Kortney Adams (Maritza) is originally from St. Louis, MO, and has been working as an actor, director, and teaching artist in Boston since 2002. She is delighted to be performing with Revels for the first time! Regional credits include Peer Gynt (Concert Theater Works), A Human Being Died That Night (Sandra Feinstein-Gamm Theatre), Becky’s New Car (Lyric Stage Co. of Boston), Two Gentlemen of Verona (Commonwealth Shakespeare Company), Pippi Longstocking and Aladdin (Wheelock Family Theatre), Voyeurs de Venus (Company One), Doubt (Gloucester Stage Co.), After Mrs. Rochester (IRNE for Best Supporting Actress, Wellesley Summer Theatre), Ada and the Engine, Young Nerds of Color, Harriet Jacobs, and the World Premiere of From Orchids to Octopi (Central Square Theater), and the role of Barbara Demarco in the long-running hit Shear Madness. Films include “The Proposal”, “The Makeover,” ‘“R.I.P.D.,”and “On Broadway.” 

Kortney is the Director of Education and Community Initiatives for Central Square Theater, and also the Managing Director of Theatre Espresso, which uses Theatre in Education to introduce young people to issues of social justice and the law.

David Coffin (Master of Ceremonies) is a firm believer in not doing anything full-time. While he’s been on the Revels stage since 1980 and performed as Master of Ceremonies since 1990, he also presents two very interactive School Enrichment Programs with Revels: The History of the Recorder and A Maritime Voyage in Song. March through November, David can also be found on the Boston Harbor, narrating harbor history and running the crew onboard the high-speed stunt boat, Codzilla. Working with kids is a passion for David, so taking over 10,000 inner-city kids out to the Harbor Islands every summer since 2000 through Save the Harbor/Save the Bay has been a nice way to round out his year.

During the pandemic, David created over 600 videos on TikTok trying to teach young people what a real sea chantey is (i.e. NOT WELLERMAN!) A byproduct of these videos is the digital album The Sound of Time, a series of “one take” songs requested by followers on the app. David has produced a series of virtual concerts, one of which became a digital album; A Revels Hymn Sing. David has several other solo CDs to his credit and was also featured in the Amazon Prime movie Blow the Man Down as the Singing Fisherman.

In his years with Revels, including 10 years standing behind Jack Langstaff and 33 years spent trying to fill his enormous shoes, David learned an awful lot about performing from Jack. He also owes a huge debt of gratitude to Paddy Swanson for giving him his various onstage roles and for preserving and honoring “the part that Jack built.”

Candida Rose Baptista (Vocalist, Tradition Bearer) is a multi-hyphenate in the areas of musical, cultural, & spiritual enrichment, boasting credentials as a songwriter, vocalist, author, educator, entrepreneur, mother/grandmother/great-grandmother, and community leader. A proud KabuVerdiana hailing from New Bedford, Massachusetts, Candida Rose is dedicated to studying and educating about the transnational musical legacy of Cabo Verdean Americans; she has published a book on this topic, KabuMerikanus – the Sum of US, based on original research for which she received a Master’s degree in Transnational, Cultural, and Community Studies from UMass Boston. Candida’s scholarship on Cabo Verdean women in music has been published in a scholarly edited collection, Kriolas Poderozas. Candida works creatively in the medium of sound, and has released two studio albums: KabuMerikana: The Sum of ME and Here I AM!. KabuMerikana brings Candida’s deep knowledge of Cabo Verdean genres like the slow, lilting morna and the polyrhythmic batuku and her training in jazz musicianship into an exciting fusion that she calls “KabuJazz.” Here I AM!, released in 2023, reflects on Candida’s spiritual journey through a sonic exploration of various cultural traditions, such as R&B, jazz, and world music. As an entrepreneur, Candida spearheads Golden Rose Music LLC, through which she continues to share the healing power of music at nursing homes and retirement villages, as she has done for nearly 18 years. With her uniquely compelling contralto voice, Candida Rose amplifies beautiful musical sounds, positive spirituality, and important cultural conversations.

