Archive for Announcements

‘Selkie Girl’ may have a slim plot, but the show’s music makes up for it

By Jeffery Gantz, Globe correspondent. Updated December 14, 2024. “Midwinter Revels” hadn’t touched down in Ireland in more than three decades, so this year’s return to the Emerald Isle is more than welcome. The show, “The Selkie Girl and the Seal Woman,” takes place in an imagined pub…

This year’s ‘Midwinter Revels’ blends two Mass. immigrant heritages

By Terry Byrne, Globe correspondent. Updated December 12, 2024. “The Revels,” says director Debra Wise, “is the ultimate collage.” This year’s 54th production, “The Selkie Girl and the Seal Woman” is the result of months of listening, learning, collecting, and curating, culminating in a gathering of nearly 60 singers, musicians,…

Boston Music Intelligencer REVIEW: Going Deeper Underground with “Secret Byrd”

David Patterson. Updated November 1, 2024. An “immersive stage mass” continues this year on an international tour with 22 new performances in 10 cities including Boston from October 31st through November 2nd. Early Halloween evening The Cathedral Church of St. Paul Boston opened its doors transformed into a clandestine…

Events Insider REVIEW: Revels Presents Immersive Musical Theatrical Experience SECRET BYRD at St. Paul’s Cathedral in Boston – 4.5 Stars

By Matt Marino. Updated November 1, 2024. Ask your average person what they know about the English Renaissance, and they will probably answer that they ate turkey legs and jousted a lot.  For serious history scholars, they will tell tales of the Bard of Avalon, Shakespeare.  The Virgin…

The Boston Musical Intelligencer PREVIEW: Don’t Tell Anyone About “Secret Byrd”

By BMInt Staff. Updated October 26, 2024. The Gesualdo Six and Abendmusik will collaborate with creator Bill Barclay in a theatrical seance by candlelight, communing with some of the most ravishing music ever written, at St. Paul’s Cathedral, Boston on October 31st to November 2nd. Co-commissioned by St. Martin-in-the-Fields…

Boston Globe REVIEW: Midwinter Revels Serves Up a Frolicsome ‘Feast of Fools’

By Jeffrey Gantz, Globe correspondant. Updated December 18, 2023, 3:04 PM CAMBRIDGE — The Feast of Fools arose in medieval Europe as a Christmastide ritual in which a mock bishop or pope was elected and low and high officials changed places. The inspiration came perhaps from the birth…

Theater Mirror REVIEW: Revels Goes Medieval in Swanson’s Swan Song with ‘Feast of Fools’

By Michael Hoban. Updated December 20, 2023 Midwinter Revels: The Feast of Fools: A Medieval Celebration of the Solstice – Written and Directed by Patrick Swanson and Debra Wise.; Musical Direction by Elijah Botkin; Choreography by Susan Dibble; Set Design by Jeremy Barnett; Sound Design by Bill Winn;…

Stage and Cinema REVIEW: You’d Be a Fool to Miss this Feast of Fun

By Lynne Weiss. Updated December 18, 2023 The long-playing Midwinter Revels (founded as Christmas Revels in 1971) is a unique mix of professional performance, volunteer talent, and audience participation that has created a joyous community that comes together each holiday season to delight in forms of music and dance that…

Broadway World REVIEW: Midwinter Revels – A Journey of Comfort and Joy

By Nancy Grossman, Globe correspondant. Updated December 21, 2023 Midwinter Revels: The Feast of Fools A Medieval Celebration of the Solstice Written and Directed by Patrick Swanson and Debra Wise; Elijah Botkin, Music Director; Sarah Higginbotham, Children’s Music Director; Choreographer, Susan Dibble; Set Design, Jeremy C. Barnett; Costume Design, Heidi Hermiller; Lighting…

Boston Globe HOLIDAY ARTS PREVIEW: A medieval ‘Midwinter Revels’ will suffer these fools gladly

By Terry Byrne, Globe correspondent. Updated November 10, 2023, 10:00 a.m. Across 34 years as artistic director of the Revels, Patrick Swanson has taken audiences from every corner of Europe to North America, from medieval times to the 20th century, in an exploration of the mysteries of life, death,…