THE CHRISTM An
A S R E V E LS 速
Elizabethan Celebration of the Winter Solstice filled with dance, music and merriment
DEC 15-18 | 2011 A production of Revels North Presented by the Hopkins Center for the Arts
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the christmas
revels An Elizabethan Celebration of the Winter Solstice A production of Revels North Maureen Burford, Artistic Director Sherry Merrick, Producer Effie Cummings, Assistant Director for Stage & Production Rebecca Bailey, Children’s Chorus Director Karen Hansen, Director of Punk’s Delight Will Thomas Rowan, Lynn Mahoney Rowan, & Kevin Quigley, Choral Assistants with Ruth Mayer Danielle Cohen Lloyd Gabourel Punk’s Delight The Chessington Children The Chessington Hall Singers Heritage Brass
December 15 - 18, 2011 Spaulding Auditorium Hopkins Center Please note:
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Introduction Welcome all to the 37th Christmas Revels in Hanover. This year we ask you to accompany us across the Atlantic, to a manor house and village outside of London sometime around 1592. The Squire and Lady of the house are hosting the local villagers and nobles for a holiday feast and day of merriment when they are surprised by an unexpected visitor. Queen Elizabeth I was and remains a celebrity, considered by many to be the greatest monarch England has ever known. She was dubbed fondly “Queen Bess” or “Gloriana” by her subjects. She never took a husband, thus earning her other title: The Virgin Queen (“I would rather be a beggar and single than a queen and married.”)1 By 1592, she had ruled for some thirtythree years, during which time she had built a navy, survived several attempts on her life, helped to create a relative peace between the Protestants and the Catholics, and soundly defeated the powerful Spanish navy in their attempted invasion of England. In 1592, a terrible outbreak of the plague occurred in London, which took the lives of more than ten thousand citizens of the city over the course of that year. The gravitas lent her by such responsibilities must have been palpable to anyone in her company. The arts served as a balancing force in Elizabeth’s life. She was wellstudied in the classics, wrote her own poetry, danced, and loved the theater; she was a patron of Master Shakespeare himself. In our story, Elizabeth progresses from the center of London to a residence outside the busy city limits to celebrate the Solstice away from the troubles of London Court. Her carriage hits a bump in the muddy road, waylaying her party in the Village of Chessington. A parallel journey might be to imagine a President of the United States, back some hundred years or more, stranded en route to Hanover in the small town of Orford, New Hampshire—where a country dance and feast are planned, with entertainments provided by the local merchants and farmers. Elizabeth’s deep regard and love for her subjects was legendary; for this love she made many personal sacrifices in order to bring England from financial ruin to a country far more capable of supporting the welfare and needs of its inhabitants. Her words to her last Parliament in 1601, about a year and a half before she died, reflect this extraordinary commitment and clarity of purpose: I do not so much rejoyce that God hath made Me to be a Queene, as to be a Queene over so thankfull a People . . . Of My self I must say this, I never was any greedy scraping grasper, nor a strict fast holding Prince, nor yet a waster. My heart was never set upon any worldly goods, but only for my Subjects good. What you do bestow on Me, I will not hoard up, but receive it to bestow on you again; yea Mine own Properties I account yours to be expended for your good, and your eyes shall see the bestowing of it for your wellfare. . . . And though you have had and may have many mightier and wiser Princes sitting in this Seat, yet you never had nor shall have any that will love you better.2 —Maureen Burford, Artistic Director 1. To the Ambassador of the Duke of Wurtemberg, 1564. Chamberlin, The Sayings of Queen Elizabeth (1923), ch. 2. 2. The Golden Speech, Elizabeth’s last speech to Parliament, 1601.
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Now Air CoNditioNed Ragtime • oklAhomA! LegaLLy BLonde • ouR town HaiR • woman in BLack or A legeNdAry romANCe (World Premiere Musical) all titles subject to availability
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Part One 1. Welcome
John Bartholomew
2. Overture: Muy Linda
A galliard by Anthony Holborne, a skilled diplomat as well as composer in the court of Queen Elizabeth I.
Heritage Brass
3. Processional: Nou is Yole Comen
A medieval tune arranged by Shira Kammen and included on her album The Castle of the Holly King.
The Chessington Hall Singers D Punk’s Delight
4. Fum, Fum, Fum
A sixteenth-century Catalan carol. The recurring “Fum, fum, fum!” may imitate the sound of a drum, or perhaps a guitar.
Lloyd Gabourel, Musician of Chessington Hall D The Chessington Hall Singers D The Chessington Children D Gloriana’s Bells Heritage Brass
PLEASE SING WITH US!
5. Reading
Our opening dialogue ends with a quotation from William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Act 1, Scene 1 (Marcellus to Horatio and Bernardo after seeing the ghost).
Danielle Cohen
6. Goe No More to Brainford
By Thomas Ravenscroft (c. 1582–1635), this “Canon in the unison” for three voices is from Pammelia (1609), the earliest English printed collection of catches, rounds, and canons. We have some fun with Revels, Inc., by substituting Cambridge for Brainford.
Punk’s Delight
7. Newcastle
English country dancing is a living dance form today, with origins that extend to the period of Elizabeth I. This dance, “Newcastle,” is from the first known publication of such dances, The English Dancing Master, published in 1651 by John Playford.
The Chessington Dancers D Punk’s Delight 5
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8. The Cutty Wren
An English folk song depicting the hunting of the wren, a ritual with possible ties to Viking times, symbolizing the death of the old year, or perhaps the wren’s role in alerting Viking soldiers to the presence of their Irish attackers. In England, St. Stephen’s Day is associated with a mummers’ tradition involving the capture of a wren. This arrangement is by Will Thomas Rowan, after a recording of Tony Barrand.
The Men of the Chessington Hall Singers D Punk’s Delight
PLEASE SING WITH US!
9. Sing We Now Merrily
Thomas Ravenscroft was an English theorist, editor, and composer of three collections of rounds and part songs. These include sacred music in Latin, English, and French as well as a wide variety of English secular songs on the topics of drinking, love, war, money, and singing. This catch, with ten entrances, expresses musically the joy and cacophony of reveling with friends.
The Chessington Hall Singers
10. The Chessington Children Up and Down
The words of this round are spoken by Puck in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Who Liveth So Merry
This song, depicting rustic town life, was collected by Thomas Ravenscroft, who preserved the largest collection of popular vocal music of his time in three printed volumes: Pammelia (1609), Deuteromalia (1609), and Melismata (1611). Clearly intended for a broad rather than a courtly audience, these three works comprise the longest-surviving collection of English popular song.
Dame, Get Up and Bake Your Pies
The tune of this singing game is related to that of “Greensleeves,” a piece long credited to Henry VIII, though scholars now doubt the attribution, since it did not appear in England until decades after Henry’s death.
The Chessington Children D Punk’s Delight 7
Here’s to
Christmas Revels 2011 from your friends at
The Complete Hoot Upper Valley Arts & Events Guide
Published the First Friday of Each Month Over 10,000 Readers www.thecompletehoot.com 603-675-2634
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11. The Apple Tree Man
This story was collected in 1920 from an elder in apple-rich Somerset. On the first of November, the “Day of the Apple,” the ancient Brits would pour mulled cider (called la mas ushal, which became “wassail”) on tree roots to ensure a good yield, a practice still done to this day in parts of Somerset. Some say the Apple Tree Man hides among his roots a treasure he only occasionally shares.
Rebecca Bailey, Storyteller D The Chessington Children
12. Border Morris Stick Dance
Many accounts dating back hundreds of years tell of the wild and energetic stick dances from the region of England bordering on Wales; however, details of the choreography have been lost in history. A strong revival has developed based on what we do know. Our dance, “Mr. Dolly,” was devised by the British Red Stags Morris in the Border Morris tradition. Border Morris dancers typically wear costumes known as rags or tatters, covered with colorful strips of cloth, and frequently paint their faces.
Maple Leaf Morris & Maple Bud Morris D Punk’s Delight
13. To Drive the Cold Winter Away
This tune, found in John Playford’s The English Dancing Master (1651), often was sung using different broadside ballad texts. The directive “to the tune of To Drive the Cold Winter Away” appears several times in the Roxburghe Ballads published in London (1601–1640). Adapted by Maureen Burford from the New Oxford Book of Carols.
Melissa Locher Haas, Kevin Quigley, Soloists The Chessington Hall Singers D Heritage Brass D Punk’s Delight
14. Martin Said to His Man
A traditional English drinking song, arranged for Revels North by Will Thomas Rowan.
The Men of the Chessington Hall Singers
15. Come Again, Sweet Love
Composer and master lutenist John Dowland (1563–1626) arranged his “Come Again” both for lute and as a partsong. Although his First Booke of Songes or Ayres of Foure Partes with Tableture for the Lute (1597) was so successful that it was reprinted at least four times, he never achieved his dream of being appointed court lutenist to Elizabeth I, perhaps because of his famous melancholy temperament.
Rebecca Bailey, Soloist D The Chessington Hall Chamber Singers Punk’s Delight
16. Broom Dance
The broom as a prop for dancing is common in many cultures through history. This broom dance was taught to us by Tony Barrand, who learned it directly from Arnold Woodley from the village of Bampton, England. Bampton has an unbroken tradition of morris dancing extending back hundreds of years.
Laura Barrett & Chris Levey, Dancers D Punk’s Delight 9
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Dinner Lunch Catering
Lunch: Mon - Sat 11am - 3pm • Dinner: Mon - Sun, 5pm - 9pm (603) 643-2007 • salubrehanover.com 3 Lebanon Street, Hanover, NH 03755 We are in the Hanover Park building on the lower level 10
17. A Shakespeare Compendium
As an actor and part-owner of the troupe called the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, the playwright William Shakespeare (1564– 1616) often entertained Elizabeth and her successor, James I. This lighthearted moment is built on a collection of some of the Bard’s most tragic lines, an idea borrowed from the Portland Revels.
Danielle Cohen and Company
18. Queen’s Arrival
This piece by William Byrd (c.1540–1623) is the last movement in a set of programmatic pieces called “The Battell,” found in the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book. It became known as “The Earle of Oxford’s Marche,” perhaps because of Queen Elizabeth’s affection for the Earle of Oxford, Edward de Vere.