Mary Casey (Siobhan) is pleased to be returning to the stage in this year’s production of Midwinter Revels. Mary was the featured female vocalist and actor in both the 2008 Thomas Hardy and 2012 Celtic productions of Revels. Connected to a long line of Irish singers and storytellers, Mary has delighted audiences for years as a Celtic and Americana folk performer. She has performed in several recent productions of Boston’s Irish Theatre company, Here Comes Everybody, in celebration of the works of James Joyce. Ms. Casey also toured nationally as a vocalist and guitarist in Ellen Kushner’s WGBH production of Esther: Feast of Masks. She has done many studio vocals for local artists and performed at The New England Folk Festival and at local coffee house venues. A Cambridge resident, Mary holds a doctorate in Human Development and Psychology from Harvard. She currently teaches full-time at Tufts University. Mary can sometimes be found singing in pubs in Galway, Ireland, where she maintains close ties to her family from the Aran Islands.

Aidan Parkinson (The Poet) is an award-winning Irish playwright and actor. He has lived, worked, and traveled in North Africa, France, England, Spain, Central Asia, and New Mexico. His play, ‘Bloodshed, Screaming and Monsters,’ won a Pen Award in Dublin in 2019, and another play, Maura Dunne — about a woman who adopts the killer of her fourteen-year-old son — earned accolades from the Abbey Theatre in Dublin which referred to it as ‘a gripping tale… filled with evocative detail and equally evocative dialogue… the play offers a message of hope and connection in times of great adversity…’ The Royal Court in London were also ‘struck by the beauty and complexity of the relationships… and impressed by the author’s instinct to tackle such a huge story in a brave and compelling way.’ He has been commissioned to write plays for several organizations, including Emerson College, and is the former artistic director and president of the Poets’ Theater in Cambridge. He was awarded a scholarship to complete a master’s degree with Derek Walcott at Boston University and has been a teacher of theater, languages, and literature. He has recently taken to writing dramatic autofiction which he performs himself. These are stories from a storied life developed with the conviction that an honest and relentless excavation of oneself can lead to the discovery of larger truths and heartfelt beauties. You can listen to an example of this work on his YouTube under the handle @ShamesChoice. 

Cedric Appolon (Amilcar) is a fifth grader who enjoys reading, math, and science. However, his ultimate passion is drawing and becoming a true artist. Cedric is a very kind young man who loves to help others. He recently performed with Jean Appolon Expressions in 2023 and performs in his school shows every year. His biggest dream is to become an artist who can make and share his drawings with others.

Rebecca McGowan (Featured Dancer) is a traditional and old-style Irish dancer, with a particular interest in step dancing as music. She has been on the faculty of Catskills Irish Arts Week, ReJigged, Pinewoods, O’Flaherty Retreat, and others. Together with duet partner Jackie O’Riley, she released the visual album From the Floor (2019) and the quartet album Eight Feet Tall (2023). The pair was recognized by the Massachusetts Cultural Council as 2022 Choreography Fellows. Rebecca also directs a non-competitive step dancing school for adults. www.RebeccaMcGowanDance.com

Athéna-Gwendolyn Baptiste (Selkie Dancer) (They|Them) is a Trinidadian-American musician, actor, and stage manager in Greater Boston. Stage management credits include: Breath and Imagination and The Cake with Lyric Stage Company, Angels in America: Millennium Approaches and Next to Normal with Central Square Theater, Diaspora and A Raisin in the Sun with New Repertory Theatre, and King Hedley II with Actors’ Shakespeare Project. Performance credits include: Madame White Snake with Opera Boston, Fear Project with OTP, and Midwinter Revels: Feast of Fools (Angel, Chorus, Dancer).

Debra Wise (Director, Revels Interim Artistic Director) co-founded Underground Railway Theater in Oberlin, Ohio; from 1978-2008, URT toured original works in the collaborative spirit of its namesake to venues ranging from Lincoln Center, to schools, to Symphony Hall, including Sanctuary-The Spirit of Harriet Tubman, Home is Where, InTOXICating, and Christopher Columbus Follies; with the Boston Symphony, Firebird, Creation of the World, and Tempest. As URT’s Artistic Director, she created performances for non-traditional venues, including the Museum of Science, MIT Museum, Mary Baker Eddy Library, the MFA, and on the streets of Cambridge. After founding Central Square Theater with Nora Theatre Company in 2008, Wise co-founded Catalyst Collaborative@MIT, CST’s science theater partnership. She led partnerships with Mount Auburn Cemetery and the National Park Service (Roots of Liberty–The Haitian Revolution and the American Civil War). Productions Wise helmed have won Elliot Norton awards, including Vanity Fair; black odyssey boston; The Convert, and Constellations. Acting appearances at CST have included Angels in America, Half-Life of Marie Curie, Homebody, Copenhagen, Einstein’s Dreams, and Arabian Nights; other stages include Commonwealth Shakespeare, New Rep, Speakeasy, Boston Playwrights, Greater Boston Stage, and the Public in NYC (The Haggadah, designed by Julie Taymor). She has adapted for the stage works by Dickens, Grace Paley, Lewis Carroll, and Gregory Maguire. She developed the Art Works for Schools curriculum with Harvard’s Project Zero, the DeCordova Museum, and area schools. Wise left her CST Artistic Director position in 2022 to invite diverse leadership; she continues as Co-Chair of the CC@MIT Advisory Committee. She co-authored a digital book on URT’s history (www.URTheaterEbook.com); and is the narrator for Gregory Maguire’s series of novels, Another Day, which marked a return to his epic Wicked narrative.

