christmas Revels
The 1997 Christmas Revels
The 1996 Christmas Revels
The 25th Anniversary 1995 Christmas Revels

Back to the Revels, Inc. Home Page

Official Revels, Inc. Site
The 2005 Christmas Revels
The 2000 Christmas Revels 2001 Spring Revels
The 1999 Christmas Revels 2000 Spring Revels
The 1998 Christmas Revels 1999 Sea Revels
The 1997 Christmas Revels 1998 Sea Revels
The 1996 Christmas Revels 1997 Midsummer Revels
The 1995 Christmas Revels 1996 Midsummer Revels

christmas99 Since June 22, 1999

Web site by Backstage Revels volunteer Sheldon Brown


url https://www.sheldonbrown.com/org/revels/christmas98.html