Punk’s Delight D Heritage Brass
19. A Virgin Most Pure (A Virgin Unspotted)
This lovely ballad of the Virgin, with a tune in the Phrygian Mode, appears in New Carolls for this Merry Time of Christmas (London, 1661). Our arrangement includes a middle part vocal line added by Lynn Mahoney Rowan, with resulting close part singing.
The Women of the Chessington Hall Singers D Punk’s Delight
20. Comes the Morning
Thomas Campion (1567–1620) was a law student, physician, composer, writer of masques, poet, and Reveler, appearing in the annual Revels with his law student colleagues at Gray’s Inn, London, in 1588. This piece, “Never Weather Beaten Sails,” was recorded recently with new lyrics by Dick Lewis by the Portland Revels for their new CD, Down Through the Winters (available in our lobby!).
The Chessington Hall Singers
21. Lord of the Dance
Sydney Carter’s modern lyrics to the Shaker song “Simple Gifts” are translated into dance using a compilation of traditional morris steps by Carol Langstaff, Martin Graetz, and Jonathan Morse.
Lloyd Gabourel, Soloist D Sylvie Lam & Hannah Lindner-Finlay, Dancers D The Chessington Hall Singers D Heritage Brass
ALL SING AND DANCE!
Dance, then, wherever you may be; I am the lord of the dance, said he, And I’ll lead you all wherever you may be, And I’ll lead you all in the dance, said he.
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ntermission 11
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Part two 22. A Robyn, Gentil Robyn
A snippet from a tune by William Cornish (1465–1523), King Henry’s favorite composer as well as a poet, artist, and writer of “disguisings” (masques) at court.
The Young Ladies of the Chessington Hall Singers
23. Abbots Bromley Horn Dance
This ancient ritual dance is still performed every year in the Staffordshire village of Abbots Bromley. Its original meaning has been forgotten. The mystery is compounded by the fact that the horns used by the village performers are reindeer antlers, not deer antlers, and have been carbon-dated to around A.D.1000, a time when reindeer had long been extinct in England. The characters of the folk fool, the manwoman, the hobby-horse, and the boy archer also link the dance with the mumming traditions of Christmas.
The Abbots Bromley Dancers D Lisle Kulbach, Recorder Skip Cady, Green Man
24. Nou Shrinketh Rose
A lovely medieval ballade of the Virgin, arranged as a duo by the soloists for this performance.
Lynn Mahoney Rowan & Will Thomas Rowan, Soloists Punk’s Delight
25. Gaudete!
A song from the 1582 collection Piae Cantiones. It can be found as a Czech folk carol and as a German chorale melody. The verses come from a Bohemian song “Ezechielis Porta” (referring to the eastern gate of the city in the prophet Ezekiel’s vision). Verse settings were created for the California Revels by Music Director Fred Goff.
Featuring: John Severinghaus, Robert Buchan, Calli Guion, Kathy Christie, Amy Trage, Leah Romano, Heather Wieler The Chessington Hall Singers D Punk’s Delight
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26. While By My Sheep I Watched at Night
This carol, which appears in most modern hymnals in a simpler arrangement, appeared first in this echo setting in 1623 in Cologne, Germany. Our arrangement has been adapted from The New Oxford Book of Carols (1992).
The Chessington Hall Singers D Punk’s Delight D Heritage Brass
PLEASE SING WITH US!
27. Fanfare: Vivat Regina!
Arranged by Washington, D.C., Revels Music Director Elizabeth Fulford Miller, this fanfare is based on theatrical music of the period. The original composer is unknown.
Heritage Brass
28. Punk’s Delight La Cascarda Florido Giglio
This tune is by the Roman dance teacher, theorist, and composer, Fabritio Caroso (c.1535–c.1605), and is from his dance collection Il Ballarino (1581).
O Mistress Mine
Thomas Morley’s setting of “O Mistress Mine” from Twelfth Night is the most familiar to modern audiences, but a different tune may have been used in the original production. We have chosen this arrangement by musicologist and lutenist Lucy Cross, who searched through the many lute songs of Robert Jones (1577–1617) and discovered that “O My Poor Eyes” from his First Booke of Songes and Ayres (1600) fits the text beautifully.
with Calli Guion, Soloist 13
Argeers
A country dance tune from The English Dancing Master (1651), compiled by John Playford (1623–1687), this is apparently from the South of England and is a garbled version of “Algiers.”
with Rich Brown, Skip Cady, Josiah Proietti, Kevin Quigley, & Lynn Mahoney Rowan, Jugglers
29. Branle Suite
Branles are sixteenth-century French dances whose steps were documented primarily in Thoinot Arbeau’s Orchésographie (1589). The music for our suite of branles may have been composed by Pierre Attaignant (1494–1551), who was known primarily as a music publisher and was possibly the first to use movable type to print staff lines.
The Chessington Dancers D Punk’s Delight
30. O Comely Queen
Shakespeare referred to this tune, known as “The Bellman’s Song,” in As You Like It. The arrangement here is by Revels, Inc. Music Director George Emlen.
Young Ladies of the Chessington Singers The Women of the Chessington Hall Singers
31. The Chessington Children
Well Rung, Tom
This round by Henry Purcell, collected by Thomas Ravenscroft, combines the sound of tolling bells with the cuckoo call to great effect.
The Roman Soldiers
A singing game from the city of Bath.
The Chessington Children D Punk’s Delight
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32. Dona Nobis Pacem (Give Us Peace)
Lloyd Gabourel, Song Leader D Gloriana’s Bells The Chessington Hall Singers and Children
PLEASE SING WITH US!
33. Music and Readings from the Bishops’ Bible The Coventry Shepherds’ Carol
A tune performed as early as 1591 in the Coventry Pageant of the Shearmen and Tailors, it appears in an 1825 publication by Thomas Sharp, and in The New Oxford Book of Carols.
Kevin Quigley, Will Thomas Rowan, Lynn Mahoney Rowan
Swete Was the Song
A sixteenth-century consort song.
Alison Ellsworth, Soloist D Punk’s Delight
En! Natus Est Emanuel
A carol by German composer Michael Praetorius (1571–1621).
The Chessington Hall Singers D Punk’s Delight Kathy Christie, Lloyd Gabourel, Leah Romano, Readers 15
34. The Boar’s Head Carol
This carol saluting the central dish of the Christmas feast has been sung at Queen’s College, Oxford, since the 1600s.
Lloyd Gabourel, Soloist D The Chessington Hall Singers
PLEASE SING WITH US!
35. Nancie
This tune, possibly by Thomas Morley, is found in the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book.
Punk’s Delight
36. The Wren in the Hurze
A traditional Celtic wren variant for St. Stephen’s Day, in this case ushering in the mummers’ play.
Kevin Quigley, Soloist D Punk’s Delight
37. St. George and the Dragon
A compilation of several mummers’ plays—seasonal folk plays with stock characters, plot, and dialogue. The sword dance and ritual execution of St. George survive from ancient solstice ceremonies where the death of a hero was considered necessary to ensure the return of light, warmth, and fertility.
The Nonsuch Mummers, Effie Cummings, Director
38. The Buffens
A courtly sword dance, “Les Bouffons” is documented in the famous French dance manual Orchésographie by Thoinot Arbeau (1519–1595). With its stylized swordplay, this dance is thought to be in the line of martial dances descending from those performed at the Roman festival of Mars.
Laura Barrett, Jane Finlay, Chris Levey, & Will Thomas Rowan, Dancers D Punk’s Delight
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39. The Queen’s Galliard
“Her Rosy Cheeks” by Thomas Campion (1576–1620) is a lute song from his Second Book of Ayres (1613). It is arranged for a “broken consort,” a mixed consort of instruments, by Karen Hansen.
Ruth Mayer, Dancer D Punk’s Delight
40. The God of Love My Shepherd Is
Thomas Tallis, one of the great English composers of his period, composed this melody and harmony for the Archbishop’s psalter. New words from the Twenty-third Psalm were added in 1623.
The Young Ladies of the Chessington Hall Singers The Chessington Hall Singers
41. Deo Gratias
A short antiphon by William Byrd, who was one of the great composers of the Elizabethan period.
The Chamber Singers of Chessington Hall D Heritage Brass Punk’s Delight
42. The Shortest Day
This poem about the winter solstice, written for Revels by Susan Cooper in 1977, has become a traditional part of Christmas Revels performances across the country.
Chris Levey, Speaker
43. The Sussex Mummers’ Carol
This carol, traditionally sung at the end of the mummers’ play in Horsham, Sussex, has become the parting song for all performances of The Christmas Revels across the country. The brass transcription is by Brian Holmes. The descant and final verse harmonization are by Ralph Vaughan Williams.
All Cast D Heritage Brass D Lester Gibbs, Organist
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Production Team Artistic Director........................................................Maureen Burford Producer....................................................................... Sherry Merrick Assistant Director for Stage and Production............... Effie Cummings Director of Punk’s Delight............................................. Karen Hansen Choral Assistants................................................ Will Thomas Rowan, Lynn Rowan Mahoney, Kevin Quigley Children’s Chorus Director...........................................Rebecca Bailey Tech Director, Production Manager...........................Jeremy Mattsson Production Assistant.................................................... Danielle Cohen Consultant to the Artistic Director.................................James Horton Choreographer, Consultant for the Broom Dance.......... Tony Barrand Stage Manager...........................................................Amanda Sheehan Set Designers............................................Skip Cady, Jeremy Mattsson Set Construction............................. Jeremy Mattsson, Louis Riquelme Costumier, Wardrobe Manager......................................... Lois Jackson Assistant Wardrobe Manager............................................. Ann Fiedler Lighting Designer.......................................................... David Gelhar Graphic Artist.................................................................... Sara Morin Program Design..........................................................Heron Graphics Props Designer, Construction, & Manager................... Angelica Stuart Props Assistants................................. Betsy Maislen, Kim Rheinlander Green Man designer and builder......................................... Skip Cady Dragon Designer & Builder..................................... Barbara Abraham Banner Designer & Builder............................................Sharon Wight T-shirt Design............................................................... Kevin Quigley Makeup Designer & Manager........................................ Bonna Wieler Dance Captains........................ Jane Finlay, Laura Barrett, Chris Levey Morris Team Leaders...................................... Chris Levey, Jane Finlay Hair Designer.................................................... Ellie Crawford Cripps Organist........................................................................... Lester Gibbs Children’s Managers..........................Deborah Wood, Elizabeth Keene Karen Wilson, Gwendolyn Thompson, Angela Stafford Volunteer Coordinators............................... Valerie Martin, Kim Perez
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Chorus Manager.......................................................... Sharon Harkay Revels Costume & Prop Shop Manager............................. Ann Fiedler Program Editor............................................................ Rachael Cohen Proofreaders............................................... Rich Brown, Hildur Colot Webmasters.................................................... Mat Doyle, Karl Schults Videographers.......................................David Millstone, Tom Watson Assistant Videographer..............................................Kim Rheinlander Performance Photographer.................................................Rob Strong Runners.................................................. Sadie Shelton, Grace Shelton Story line adapted and written by Maureen Burford, Skip Cady, Effie Cummings, and Rebecca Bailey, with original material from Portland and Washington D.C. Revels and Revels, Inc.