Elijah Botkin (Music Director, Revels Music Director), a Boston-based conductor, arranger, choral educator, and performer, was named Revels’ Music Director in December of 2021. He graduated from Northeastern University in 2015 with bachelor’s degrees in Music History & Analysis and Mathematics. While at Northeastern, Elijah founded and directed the Northeastern Madrigal Singers, served as President and Assistant Conductor for the NU Choral Society, and sang with and arranged for the award-winning a cappella group Distilled Harmony.

Elijah’s work on Distilled Harmony’s quarterfinal-winning performance set won the distinction of Outstanding Arrangement from the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella. His arrangement of “Nothing Feels Like You” by Little Mix also won a CARA (Contemporary A Cappella Recording Award) for Best Mixed Collegiate Song. In 2014, Elijah was granted the Gideon Klein Award in order to write his composition The Closed Town, which was premiered by the Northeastern University Chamber Choir in April 2015.

In addition to his role with Revels, Elijah continues to direct the NU Madrigal Singers and was recently named the Interim Music Director of the Reading Community Singers for Spring 2023. He is also a frequent performer with a variety of professional ensembles in the Boston area, with recent and upcoming performances including appearances with Carduus and the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s performance of Morton Feldman’s Rothko Chapel, the NU Madrigal Singers 10th Anniversary Concert, the Nightingale Vocal Ensemble’s recent concerts SALONMUSIK and BLUE SUN, and Nightingale’s upcoming season gala Renaissance Reimagined. He is passionate about using choir, and the power of singing together, to bring joy to anyone and everyone willing to lend their voice.

Patrick “Paddy” Swanson (Senior Artistic Advisor) began his career in London as an actor at the Arts Theatre in the West End. In 1969, following a European tour with the La MaMa Plexus Troupe, he moved to New York and received his world theater education as a resident actor at La MaMa E.T.C. His numerous directing projects include opera, ensemble pieces, music theater, and circus. He was a founding stage director of Circus Flora and the Artistic Director of Revels. Paddy taught acting and improvisation at the London Academy of Dramatic Art (L.A.M.D.A.), the London Drama Centre, and the Tisch School of the Arts at N.Y.U. He served as artistic director of the Castle Hill Festival in Ipswich, Massachusetts, directing and co-producing opera and theater works, including the premieres of Julie Taymor’s Liberty Taken and Peter Sellars’ production of Cosi fan tutte. He directed the Boston Camerata in Tristan and Iseult at the Spoleto USA festival and Shirley Valentine at the Alley Theatre, Houston, and the Charles Playhouse, as well as numerous other productions in the U.K. and Europe. His Actor’s Shakespeare Project production of Shakespeare’s King Lear with Alvin Epstein was nominated for three 2006 Elliot Norton awards and subsequently transferred Off-Broadway. Paddy’s most recent acting role was as Father Jack in Brian Friel’s Dancing at Lughnasa at Gloucester Stage. He was the Artistic Director of Revels for 34 years, and in his current role as Senior Artistic Advisor, serves as a consultant to the other eight Revels production companies performing throughout the United States.

Lourenco “Pelé” Fernandes (Cavaquinho/Ferrinho) was born in Cape Verde on Fogo Island. At the age of 11, he started taking my first steps in music and fell in love with the guitar. 

“My mother was very poor and couldn’t buy me a guitar at the time,” says Pelé. “But the passion was there. At a certain point I decided to buy a guitar, sharing the cost with someone else, I had no other option.”