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Featured musicians Punk’s Delight Hildur Colot Karen Hansen Lisle Kulbach Jay Rosenberg recorder, flute, krumhorn, shawm, dulcian, bassoon, sackbut, cornetto, chalumeau, bagpipes, pipe and tabor, lute, violin, rebec, viola da gamba, harp, hammered dulcimer, string drum, percussion
r Heritage Brass Daniel Farina, trumpet Jim Boccia, trumpet Lydia Busler-Blais, french horn Robert Booth, trombone Robert E. Eliason, tuba with Andrew Buchan, timpani
r A Very Special Thanks to Our Christmas Revels
Business Sponsors
s
Old Father Christmas Mascoma Savings Bank Trylon Data Management, Inc.
Revelers Lake Sunapee Bank Merchants Bank, Thetford, Vermont Jeanne E. Young, LLC 20
Celebrate the life of Revels founder
John Langstaff
★ “As magical as the man himself. . . . A vivid combination of biography and memoir.” — Booklist (starred review)
“A loving remembrance and a special gift for all who have encountered Langstaff and his performances.” — Kirkus Reviews
Available wherever books are sold 21
®
music • dance • comedy • carols in celebration of the winter solstice
December 16-29
16 Performances • Matinees & Evenings
Sanders Theatre
harvard university, cambridge, ma directed by
Patrick Swanson
music director
with
George Emlen
david coffin • the sharq trio the chorale céleste • the chanterelles children the bandelette of strings • the calusari dancers the pinewoods morris men • cambridge symphonic brass ensemble the lord of the dance tickets Can’t get to a performance? Enjoy the music on the new CD, Sing Noël! A European Christmas Revels, available online at www.revels.org or on iTunes. 22
www.revels.org 617-496-2222
Revels North Cast The Players The Queen.................................................................................Ruth Mayer Mary, Head of House Staff...................................................Danielle Cohen Queen’s Master of the Revels...................................................Josiah Proietti Mistress of the House................................................... Melissa Locher Haas Butler....................................................................................Robert Buchan Master of the House.................................................................... Don Bruce Musician/Clergy................................................................... Lloyd Gabourel Rebekah, The Governess....................................................... Rebecca Bailey Sous Cook..................................................................................Calli Guion House Servant.......................................................... Elizabeth Anne Wacker Jack, Scullery Boy.............................................. Gwynn Granizo-Mackenzie Grace, Scullery Maid...................................... Romaney Granizo-Mackenzie Ladies-in-Waiting to the Queen.............. Adrienna Fontaine, Jaika Fontaine Emily Masteller, Helen Rooker Noblewomen accompanying the Queen...........Sharon Harkay, Valerie Martin
The Nonsuch Mummers Father Christmas.......................................................................... Skip Cady Room.........................................................................Andrew Buchan-Groff Doctor.................................................................................Danielle Cohen Dragon...................................................................................Kevin Quigley St. George...............................................................................Josiah Proietti
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The Chessington Hall Singers Soprano
Alto
Rebecca Bailey Leslie Dustin Alison Ellsworth Adrienna Fontaine Kalei Fontaine Calli Guion Melissa Locher Haas Sharon Harkay Emily Masteller Kelli Minelli Lynn Mahoney Rowan Elizabeth Anne Wacker Heather Wieler
Lisa Bruce Kathy Christie Jane Finlay Jaika Fontaine Emmaline Keene Valerie Martin Ashley Milliken Nicki Perez Leah Romano Helen Rooker Amy Trage Ellen Wassell
Tenor
Bass
Rich Brown Sharon Groblicki Alden Hall Alex Jaccaci David McGaw Peter Milliken Sheila Moran Tad Richardson Will Thomas Rowan Sharon Wight
John Bartholomew Don Bruce Robert Buchan Lloyd Gabourel Peter Keene Kevin Quigley Ridge Satterthwaite John Severinghaus Bernie Waugh
Gloriana’s Bells Nicki Perez Lynn Mahoney Rowan Elizabeth Anne Wacker Bernie Waugh Bonna Wieler Sharon Wight
Alison Ellsworth Lester Gibbs Sharon Groblicki Peter Keene Kelli Minelli Sheila Moran
The Chessington Dancers Rebecca Bailey Laura Barrett* Jane Finlay* Sharon Groblicki Alex Jaccaci Chris Levey*
Noah Miller* Sheila Moran* Leah Romano Lynn Mahoney Rowan* Will Thomas Rowan* Heather Wieler*
*Performing Newcastle
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The Abbots Bromley Dancers Horns John Bartholomew Alex Jaccaci
Chris Levey David McGaw
Noah Miller Will Thomas Rowan
Characters Betty...........................................................................................Rich Brown Hobby Horse....................................................................... A’lynn Hayward Archer Boy............................Vincent “Nacio” Levey or Dylan Moody A’ness Triangle/Fool................................................................................Bill Schults
Maple Leaf Morris Hali Bailey Emma Behrens Rebecca Behrens
Dana Burrington Emily Masteller Nicki Perez
Helen Rooker Helena Whitcomb Sophia Whitcomb
Maple Buds Morris Ayres
Madrigals
Dylan Moody A’ness Hayden Keene Perrin Milliken Karina Ricker Dylan Ricker (alternate)
Ethan Earle Anna Hepler Vincent “Nacio” Levey Karina Ricker Dylan Ricker (alternate)
The Chessington Children Ayres
Madrigals
Dylan Moody A’ness Andrew Buchan-Groff Sage Eanet Zea Eanet Gwynn Granizo-Mackenzie Romaney Granizo-Mackenzie Khuan-Yu Hall Daniel Jaccaci Natalie Junio-Thompson Hayden Keene Perrin Milliken Molly Ryan-O’Flaherty Anna Stafford Heather Stafford Rosey Thompson Emily Trage
Andrew Buchan-Groff Julia Cook Grace Derksen Ethan Earle Natalie Gold Gwynn Granizo-Mackenzie Romaney Granizo-Mackenzie Anna Hepler Vincent “Nacio” Levey Sage McGinley-Smith Lauren Pidgeon Kaylee Starke-Meredith Lyric Wilson Sierra Winand Christian Wood Naomi Wood Zoe Wood
Note:
The Ayres perform on Thursday at 7 p.m., Saturday at 7 p.m., and Sunday at 1 p.m. The Madrigals perform on Friday at 7 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m., and Sunday at 5 p.m.