When Pelé’s mother passed away, he was 13 years old and life became very difficult. At the age of 18, he entered mandatory military service, where he began to develop musically with friends.  After completing military service, he lived on the island of Sal, where he met people there who had evolved at a musical level, and where he began to take this area seriously and to develop skills both on the guitar and on the cavaquinho.  This evolution led him to play in many hotels and restaurants on the island for many years. 

Pelé has been here in the USA for 11 years, where he’s met many technically advanced Cape Verdean artists such as Santos Spencer, Kim Alves, Djim Job, Claudio Ramos, Tiny Cardoso and many more, accompanying singers with high acceptance in Cape Verdean music. His goal is to continue improving and growing as a musician.

Joey Abarta (Uilleann) has spent more than half his life traveling, teaching, and performing music on the uilleann pipes. Originally from California, he first received instruction from Dubliner Pat D’Arcy, a founding member of the Southern California Uilleann Pipers Club. In 2009, Joey’s playing won him a second place title worldwide at the Fleadh Cheoil na hEireann. In 2014, Joey won first prize at the An tOireachtas, becoming the the first American uilleann piper to do so since 1969. In 2015, Joey received a traditional arts apprenticeship from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a grant to help him teach the next generation. In 2023, Joey was awarded an Artist Fellowship in the Traditional Arts from the Massachusetts Cultural Council meaning he was recognized as a bearer and conduit of a cultural tradition by his peers and the state of Massachusetts.

Currently based in Boston, Joey divides his attention between performance, teaching, and recording. He also performs with his wife, old-style step dancer Jaclyn O’Riley; Nathan Gourley of “Life is all Checkered”; and has toured with Mick Moloney and the group The Green Fields of America. He is currently the acting President of the Boston Pipers Club and organizes uilleann piping workshops and concerts for its members and public. Joey is the president of The Patrick J. Touhey Memorial Weekend which is an annual festival based around early American piping styles and pipers. In 2018, Joey was invited by Na Píobairí Uilleann to represent piping in America by performing for the president of Ireland at the Abbey Theater in Dublin Ireland. The concert was a part of the country’s celebration of Uilleann piping being recognized as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO.

Austin Comerford (Tuba) received his Bachelor of Music from The Boston Conservatory and his Master of Music from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. His primary teachers are Steven Campbell and Kenneth Amis, and he has completed additional studies with notable brass players such as Mike Roylance, Roger Bobo, Craig Knox, Larry Isaacson, and Sasha Johnson.

Mr. Comerford maintains an active performance and teaching schedule in the Boston area. He has served on the faculty of Bridgewater State University as the instructor of tuba and euphonium and is currently the tuba and euphonium instructor for Weston Public Schools. As a teacher, Mr. Comerford has worked with students ages 9-55 and presented master classes and clinics at high schools and colleges throughout New England and Minnesota. While pursuing his master’s degree, he worked as an elementary and middle school band director and had the great pleasure of starting many students down their path in music. Many of his students have achieved top marks at solo & ensemble competitions, have made it into district and all-state bands, and have been accepted to music schools and conservatories around the country.

Mr. Comerford performs regularly throughout New England and Minnesota in many different settings including brass bands, chamber ensembles, wind ensembles, and orchestras. He is a member of the Back Bay Brass Quintet and has played as an orchestral musician in groups including the Bangor Symphony Orchestra, New Bedford Symphony Orchestra, Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, Lexington Symphony, Cape Ann Symphony, and Vista Philharmonic. When not playing tuba, he is an active baker, biker, and swimmer, and has recently begun pursuing a second master’s degree in Computer Science.

Tom Duprey (Trumpet) has been freelancing as a trumpet player in the Boston area since the mid-1980s. His jazz friends say he’s a classical player, and his classical friends say he’s a jazzer with a good tone. Tom feels that he’s a “generalist” –  a Jack of all Trades – who noodles his way through the trumpet!

Tom has performed and recorded with pit orchestras; jazz bands; symphony orchestras; and rock, Latin and R&B bands, playing with the likes of Johnny Mathis, Dionne Warwick, Tommy Tune, Robert Goulet, Serj Tankian, Madeleine Peyroux, Amanda Palmer, the Scottish indie-pop band Belle & Sebastian, and with his buddy David Hawthorne’s band Time Ghost on their release Reading For Cigar Makers. His longest-running gig has been playing with the band TickleJuice, led by friend and fellow NEC grad James Merenda, for over fifteen years. And near and dear to his heart, Tom has been blessed to play on many Revels productions and recordings, starting around 1999 as the sub for the now-defunct descant trumpet part up in the balcony of the amazing Sanders Theatre.

Abe Finch (Percussion) is a Boston-area freelance percussionist and music educator. He has performed with the Boston Lyric Opera, Royal Ballet, Boston Landmarks Orchestra, Portland Symphony, Dinosaur Annex, Pro Arte Chamber Ensemble, Chorus Pro Musica, New England Percussion Ensemble, Boston Brass Ensemble, and many more classical, jazz, and theater organizations. Abe was the featured percussionist in the world premiere of James Kallembach’s Audubon at Jordan Hall, performing with Chorus Pro Musica under the direction of Jamie Kirsch and making “salient work of Kallembach’s involved percussion writing” (Jonathan Blumhofer, Boston Classical Review).

Abe provided percussion for Chorus Pro Musica’s performance of The Little Match Girl Passion by David Lang, creating a tapestry of sound using iOS integration and Ableton Live software to capture, process, and transform acoustic sound with ethereal effects. Abe also played the solo percussion role in the world premiere of Songs for the Earth by Rebecca Sachs at Tufts University.

Abe has performed with Revels since 2003, appearing in numerous Christmas and Midwinter Revels and on seven Revels CD releases. He also coached a group of his own students in the Revels production of Benjamin Britten’s Noye’s Flood.

Abe composes original works for percussion, including thematic pieces for children, advanced percussion ensemble repertoire, and arrangements for steel drum ensemble. He currently teaches percussion at Salem State University, where he is director of the small ensemble program. His other teaching positions include Phillips Academy, Groton School, Groton Hill Music, and Northern Essex Community College.

Greg Gettel (Trumpet) is a versatile trumpet player and teacher who has spent over 25 years in the local music scene. After attending Oberlin Conservatory and New England Conservatory, he toured in South Africa, Zimbabwe, England, and performed at the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland. Greg has also served as a guest coach at the SHOBI College of Music in Japan. Locally, he has appeared with many ensembles throughout New England including Boston Ballet, Emmanuel Music, Harvard Baroque, Portland Symphony, Plymouth Philharmonic, Opera Boston, Odyssey Opera, the American Repertory Theater, the Family Folk Chorale, and Midwinter Revels. Greg appears annually in A Merry Music Hall Christmas at the Methuen Memorial Music Hall. He has also played in the Trinity United Methodist’s Boar’s Head Festival in Springfield, MA for over 20 years. He was a student of Tim Morrison, Byron Pearson, and Louis Ranger. Currently, he teaches for Lexington Community Education and The Waldorf School of Lexington. Raised by musicians in rural Vermont, Greg can often be found outdoors with his wife, two kids, and their dog.

Liz Hanley (Fiddle, Voice) is a Brooklyn based singer and fiddle player across many genres.

Growing up in Boston into an Irish Hungarian American family, Liz Hanley learned traditional fiddle tunes from her father/fiddle player Andy Hanley, songs and stories from her grandparents Martin Hanley, Rita McNamara and Ray Nagy and family friends Brian and Lindsay O’Donovan. She attended the New England Conservatory Preparatory school where she studied under Blanka Bednarz and then Eric Rosenblith. She has toured globally with Mick Moloney and the Green Fields of America, as well as prog folk rock ensemble Frogbelly and Symphony and chamber rock band Emanuel and the Fear.

Hanley spent many years living between Brooklyn, NY and Sheffield, England, immersed in the both city’s rich folk music scenes and collecting songs and tunes. Today she can be found mostly playing around NYC in the Irish traditional seisiún scene.

Hanley’s debut album “The Ecstasy of St Cecilia” was hailed “a gentle work of beauty” by FolkWorld. Hanley’s sophomore album will be arriving in 2024. Both records feature long time collaborators and friends Jefferson Hamer and Eamon O’Leary of the Murphy Beds.

Lindsay Straw (Guitar, Bouzouki, Voice) is a Boston-based singer, guitarist, Irish bouzouki player and teacher. She found her musical home in the vibrant local Celtic music scene while studying at Berklee, where she added the influence and music of the Irish session world to her folk revival inspirations (Renbourn, Jansch, Bensusan). While she continues to draw from the deep well of traditional Irish and Scottish music, in recent years she’s been pulled west, embracing American roots music and blending style and songs from both sides of the Atlantic. She can be found playing around New England not only solo but with bands The New Grown-Ups (modern American roots) and The Ivy Leaf (Celtic). With three albums and countless festival, club, coffeehouse and private event gigs under her belt, Lindsay has been heralded as a reincarnation of many legendary trad singers of eras past.