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About the Performers and the Production Team Rebecca Bailey has taught music and directed theater in public schools, and has performed with the music groups Thetford Chamber Singers, The Left Bank Trio, and Off The Grid, and in theater with the Parish Players (As You Like It, Tiger at the Gate, Ten-Minute Play Festivals), Signal and Noise Productions (Mirette), and Les Montreurs d’Images of Geneva, Switzerland. She has directed children’s choruses in Revels North Christmas shows, Solfest, and Revels Kids (formerly World of Song) since 2006. Laura Barrett, a New Jersey native, moved to the Upper Valley in 2008. She is a long-time tap dancer who studied most recently with Cheryl Johnson and Anthony Peters in Seattle and appeared in their show A Tap Dance Christmas Carol from 2004 to 2007. Other tap teachers include Jessie Sawyers and the late Jimmy “Sir Slyde” Mitchell. As an undergraduate at Boston University, Laura learned morris and rapper sword dancing from Tony Barrand; she has since danced with morris teams in Ann Arbor and Seattle and performed at the Northwest Folklife Festival. She was delighted to reconnect with Tony Barrand to learn the broom dance that she and Chris Levey perform in this show. Laura is the Director of Education & Outreach at Dartmouth College Library. Maureen Burford, M.Ed., is a musician, dancer, composer, writer, and director who has spent the past twenty-six years helping thousands of children and adults improve their lives via the creative and contemplative arts. In addition to her work leading the Artistic Season for Revels, in 2008 Maureen founded the Revels Kids programs, which serve hundreds of children in outlying towns in the Upper Valley. Maureen has performed live and on recordings, as a soloist and as an accompanist, at home and abroad. She has taught and consulted nationally and internationally, for such organizations as the Creative Problem Solving Institute, the De Agostini Corporation, and the New England Consortium of Artist Educators. This year, she was invited to deliver a keynote talk for the European Association of Creativity and Innovation in Faro, Portugal. Maureen also serves as the founder and director of “Creative Lives,” and recently was awarded a major grant to bring creativity and well-being education to teachers and students in public schools. As part of this project, the Creative Lives team will pilot an after-school program at White River Elementary School beginning in January 2012. Maureen holds a Master’s in Education degree from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in music from Cornell University. Her extensive additional training includes ballet, modern, baroque, contemplative, and improvisational dance forms; Action Theater; improvisational music and theater arts; and a variety of meditation, transformational, and experiential techniques. She is a juried artist-educator with the Vermont Arts Council. Maureen lives in Thetford, Vermont, with her husband Alex and son Daniel; her daughter Emma recently graduated from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
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Skip Cady is a metalsmith, sculptor, and performer. Skip has performed as far away as Australia and as close as Thetford, Vermont. He has appeared locally in Later in Life, Queenie’s Christmas, Kong’s Reunion, The Lumpkin Sisters Christmas Caper, Venecia, Fifth of July, and Mirette. He has performed at the Summer and Christmas Revels, Pentangle, and the mainstage at Hopkins Center. He made his film debut in 2005 in Susan Bettmann’s The Singers. Skip has been juggling for about thirty years and has been a practicing clown for just as long. Danielle Cohen appeared in the 2006 Appalachian Revels as a mummer, and she is extremely excited as this time she plays someone who is not only English, but also female! Danielle’s Upper Valley performances include Paper Tigers and Twelfth Night, both with the Parish Players. Back in England, she performed in many fringe productions, including The Doctor in Spite of Himself by Christopher Marlowe, Sweet Panic by Stephen Poliakoff, and Sherlock Holmes and the Curse of the Mummy, in which she played eight roles. She has been a member of two touring children’s theater companies, one in the U.K., and one in Clearwater, Florida. Most recently she appeared in two Christmas pantomimes, Jack and the Beanstalk and Robin Hood. She also has appeared in the Edinburgh Festival several times, including productions of James and the Giant Peach and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Danielle has voiced several television programs and appeared as a police officer in the British teen comedy Neil’s Party. Effie Cummings has been a Reveler since 2000. Over the years, she has been a cast member, Mummers’ Director, and Production Manager. This show marks her third year as the Director of the Mummers’ Play and her first year as Assistant Director for Stage and Production. When not working on the Christmas Revels, she can be seen acting at the New London Barn Playhouse or singing with the Handel Society at Dartmouth. Jane Finlay has been dancing and singing with Revels North for the past nineteen years. Before that, she was in the New York City Revels for five years. She first became acquainted with English dancing at Pinewoods Camp in 1979. Since then, she has been doing English country dancing, morris dancing, longsword, contra dancing, and a bit of many other types of folk dancing, including an attempt at a week of rapper dancing! Along with Barbara DeFelice and Chris Levey, she has taught the teen girls of the Maple Leaf Morris team for eleven years. Lloyd Gabourel is no stranger to Upper Valley audiences; he has been performing in this area for over thirty years. He appeared in his first Christmas Revels in 1974. As a singer, dancer, and actor, he has taken on roles that include the King in The King and I, Lucien in The Boys Next Door, and Padro in The Man of La Mancha. Lloyd also works as a model, and co-founded and was the lead singer in a band. Currently, Lloyd is working on breaking into the film industry, and can be seen in an up-coming New Hampshire Lottery commercial. David Gelhar has been designing the lighting for Upper Valley theater, dance, and opera companies for over twenty-five years. He has worked with Opera North, the Dartmouth Dance Ensemble, Northeast Shakespeare Ensemble, and the Albany Berkshire Ballet. Participating in Christmas Revels has been
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part of his holiday routine for at least twenty years (he has lost count). When not in the theater, David lives with his family in Wilder, and works as a computer programmer for Dartmouth College. Lester Gibbs is a native of Hartford, Vermont, and graduated from Hartford High School in 1958. As a Chaplain Administrator in the U.S. Army for twenty-three years, retiring in 1981 with the rank of Sergeant Major, he served as organist in military chapels throughout the United States and in Korea, Italy, Vietnam, and Germany. While in San Antonio, Texas, he served as music director for the Harlequin Dinner Theater. He has served as organist of the Woodstock First Congregational Church since returning to Vermont in 1995. This is his thirteenth year with Revels North as organist and handbell director. Lois Jackson of Corinth, Vermont, is a botanical artist with two barns full of costumes. She has come out of retirement to costume the Christmas Revels because the Elizabethan era is one of her favorites. When not at the sewing machine, she can be found painting orchids in the Dartmouth greenhouse, organizing Vermont North by Hand artisans cooperative, or getting ready for the 250th anniversary of the founding of Corinth. Lois thanks all in the community who responded so quickly to the flooding of the costume room. Many of the costumes she created during her years as Revels Costumier were saved and will be seen dancing on stage for years to come. Chris Levey has led morris and English country dancing for well over thirty years, teaching dances and workshops locally, and at camps such as the Folk Arts Center of Boston Oktoberfest and the nationally acclaimed Pinewoods Dance Camp. He has focused on facilitating the creativity and energy that youth bring to the English morris dance tradition; he was the founder and leader of the first local teenage morris team, and he coaches the Lord of the Dancers for Revels North each year. Chris also co-founded the Oak Apple Morris in Wisconsin, and has been the Fool for several morris teams. He recently served on the national Country Dance and Song Society Governing Board and as Chair of their Youth Task Group. You can try English country dancing with Chris in Norwich this winter, or kids 9 to 19 can join our morris teams; for details see the links at his website: http://engineering.dartmouth.edu/~cgl. Ruth Mayer is a former soloist with the American Ballet Theatre, dancing with them from 1969 to 1984. She spent years freelancing as a dancer, teacher, and choreographer in the United States and Europe before settling in the Upper Valley. From 1994 to 2005, Ruth was on the teaching staff of the Lebanon Ballet School. She was co-founder of their student ballet company, City Center Ballet of Lebanon, and served as Artistic Director. Since 1999, Ruth has performed locally with Revels North and with the Dartmouth Dance Ensemble. She has been a ballet instructor in the Hopkins Center Dance Program. Presently, Ruth has a private teaching practice in her home and local studios. Ruth lives in Thetford with her husband, Peter, and their lively puppy, Kokoleka. For help with The Queen’s Galliard, Ruth thanks Marguerite Ames for her expert knowledge of Renaissance dance. Sherry Merrick has been involved with Revels since 1989, when she first participated in the Summer Revels as a chorus member with her daughter Emily. Soon thereafter, Sherry joined the Revels North Board of Directors, sharing the position of production manager for the Summer Revels and Christmas Revels with another board member, and eventually becoming the 28
producer. This Christmas Revels is the fifteenth show that she has produced. She has organized many successful Revels North fundraisers over the years. Sherry is also an O.R. nurse at APD and just received her twenty-year pin. She lives in Post Mills with her husband, Keith. They enjoy bike riding, kayaking, and traveling. Josiah Proietti hails from Norwich, Vermont, where he got his early performance induction on Thursday afternoons during “Rep” at the Marion Cross School. Later he fell in love with musical comedy through the North Country Community Theater’s teen productions of Li’l Abner, Bye Bye Birdie, and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, to name a few. At Hanover High School, Josiah was heavily involved in music and theater. He spent one fall season as a choir member in The Christmas Revels in 1998, then returned to Revels once more in 2008. He is delighted to join the community again in 2011. Kevin Quigley is a man of many interests: musician, composer, and performer; graphic designer and artist; Tarot reader; and teacher. He is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University, and has worked with ensembles ranging from jazz to opera and musical theater, but his preferred milieu is collaborative cross-media work. He has served as Artistic Director for the performance ensembles NOW (Pittsburgh) and This Thing (New York), the cross-disciplinary wing of Raw Impressions, Inc. (New York), and was a founding member and composer for the free-improv groups Ensemble Duchamp (Pgh, Sachimay Records) and Liquid Ensemble (New York). These groups and his compositions for dance and theater have been seen in the top venues dedicated to the progressive arts in Pittsburgh and the New York City area, including the New York Fringe Festival, the Knitting Factory, Tonic, Chashama Times Square, and many others. Lynn Mahoney Rowan studied music and theater performance at Marlboro College, where she founded and directed a World Music chorus. Having grown up singing with the Amidons and Tony Barrand, Lynn went on to sing and teach with Village Harmony and Northern Harmony, and The Five O’Clock Belles, The Compass School. She currently leads the World Music Community Chorus in Keene, New Hampshire. She worked for many years with the New England Youth Theater in Brattleboro, Vermont, the Vermont Theater Company, and the Vermont Renaissance Festival. Her current singing ensembles include Maythorn and Windborne Trio (www.WindborneSingers.com). Will Thomas Rowan has been involved in traditional music, dance, and mumming since he could speak. While still in elementary school, he started studying voice and sixteenth-century music with Nancy Knowles of Live Oak Duo. While working on his B.A. in music composition at Marlboro College, he took many semesters off to travel and gain experience in choral directing and teaching traditional music with Village Harmony and Northern Harmony. Will’s other musical pursuits include singing with his wife in Windborne Trio and in their Early Music trio Maythorn, leading a community chorus, and playing the banjo whenever he can. Angelica (Jeanne) Stuart graduated from the Maryland Institute College of Art with a degree that had nothing to do with props or even working three-dimensionally. She moved to New Hampshire on the last day of July in 2005 and six weeks later found herself making props for the Revels North 29
Russian show and she has been hooked ever since. In her day job, she reads through government proposal requests and figures out what the submission requirements are and has found it parallels nicely with reading a script and figuring out what props are needed. Some of her favorite props that she has made over the years have included the troll masks for Billy Goats Gruff, the banners for the Scottish show, and various food items, but by far her favorite props are the gray owls from the Appalachian show. As of this writing, she’s had fun making the HUGE boar’s head and the Hobby Horse for “Abbots Bromley,” both of which are replacements for props that were lost in the flood. Bonna Wieler has been working with Revels North for twenty-four years, as a morris dancer, makeup manager for sixteen years, makeup designer for four years, and Production Manager of the Summer Revels Solstice Celebration for three. With Bold Paths Adventure and with the summer camps Touching the Earth and Arts and VerShare Camp, she is an outdoor adventure leader, specializing in kayaking instruction, trip leading, and outdoor skills. Other current involvements include river curriculum consultant, networker and organizer/coordinator of environmental activities, and afterschool programming specialist. Bonna also plays traditional music with the band The Stove. Sharon Wight has been either singing or working backstage for Revels for the past seven years, but has been a fan for thirty years. She has been designing and building props for four years, putting her engineering and carpentry skills to good use. When she isn’t singing with Revels or the Dartmouth Gospel Choir, she loves to hike, kayak, garden, and travel.
Punk’s Delight The four musicians who come together as Punk’s Delight for this performance have played in Revels in Cambridge, Hanover, New York, and Washington, D.C., off and on since the early seventies. Lisle was a one-woman early music band in the original Cambridge Revels in 1971 and, as part of the Quadrivium along with Jay and Hildur, performed in the second Revels North show in 1976. Karen’s first professional gig after she moved east from California was as a sackbut player in the New York Revels. As the village band for this Elizabethan show, they have chosen the moniker Punk’s Delight, the name of a country dance tune from John Playford’s The English Dancing Master (1651). Hildur Colot began playing early winds in 1969 as a student of Marleen Montgomery and performed extensively with the Quadrivium and Alexander’s Feast during the following decade. A flute player by training, she discovered a passion for early double reeds, especially bagpipes and dulcians, and has recently taken up the modern bassoon. She has appeared in many Revels productions in Cambridge, Hanover, and New York, and can be heard on several Revels recordings. Since moving to Vermont in 1997, she has often participated in Hartland Community Arts productions. Hildur recently retired from her career as a researcher at Dartmouth Medical School and currently enjoys volunteering for Revels North as the database manager.
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Karen Hansen is a multi-instrumentalist, early musician, and theater composer. Since 2009, she has collaborated with Happenstance Theater in Look Out Below!, Cabaret Macabre I and II, and Manifesto. She is currently developing a new show with Happenstance Theater, Vanitas, which will premiere in 2013, and for which she was awarded a Creation Grant from the Vermont State Council on the Arts (www.vermontartscouncil.org). Karen is an Associate Artist at CenterStage in Baltimore, where she has composed and performed many scores. She has toured several continents with Ex Umbris and New York’s Ensemble for Early Music. She has appeared in Revels in New York, Washington, D.C., and Hanover, and has participated in many productions with Hartland Community Arts (www.karenhansenmusic.com). Lisle Kulbach is a graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music and a Bodky Award winner. She pursued additional studies in early music performance with Marleen Montgomery’s Quadrivium and has performed and taught medieval, Renaissance, baroque, classical, and country dance music for over thirty years. She is a co-founder of the Sephardic music ensemble Voice of the Turtle and specializes in bowed strings (rebec, kamanja, violin, vielle, and violas da gamba), as well as recorders, shawms, keyboard, percussion, and voice. She appears on twelve recordings with Voice of the Turtle and on several Revels albums. Jay Rosenberg, singer, guitarist, and actor, studied music theory, composition, and arranging at Berklee College of Music and at the Longy School of Music. He studied the performance of early music with the Quadrivium, led by Marleen Montgomery. His proficiency as a vocalist and multi-instrumentalist (on lute, ‘ud, classical guitar, recorder, percussion, and Renaissance winds) led to his joining, in 1978, the internationally acclaimed Sephardic music group Voice of the Turtle. He has been the Assistant Director of the Quadrivium as well as Chorus Master of Revels. Jay was the Director of Northern Harmony for nine years. He has recorded twelve albums of Sephardic music with Voice of the Turtle and he performs regularly in the New England schools with the trio Promised Land.
Heritage Brass Heritage Brass was formed for the 1990 Christmas Revels in Hanover, New Hampshire, and except for 1991 and 2001, has continued to perform with Revels each year. During the rest of the year, the quintet plays in a variety of settings, including outdoor park concerts, weddings, college commencements, and celebrations of all kinds. On most programs, the quintet explores music from the American brass band and jazz eras as well as the standard quintet literature from Renaissance to Modern. Daniel Farina, trumpet, is a graduate of Shenandoah College and Conservatory in Winchester, Virginia. He has freelanced as a trumpeter for a multitude of orchestras, brass groups, jazz ensembles, recording studios, and as a soloist in the Northeast. He can be heard on composer Larry Siegel’s compilation CD All Go Forward and Back! as well as Disney’s DVD Little Einsteins—Our Big Huge Adventure (Dan recorded the trumpeting of the character Quincy and the orchestral trumpet work for this DVD and seven Playhouse Disney episodes). He has performed in New Hampshire with singer Michael Card while he was on his “Promise” tour. In 1996, he recorded a CD of ceremonial music 31
with organist Bev Caldon. Most recently, he recorded with the Sacred Path Singers on their CD, Walk In Peace (innerharmonymusic.com). Currently, he is principal trumpet with the New Hampshire Philharmonic Orchestra, Heritage Brass, Raylynmor Opera Company, Brattleboro Concert Choir Orchestra, and Keene Chorale. He also has performed with the Dartmouth Symphony Orchestra, New England Brass Ensemble, Tom Foolery Band, and various show orchestras. He was trumpet instructor at Keene State College for seven years and currently teaches at Brattleboro Music Center, Putney School, Cheshire Music, and Elm City Music. He performs on Bach instruments (Bb, C, and Eb) and a Shilke (piccolo). Jim Boccia, trumpet, is a graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music, in Boston, where he received his double major degree in Trumpet Performance and Music Education. He went on to earn his MALS at Stony Brook University in New York. Jim taught middle school and high school instrumental music for ten years in Vermont and New York. He has performed with the Vermont Symphony, the Concert Pops of Long Island, the Long Island Philharmonic, the New Hampshire Philharmonic, and many local college and freelance groups. Jim is currently the National Sales Manager for the fundraising division of the Yankee Candle Company, in South Deerfield, Massachusetts, as well as the Professor of Trumpet and the Director of the Brass Ensemble at Keene State College and Professor of Trumpet Studies at Plymouth State University. Hornist and composer Lydia Busler-Blais began her career performing at age sixteen with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Lydia also has performed with the New York City Ballet, Brooklyn Philharmonic, José Limón Dance Company, and Manhattan Chamber Orchestra, as well as holding the position of solo horn with the Rome Festival Opera. Soloist, improvisationalist, and composer (ASCAP), Lydia’s compositions are performed by artists around the world. In honor of the 2011 Year of the Vermont Composer, Lydia has been awarded by the Consortium of Vermont Composers for One Way In, written with playwright Lars Nielsen, and by the International Horn Society Meir Rimon Commissioning Fund for Lanterns, commissioned for the ZINKALI trio. Lydia also has been honored with initiation into the LA Chapter of the international professional music fraternity Mu Phi Epsilon. Robert Booth, trombone, is from Barre, Vermont, and graduated from Spaulding High School in 2000. He has a degree in Music Education from the University of New Hampshire in Durham. At UNH, Robert was exposed to a variety of musical styles, studying trombone with Nic Orovich and jazz with Dave Seiler. He performed in a number of groups, including marching band, symphonic band, brass choir, trombone quartet, and brass quintet. He was principal chair in the wind symphony as well as lead trombone in the jazz ensemble. After graduating from UNH in 2004, Robert moved to Charleston, South Carolina, where he taught music at a fine arts elementary school. After six months of intense heat, he decided to come back to Vermont and look for a teaching job there. He was ecstatic when he was told that a position would be opening up at Spaulding High School. Robert E. Eliason, tuba, is a graduate of the University of Michigan (music education), Manhattan School of Music (performance), and the University of Missouri at Kansas City (musicology). He has toured Europe with the Seventh Army Symphony Orchestra and with the Henry Mancini Orchestra, 32
and spent ten years as principal tubaist with the Kansas City Philharmonic. He has played with the Dartmouth Symphony Orchestra since 1988. Dr. Eliason was for many years Curator of Musical Instruments at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan, and is widely known for his continuing research and publications about nineteenth-century American musical instrument makers. Joining Heritage Brass will be timpanist Andrew Buchan, who lives in Charlestown, New Hampshire, and enjoys drumming with a wide variety of bands and organizations, including the Newmont Military Band, Green Mountain Highlanders, Firehouse 6 Dixieland Band, and Heritage Brass. He especially enjoys playing traditional fife and drum music with his wife Lois on fife.
want to join the Cast? Add your name to our mailing list to be sure to receive the audition dates for the 2012 Christmas Revels! Call 1-866-556-3083 or email info@revelsnorth.org 33
Tropical Storm Irene
Queen Elizabeth’s costume: 1999 and post Irene... For thirty-seven years, Revels North has crafted a unique art form that cultivates and celebrates “community” both on stage and with our audiences. Never have we been more appreciative of the very real community in which we find ourselves here in the Upper Valley. Tropical Storm Irene left destruction of a magnitude none of us had seen in these gentle parts. Our own costume, props, and set shops and storage spaces were left under seven feet of water. When the water receded, it pulled costume racks and storage tubs down into thick, slick mud, leaving an image of devastation that is very difficult to erase. The first morning we could get into our space, a team of Revels responders was ready with Wellington boots, gloves, shovels, and a can-do attitude. Astonishingly, no one ever, even once, asked, “Can we do this? Is it worth it?” All week, Revels staff, volunteers, friends, folks who knew nothing about Revels but who had read about our situation in the Valley News—they all came to ask what they could do to help. After the first day, many of the Elizabethan costumes you are seeing in this show were out and on their way to be assessed. After two days, most salvageable costumes from our many other shows had been removed. After another two days, those props we could save were out. Eighty-seven Upper Valley individuals removed hundreds of bags of costumes that needed to be laundered with special instructions to remove the sludge and retard development of mold. These Revels angels also took shelving, props, and tubs with barely discernible contents to power wash and scrape clean. Next, work on our emergency fund-raising appeal began. Board members and Revelers quickly pledged $10,000 to match the first $10,000 to come in from the general public. In addition to our immediate need to mount this Elizabethan show, years of costumes for other shows would need to be reconstructed. And we were homeless. We needed to find immediate temporary housing for the costume shop, which would house those Elizabethan costumes we had been able to save, and to replace those needed for this current show. Dartmouth College donated space in its Bank of America building for the three months needed to get us through this Christmas Revels. Then Richard Balagur, of Balagur Associates in Lebanon, donated additional space, again until the first of the new calendar year, where we could begin to gather our scattered costumes and props. The news had spread beyond the Upper Valley. Revels North operates under the umbrella of Revels, Inc., in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The Cambridge Revels and our own are the two original Revels, both having been founded by Carol Langstaff (of Sharon, Vermont) and her late father, John. Revels, Inc. spread the word of our disaster and our sister 34
Revels cities began to respond. Revels, Inc. gave a substantial donation to our emergency fund and Revelers from across the country sent money as well. In addition, a very generous and timely offer came from the costumier of the Puget Sound Revels, Alex Lewington, who quickly made available whatever of her own Elizabethan costumes we might require. It has been so very hard, but how blessed we are. Our appeal for additional help, through the Revels North Flood Recovery Fund, will need to continue into the next few years as we take stock of our losses and begin the work of recreating the costumes and props many of you will remember from various Renaissance shows, our Appalachian show, last year’s French Canadian show, and hardest hit, our Scandinavian show.
Revels costumes being cleaned and dried at the home of Lois Jackson, long-time Revels Costumier.
Flood Recovery Fund Donors Anonymous
Milt and Carolyn Frye
Miller & Candon
Georgi AlexiMeskhishvili
Lester Gibbs
Valerie Miller
Robert and Deborah Aliber
George Grabe
Peter and Ashley Milliken
Priscilla and John Hall
Robert and Sonia Moran
Philip Arvidson
David and Susanne Haseman
Rick Barrows and Marcia Groszek Nancy Boyd and Art Munisteri Laura Brown Smith
Mary-Catherine Haug Matthew Irvine Faye Keat Larry and Lorraine Kelly
Dirk Burns
Bruce Koloseike and Anna Meier
Richard and Jean Chisholm
Gerrit Kouwenhoven
Joanne and Peter Coburn Hildur Colot Carole Dempsey and Jon Olsen Patti and John Emerson Margaret Fanning and David Cate Ann Fiedler Jane Finlay and Charlie Lindner
George Kunz Sue Ladr Carol Langstaff
Sheila Moran and David Millstone Claire Noble Jennifer O’Flaherty Nancy and Bill Osgood Kim Perez Revels, Inc. Ridge Satterthwaite and Sally Gage John and Rita Severinghaus
Greg and Susan Lewis
William Shepherd
Mary Lynn
Steven Smith
Betsy Maislen and Bill Schults
Jennifer Sur
Robert McQuillen
Patrick Swanson
Sherry Merrick
David Watt
Pamela Miles
Bill and Sarah Weiser
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Good bye, Irene: OUr volunteer army of Helpers The following individuals shoveled, hauled, washed (and washed and washed) costumes and props. Some provided services too numerous to list. Still others are “anonymous” only because we could not always find the clipboard on which to write their names or manage a pen while wearing mucky gloves. We thank them all. Anonymous Heather Alger Francine A’ness Becky Bailey John Bartholomew Jean Bates Catherine Beaver Richard Brittain Rich and Lin Brown Don and Lisa Bruce Maureen Burford and Alex Jaccaci Skip Cady Gary Caplan Marcy Chong and Alden Hall Kathy Christie Candace CoburnLanghans Danielle Cohen and Stephen Pidgeon Polly Cole and Neal Meglathery Hildur Colot Sienna Craig Jan Crow Barbara DeFelice and Nacio Carole Dempsey Paul Derksen Martin Drew Marilyn Dunten Sally Duston Franny Eanet Alison Ellsworth
Ann Fiedler Jane Finlay and Charlie Lindner Kathy Fitch Julie Frew Harold Frost Carolyn and Milt Frye Shad Knapp Glennis Gold Amanda Granizo Jane Greiling Mary Ann Haagen and Charlie DePuy Richard Hoffman Toni Hover Lois Jackson Faye, Moriah and Seayra Keat Russ Keat Alexandra Keats Elizabeth Keene Gunter Krauthamer Carol Langstaff Alex Lewington Kristin Licciardi Hugh MacArthur and Rhea McKay Pam Macy Betsy Maislen and Bill Schults Valerie Martin Jeremy Mattsson Phebe and Tim McCosker Martha McDaniel 36
David McGaw Sherry Merrick Judy Miller Sarah Monego Amanda Moore Sheila Moran Jean Munn Tim O’Dell Aire Owens Cynthia Pawlet Kim and Nicki Perez Lizann Peyton Patty Piotrowski Janet Rebman Melinda Ricker Sarah Rooker Elizabeth Ryan Ellen Shaw Jennifer Smith Chuck Solger Stephen Sorkin Kim Souza Jennifer Stanhope Angelica Stuart Matthew Swett Nancy Theriault Hetty Thomae Celia Thorssen Mindy Wallace Ellen Wassell Mary Waugh Connie White Bonna Wieler Sharon Wight
Thank you to our flood recovery angels near and far! Balagur Associates, Lebanon, for providing free temporary space for costumes and props. Kim Chewning at Dartmouth College for providing free space in Hanover for our Elizabethan costume shop. Gnomon Copy for helping with cost of printing thank-you notes. Hanover Area Chamber of Commerce for helping to locate temporary space. Town of Norwich for donating space in Tracy Hall one afternoon for the return and sorting of cleaned costumes. Alex Lewington of Puget Sound Revels for the loan of her Elizabethan costumes. Steve Smith of Revels, Inc., for encouragement, counsel, and fundraising expertise. All the national Revels organizations for their support and offers of assistance for this show. Russell Keat for his emergency management expertise. David Millstone of Farnum Hill Productions for videotaping flood damage and recovery efforts. Jay Campion for equipment donations. Tim McCosker for building the mirror frames for the makeup room. Fogg’s Hardware for discounts on makeup room equipment replacements. Daniel Johnson, our landlord in White River Junction. Tropical Storm Irene was a professional and personal blow to Daniel. A Revels family member, Daniel had reached out to provide our first real space where we could bring costumes, props, and set work and storage under one roof. Daniel, as landlord, was also critical to our efforts to form the Center for Theater Craft in which Revels North, NCCT, and Opera North shared space and expertise. It was a dream that has not ended, but Daniel’s hope to have his rental space house the dream came to an abrupt end. (Tastes of Africa was also forced to leave.) Throughout our efforts to recover what we could, Daniel remained patient, generous, and always helpful. We grieve for Daniel’s business loss and hope that others in the Revels community will recognize his large part in our vision of a Center for Theater Craft. We remember his dignity as he watched us all leave.
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With Appreciation to our Generous Supporters Angels New Hampshire Charitable Foundation Vermont Community Foundation Anonymous Sheila Moran and David Millstone William Schults and Elizabeth Maislen
Benefactors Revels, Inc. Robert and Deborah Aliber Milton and Carolyn Frye
David Langstaff Kim Perez Bernie and Mary Waugh
Associates Country Dance and Song Society Miller and Candon Vermont Arts Council Rich and Lin Brown
Carole Dempsey and Jon Olsen George Grabe, DMD Suzanne Houston Carola Lea
Patrons Children’s Fund of the Upper Valley of NHCF Anonymous Georgi Alexi-Meskhishvili Heather Alger and Nicolas Anzalone Rick Barrows and Marcia Groszek John Bartholomew and Julianne Harden Eva and Andrew Behrens Nancy Boyd and Arthur Munisteri Peter and Kathy Christie Peter and Joanne Coburn Hildur Colot and Karen Hansen Thora Colot John and Patti Emerson Ann Fiedler Lester Gibbs Mary Ann Haagen and Charles DePuy John and Priscilla Hall David and Susanne Haseman Mary-Catherine Haug Robert and Virginia Holbrook Jamie Horton
Joanna Jackson Bruce Koloseike and Anna Meier Gerrit and Ellen Kouwenhoven Sue Ladr Carol Langstaff Greg and Susan Lewis Charlie Lindner and Jane Finlay Ruth Mayer Robert McQuillen Sherry Merrick Abigail Miller Bennett Mortell Bill and Nancy Osgood Kevin Peterson Lizann Peyton Marvin and Carol Rogers Elizabeth Ryan and Jennifer O’Flaherty Ridge Satterthwaite and Sally Gage John and Margarita Severinghaus Michael Tsapakos David Watt Fritz Weiss
Contributors Anonymous Donald and Marlene Adams Nola and Kenneth Aldrich Philip Arvidson Christine Barnes Mary Barrett Spencer Bennett and Linda McGuire Nathaniel and Harriet Boone
Karen Budde and Jean Patoine Dirk Burns Dorothy Caldwell and Lucy Carpenter Peter and Deborah Carter Richard and Jean Chisholm Susan Cohen Jed Dickinson Tammy Ellis 40
Margaret Fanning and David Cate Matt and Judy Fichtenbaum Dagmar Franke Diane Fray Julie Frew Nan Frost Sarah Groesch Wayne and Janice Hall Rick Hoffman Robert Hynes and Sherie Moore Matthew Irvine Arthur and Carole Johnson Faye Keat Larry and Lorraine Kelly Charles Krajewski Carol Krochak George Kunz Brian and Elaine Lacy Helene and Richard Lang Mary Lynn Janice Macdonald Barbara Madley Barbara Matsinger Marlene McDonald Sarah and Daniel McGinley-Smith Timothy and Phyllis McKenna Pamela and William Miles Jr. Gail Miller
Valerie and Doug Miller Peter and Ashley Milliken Robert and Sonia Moran Christine Morin Robin Nichols Claire Noble Tracy Onega Jane and John Phipps Janine Reeves Ellen and George Robertson Connie Roy Mike and Pamela Schwotzer William Shepherd Edward and Lois Sherwood Betsy Siebeck Laura Brown Smith Steven Smith Steven and Kimberly Spensley Jennifer Sur Patrick Swanson Barbara Tolman Nita Tomaszewski Sarah Turtle and William Church Susanne Weldon William Weiser James Wilson Eleanor Zue
Revels north board members William Schults, President Sheila Moran, Vice President John Bartholomew Wayne Gersen
Rick Barrows, Treasurer Richard Hoffman, Secretary
George Grabe Faye Keat
Lizann Peyton Bernie Waugh
s Staff
Maureen Burford, Artistic Director Sherry Merrick, Producer & General Administrator Heather Alger, Bookkeeper & Administrative Assistant Bonna Wieler, Solstice Festival Production Manager Katie Kitchel, Revels Kids Production Manager David Gay, Artistic Director Emeritus
Revels North, Inc., P.O. Box 415, Hanover, NH 03755 866-556-3083 ~ www.revelsnorth.org Facebook - Revels North Group
Are you excited about Revels? Would you like to help? We need volunteers to serve on the board and on committees. Please contact us at 866-556-3083 if interested. 41
Lizann Peyton Strategic Planning, Board Development, Leadership Coaching,
Retreat Facilitation, & Project Management for Nonprofits since 1997
Strong Nonprofits are the core
of a strong and resilient community
- let’s invest in them today!
394 Main Street, Norwich, VT 05055
(802) 649-8344 lizann.peyton@valley.net
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Special Thanks Special thanks to the following individuals, businesses, and organizations for their invaluable assistance: Bagel Basement for donating bagels for our all-day rehearsals. Norwich Congregational Church for letting us use space to do vocal warm-up prior to singing at the Gingergread Festival. The Town of Hanover for displaying our banner over Main Street and on street lightposts during production week. Woodstock First Congregational Church for the use of the handbells. Ledyard Bank for promotion space in the Hanover and Lyme branches. Rare Essentials for use of a mannequin at our Ledyard Bank PR display. Jean Munn and Celia Thorsson for helping with costume alterations. Martha McDaniel, and Kye Cochran and the Upper Valley Sew-Op for sewing mummers’ costumes. Tony Barrand for teaching the broom dance, and his wife, Margaret Dale for providing the lovely music during the practice session. Wendy Thompson for all-day rehearsal help in putting on kids’ makeup and in allowing herself to be made up multiple times for others to practice! Kate McNally, host of NHPR’s The Folk Show, for her live segment featuring the Christmas Revels performers and director.
The Norwich Grange for rehearsal space. Six South Street Hotel in Hanover for hosting cast gatherings. James Horton from the Dartmouth Theater Department for his wise and creative counsel to the directors. Revels, Inc. for loaning the Buffens shields for our show. Toni Hover for nourishing our cast during production week. Washington, D.C., Revels for lending the mummers’ costumes for our show. Makeup volunteers Francine A’ness, Keirsten Caswell, Julie Derksen, Angie Earle, Bea Edgar, Kathy Fitch, Meryl Friets, Valerie Martin, Sarah McGinley-Smith, Teri Minelli, Wendy Thompson. Betsy Maislen for sewing assistance and helping Angelica backstage. Jed Dickinson of Woodstock Recycling for disposing of our set materials. The North Face and Bill Boyle for loaning tables and donating a wicker shelf for the costume room. International Fun-Shop for giving us a discount on makeup. Hildur Colot for her help with the Lifeline database, and all of her generous sharing of time and talents to assist the Board and staff with work throughout the year. Sara Morin for her generous and insightful work on our publicity. All volunteers who assisted after the program went to press and aren’t mentioned here.
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Compositor of scholarly books and journals since 1984
6 poor farm road hartland, vt 05048 802-436-3033 awbennett@vermontel.net
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gRAPHIC dESIGN & pRINTING Brochures • Books • Banners logos & Corporate Identities Many Green Printing Options
802.738.4077 HeronGraphicArts.com 58 North Main Street, White River Junction, Vermont 44
BE SURE TO VISIT the
CONCESSION STAND in the Lobby A Wonderful Opportunity to Support Revels North
NOW ON SALE
During intermission and after the show: Great Last-Minute Christmas Gifts! Books v Posters v T-Shirts v Revels North Canvas Tote Bags
CDs Down Through the Winters Music and Poetry in Celebration of the Winter Solstice A new album from Portland Revels (includes songs featured in this show!) Sing Noel! A European Christmas Revels New Holiday CD! Medieval and Renaissance processionals, hymns, carols, songs and dances from France and Spain— and a taste of Arabic music as well. and old favorites by our own Revels North: A Celtic Feast of Song I Know the Road: Music of Southern Appalachia Cash/Checks/Credit Cards All Accepted
Join our Facebook Community! Search for “Revels North Group”
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The Quechee Inn at Marshland Farm
2nd Annual
Visit a place your imagination has spent a lifetime enjoying… HAPPY HOLIDAYS Christmas Eve Dinner ~ 5:00 to 8:00 pm Christmas Dinner ~ 12:00 to 5:00 pm Christmas in Vermont Package ~ New Year’s Package
August 17 & 18, 2012 Concerts, Contra Dance, Workshops, Jam Sessions, Craft Fair /Food Court and much, much more…
Call for reservations today!
www.quecheeinn.com Get a 15% discount on all gift card orders through December 21!
All in beautiful Peacham VT
Performances by: Bob Amos & Catamount Crossing Steve James Del Rey Crowfoot Alan Greenleaf & The Doctor Others to be announced...
“Relax and restore your spirit at one of the best intimate inns…” “Chef Edward Kroes prepares [dinner] with local ingredients, creating unique and flavorful dishes…” Yankee Magazine
Check the website at: www.pamfest.com Or call: (802) 592-3140
1119 Quechee Main Street, Quechee ~ 802-295-3133 ~www.quecheeinn.com
Tickets available through Catamount Arts
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Traditio n a c fri
2011 The children sang . . .
“FUNGA ALAFIA, we welcome you FUNGA ALAFIA, with peace and joy too!” With those words, the drums began to call out their rhythms, the children of the Revels Kids program danced upon the stage, and the community of audience and performers alike celebrated the idea of peace and connections across cultures and continents. Ask anyone who attended the Revels Kids: African Traditions performances last April, and they would tell you that the program was a roaring success! The final sold-out show that both entertained and educated brought almost one hundred children from across the Upper Valley (from Fairlee to Windsor) together in song, dance, and storytelling. However, the show was only the culminating effort in a twelveweek journey across southern and western Africa that Revels Kids participants and staff traveled together. And, as the age-old saying says, “It’s the journey that is important, not the destination!” Along their journey, the staff introduced program participants to the culture and traditions of several African nations. The children delighted in the Trickster Tales of Anansi, they explored the sounds and rhythms of African drums, they giggled as they played rock-passing games, they stretched their imaginations as they turned their bodies into the animals of the African savannah, they wrapped their tongues around new languages, and, of course, they sang and they danced. On a thrilling Immersion Day, children from the four different sites in Windsor, Pomfret, Hartford, and Fairlee joined expert storyteller Eshu Bumpus to learn the craft of storytelling. They worked with dancer James Marshall, who had the children (and parent chaperones!) stretched across the floor of the stage, swinging their arms and bodies to the beat of the drums. They explored the rhythms and techniques of the African drums with local drummer Steve Ferraris, who taught them how to make the drums speak. It was a truly remarkable day! The crisis caused by Tropical Storm Irene has required Revels North to focus its resources on mounting our flagship Christmas production. Unfortunately, this means that there will be a hiatus in our Revels Kids program during the winter of 2012. However, with your continued support and the support of generous past funders such as the Byrne Foundation, Revels North intends to re-launch the program in 2013 with an exploration of the cultures and traditions of our friends and neighbors in Québec. À bientôt! 47
SUmmer Solstice Celebration Revels North is more than its flagship Christmas Revels production. Yearround Revels activities are punctuated with a popular second event at the summer solstice in June. Instead of twinkling lights on a cold winter night, one witnesses the quiet blessedness of a long summer evening. Instead of comfy seats in a formal Spaulding Auditorium, audience members sprawl comfortably on blankets and lawn chairs, enjoying delicious food purchased on site or from their own picnic baskets. Everything about a Revels North Summer Solstice Celebration is informal and oriented toward the pleasures of family summer fun. Like the Christmas show, the Summer Solstice Festival celebrates the turning of a season. Instead of embracing diverse, often ancient customs to drive away the dark, a Revels Summer Celebration is a joyful, usually rustic welcome of the sweetest season, of reward for the labor and hardship of winter past. So we look forward to seeing you again on the Summer Solstice, Wednesday, June 20, 2012. In the coming year, as the days get longer again, watch for information about how you and your family can participate in this enjoyable, unauditioned chorus. As always, new ideas and energy are welcome to create this summer event! It takes many hands to produce this celebration, which we love to keep affordable for the community. We need your participation to make certain that this continues to be possible. Please send your ideas and interest in helping to us at info@revelsnorth.org.
We wish to acknowledge our fearless leader Bonna Wieler; Frances, Frederick, and Heather Alger, and Meg Anzalone for their dedication to the food table; Keith Merrick for being the popcorn popper extraordinaire; Hildur Colot for covering the information tent; Steve Ferraris, Richard Hoffmann, Raven Lewis, Nicolas Anzalone, and Heather Alger for drumming; Bernie Waugh, Dorothy Wallace, Nicolas Anzalone, Lorrie Wilkes, and Nacio Levey for fiddling up a storm; Emily Trage for climbing the pole; the Norwich Grange for providing rehearsal space; and all the other volunteers who make events like this possible.
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Vacations Reunions Weddings Twenty cabins with fireplaces Restaurant features local fare and is open to the public late June to Labor Day Cabins open May-October
Loch Lyme Lodge On Post Pond in Lyme, NH www.lochlymelodge.com 800-423-2141
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Wishing you and your pets a Festive Solstice Season
442 Woodstock Rd Woodstock, VT
802-457-2229
829 Hartford Avenue White River Junction, VT
802-295-6900
Experience the difference that honest, insightful, and compassionate care can have on your pet’s life!
pet hospital
ve emed
www.veremedy.com
Pet trusted. Smart medicine.
Dr. Angela Burrington | Dr. Brad Burrington | Dr. Alyssa Hughes Dr. Anita Pratt Morris | Dr. Devon Rinkin
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v Thinking Local First Benefits The Arts
Tr e e
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Tu r f
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Garden
•
Land
•
Forest
Lebanon 603.448.4800 • New London 603.526.4500 Woodstock 802.457.5100 • Web chippersinc.com • Blog thisoldyard.net Accredited NH Better Business Bureau, A+ Rating & Tree Care Industry Association
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Horizons Day Camp for Girls and Boys Grades K–7 * Ninety natural acres located on the shores of Lake Fairlee. * Counselor-led activities include swimming, canoeing, kayaking, sailing, tennis, gymnastics, archery, arts, crafts and theater. * Healthy snacks and lunch provided. * Three two-week sessions: July 2 - July 13 July 16� - July 27 July 30 - August 10
Horizons Day Camp (802) 333-3400 www.alohafoundation.org/horizons-day-camp/ 52
Youth Morris & Sword Dancers Green Mountain Morris and Maple Leaf Morris dance troupes are accepting new members, boys or girls 9 to 19 years old, beginning practice in January for performances starting next spring and typically including Summer and Christmas Revels. Our youth morris dance teams are led by Chris Levey, Jane Finlay, and Barbara DeFelice. Practices are Tuesdays, early evening, in Norwich, Vermont. For more information, contact Chris.Levey@dartmouth.edu. More information, photos, and video clips at: engineering.dartmouth.edu/~Christopher_Levey/youthmorris
Ray Perez
Thomas Ames, Jr.
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BANKING INSURANCE INVESTMENTS 888.627.2662 55
HOPKINS CENTER FOR THE ARTS THIS HOLIDAY SEASON, GIVE THE GIFT OF EXTRAORDINARY LIVE PERFORMANCE!
Québécois musical supergroup featuring former members of Les Bottine Souriante
DE TEMPS ANTAN SAT | JAN 7 | 8 PM Both performances feature 18 & under pricing.
THEATREWORKS/USA
SKIPPYJON JONES SAT | MAR 10 | 3 PM
Strike the right note with a Hop gift certificate! Available online 24/7 or at the Hop Box Office.
hop.dartmouth.edu | 603.646.2422 Dartmouth College | Hanover, NH 56
A Very Special Thanks to all of the staff at the
Hopkins Center Jeffery H. James Howard Gilman Director Marga Rahmann Associate Director/General Manager Jay Cary Business and Administrative Officer Margaret Lawrence Director of Programming Joseph Clifford Director of Audience Engagement Bill Pence Director of Hopkins Center Film Joshua Price Kol Director of Student Performance Programs
Dartmouth College Hanover, New Hampshire
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v Music French German English Four Languages spoken at the Upper Valley Waldorf School 20 Years
Nursery-Grade 8
80 Bluff Road, Quechee, VT uvws.org 802.296.2496
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Special thanks to our media sponsor:
Revels North wishes to extend its deepest thanks and appreciation to the following organizations whose financial support makes its work possible: The Jack and Dorothy Byrne Foundation for their continued support Country Song and dance society (cdss) for their support for the Children’s Chorus Director The New Hampshire Charitable Foundation for flood recovery support vermont community foundation for flood recovery support Children’s fund of the upper valley of the New hampshire charitable foundation for general support
v Revels North wishes to acknowledge Revels, Inc., the late John Langstaff, Director Emeritus of Revels, Inc., and Carol Langstaff, former Artistic Director of Revels North, who are also the co-creators of The Christmas Revels.
Revels® and Christmas Revels® are registered service marks of Revels, Inc. Revels, Inc., 80 Mt. Auburn St., Watertown, MA 02472 • 617-972-8300 www.revels.org REVELS® Building tradition through music, dance and drama 59
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summer celebration silent auction Old and new Revelers alike enjoyed sensational ambiance and great company at our annual auction and gala get-together held last July at Six South Street, Hanover’s new boutique hotel. The space was donated thanks to new Reveler Don Bruce, who graces our stage for the first time in this year’s performance. Attendees enjoyed delicious appetizers and the music of Lindsey Warren and Mat Doyle in tasteful surroundings and cruised the silent auction items. If the ambiance was wonderful, the company was glorious. We had the opportunity to enjoy each other’s conversation, catch up on news, and share a few drinks and delicious food. Revelers contributed desserts and local farmers and cheese makers contributed cheese. Some Revelers were there from the “Old Days” along with brand new Revelers who just joined the ranks this year. The event spoke well for the longevity and the enduring nature of Revels and Revelers. And, as usual, we had a really great time together while raising money for a favorite cause.
Heather Alger & Hildur Colot
Rick Hoffman, MC
The space for our silent auction was donated by Six South Street Hotel manager Don Bruce, a new Reveler who appears in this Elizabethan Revels, rather fittingly, as the Master of the House. 62
Photos: Sherry Merrick
Lindsey Warren & Mat Doyle
Silent Auction Donors Robert Aliber
Opera North
Chris Aquino
Dan Hertzler and Peggy Ogilvy
Barnyard Quilting
Hog wash Farm
Kevin Peterson
Billings Farm Museum
Hopkins Center
Post Mills Soaring Club
Willy Black
Isabell’s Cafe
Revolution
Blue Sky Restaurants
Lois Jackson
Melinda Ricker
Sandy Bomhower
Jericho Hill Farm Junction Frame Shop
Roberts Flowers
Erica Brinton E.C. Brown’s Nursery
Nancy Kilgore
Bill Schults and Betsy Maislen
Rich Brown
Killington Music Festival
Sise Inn
Bunten Farm
Mark Lansburgh
Six South Street Hotel
The Canoe Club
Lebanon Opera House
CCBA
Loch Lyme Lodge
Cedar Circle Farm
Main Street Kitchens in Hanover
Three Tomatoes Trattoria
Margaritas Mexican
Tupelo Music Hall
Restaurant
Upper Valley Food Co-op Upper Valley Yoga
Olivia and Scott
Marlboro Music School and Festival
Vermont Bead Studio
Chapman
Tim McCosker
Bill Waste
Jinny Cleland
Morano Gelato in
Dustin Coates
Hanover
Cobb Hill Cheese
Murphy’s on the Green
Ned Coffin
My Stained Glass Store
Crossroad Farm
New London Barn Playhouse
Champlain Valley Folk Festival Chandler Center for the Arts
Dartmouth Bookstore EBAs George Grabe Gerrish Honda Hanover Co-op Danette Harris
Pentangle
Spring Brook Farm Earl Strout
Bernie Waugh Mary Waugh Bonna Wieler Woodcock Farm
Northern Stage
Woodstock Recycling & Refuse Co.
Norwich Bookstore
Yama
Norwich Inn
Lucy Young
Nugget Theaters
Young Artist Concert Series/ Manchester Music Festival
On The River Family Farm
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The Abbots Bromley Horn Dance One part of many winter Revels performances that captures the mystery of mid-winter celebration is the Abbots Bromley horn dance, an age-old procession of ten figures, still done each September in Abbots Bromley in Staffordshire, England. In that long-standing local ritual, six men carry sets of caribou horns, followed by a hobby horse, a man dressed as a woman, a boy with a bow and arrow, and a fool who periodically dings a small triangle. The dance is serpentine and includes a figure in which lines of five dancers each approach and retire and cross and repeat, with some clashing of the horns. This is done in the Revels to a haunting tune first notated in the 1850s by an Abbots Bromley resident, William Robinson, who said it was old in his time. The horns in Abbots Bromley, which for the rest of the year hang on the walls of the local church, have been carbon dated to 1065. At least one historian of the dance has identified them with an eleventh-century monk named Wulfric, counselor to King Ethelred and founder of a Benedictine Abbey on whose land the village was founded in 1004. He speculates that the horns were from caribou brought in by Vikings, possibly those against whom Wulfric defended Mercia in 1010. Nothing is known of the dance in that early time, or even if such a dance existed then. The earliest reference in writing appeared in 1686, when Dr. Robert Plot, in A Natural History of Staffordshire, described a dance he called “the hobby horse dance,” involving six sets of caribou horns and a hobby horse. At that time, the dance was done at Christmas. Since the nineteenth century, the dance has been performed on the Monday after the first Sunday after September 4, for reasons no one knows. It is an allday dance, with local processions in town and travel to outlying areas. There is much food, drink, singing, and general social merriment throughout the day, and the horns are then retired to the church to wait another year. The dance was adapted to the Christmas Revels by John Langstaff. Its appeal is the appeal of ancient ritual: It cannot be explained, only experienced, with no ready understanding of the figures or the movements except a sense that it has to do with hunting and takes us back to a time when, in a rural setting where hunting was crucial to survival, some even more ancient invocation to the hunt’s victim was practiced every winter, and always in the same way. — David Parr, Artistic Director, California Revels
Sir Benjamin Stone’s Pictures - Festivals, Ceremonies and Customs. Published by Cassell & Co. London. 1906
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Performing Arts Leadership Service Culture CampUpwithPeople.org
3-week summer camp program • Ages 14-17 • Harrisonburg, VA Dates: July 1-21 & July 22-Aug. 11, 2012 Featuring performing arts, camp activities, service projects & more! www.CampUpwithPeople.org Email: Contact@CampUpwithPeople.org
Inspiring the community through service & song
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Salt hill Pub Honest Food. Perfect Pints. Living Music. 1
Sh Salt Hill Pub
Salt hill Pub is an ideal, smoke-free gathering place for friends and family, proudly owned and operated by brothers Joe and Josh Tuohy. Joe and Josh have been offering their inspired blend of honest Irish-American comfort food, perfect pints, good humor and living music since June 2003. Salt hill Pub is named for a neighborhood in Galway, Ireland, home of our grandparents.
Lebanon • Hanover • Newport Menus, music, more: salthillpub.com 65
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www.uppervalleyhaven.org
(8 0 2 ) 2 9 5 - 6 5 0 0
creating a community where people find hope & discover possibility
The Haven is a non-profit, private organization that serves people struggling with poverty by providing food, shelter & aftercare, education, clothing, and community outreach. We seek the support and participation of the community and rely on the help of over 535 volunteers. We are thrifty with our resources and accountable to the individuals and organizations that support us. All of our services are free of charge.
There is strength in numbers. Together we can reduce homelessness and food insecurity in our community.
Please make an ANNUAL FUND or PLANNED GIFT this holiday season! 713 hartford avenue
white river junction, vt 05001
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802.295.6500
OUR THANKS Revels North extends a huge thank you to Richard Balagur and MTS Development Corporation in Lebanon for providing free temporary space for costumes and props. It has given us a place where we could gather our surviving costumes after all the help from our “laundry brigade,” and we are deeply indebted to Richard for his quick response during the intense weeks of flood recovery.
v WOODSTOCK • RUTLAND • LEBANON • HANOVER
Check out all the current CALENDAR LISTINGS, register to receive WEEKLY EMAIL updates & listen to LOCAL MUSIC online
YELLOWHOUSEMEDIA.COM
WWW.
Send your FREE listings to yellowhousemedia@gmail.com 68
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“One of the best Christmastime entertainments.� CBS News
Front cover photo by Sheppard Ferguson Back cover photos by Rob Strong