In addition to her trad music pursuits, Lindsay has also spent the last four years in the boutique guitar retail world, working closely with some of the world’s best modern luthiers to promote their work at shops like The Music Emporium, Cedar Rock Studio & Guitar Gallery, and The North American Guitar (now Carter Vintage). She’s currently an ambassador for Jewitt Guitars and Blind Guitars.

Philip Swanson (Trombone) has had a wide-ranging career as a trombonist, pianist, composer, organist, and teacher. He completed his Doctor of Musical Arts at New England Conservatory, received a Master of Music from the Eastman School of Music, and did his undergraduate study at Oberlin Conservatory and the University of Miami.

As a trombonist, he has performed with the Miami Philharmonic, where he served as principal for five years, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Boston Pops, Opera Boston, Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Boston Ballet Orchestra, and numerous other orchestral and chamber ensembles. He has performed with many small group and big band jazz ensembles including Chamber Jazz, which he founded with guitarist Anthony Weller, and The Bob Nieske 10. He has also collaborated with the poet J.D. Scrimgeour, Director of Creative Writing at Salem State University, forming the group “Confluence,” which combines Scrimgeour’s poetry with Swanson’s music. Swanson is currently a Professor of Music at Salem State University, where he teaches music theory, composition, trombone, and piano. Since 1991, he has been Music Director of the First Congregational Church of Rockport, where he serves as organist and choir director. 

Swanson has written and published numerous works in both instrumental and vocal genres. He can be heard on a wide range of recordings including several jazz group recordings, two solo piano recordings, an album with J.D. Scrimgeour of poetry and music, two CDs with brass and organ, seven CDs with the Cambridge Revels, and performances with larger ensembles including the Boston Pops and John Williams. For more information on his compositions, recordings, and current performances, please visit www.swansonmusic.com.

Jeff Adelberg (Lighting Designer) is celebrating his 14th year designing for Revels! A Boston-based designer, he is responsible for over 300 productions in New England and beyond. Recent work includes Million Dollar Quartet Christmas (Capital Repertory Theatre, Albany NY); El Matrimonio Secreto (Florida Grand Opera); The Effect, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, Topdog/Underdog and Describe the Night (The Gamm Theatre, RI); The Dybbuk (Arlekin Theatre at Vilna Shul, Boston); Heroes of the Fourth Turning and People Places and Things (Speakeasy Stage); and Ain’t Misbehavin’ (Central Square Theatre). Jeff has won four Eliott Norton Awards and four Independent Reviewers of New England (IRNE) Awards for his designs. He attended the University of Connecticut and teaches at Harvard University and Boston College. A member of IATSE/USA-829, Jeff lives in Holliston, Massachusetts with wife Tess and daughter Jo. www.jeffadelberg.com Instagram: @jdadelberg

Jeremy Barnett (Scenic Designer) is a Detroit-based scenic designer and professor of theatre at Oakland University in Southeast Michigan. Boston credits include work for Opera Boston, Boston Midsummer Opera, The Opera Institute at Boston University, Mssng Lnks Inc., Gloucester Stage Company, and Stoneham Theatre Company. Jeremy has assisted designers on productions at The Lyric Opera of Chicago, The New York Philharmonic, The Pasadena Playhouse, Pittsburgh Public Theatre, Arena Stage, The Shakespeare Theatre in Washington D.C., Philadelphia Theatre Company, and Huntington Theatre Company. He holds an MFA in Scenic Design from Boston University and a BFA from Carnegie Mellon University, and has studied fine art in Ukraine, Italy, and Zimbabwe. Jeremy co-founded Amarant Design Collective, an installation art organization that produces site-specific work in repurposed spaces in and around Detroit.

Nicole Galland (Dramaturg) is honored to have helped craft this year’s Midwinter Revels script. Nicole went to Harvard University where she spent all her time acting and directing theater despite being a Comparative Religion student. She began a PhD in Drama/Directing at UC Berkeley, but was seduced away from academia by the lively Bay Area theatre scene. Since leaving her staff job as Literary Manager/Dramaturg at Berkeley Repertory Theatre 20 years ago, she’s made her living as a writer. Her debut historical novel The Fool’s Tale was a Barnes & Noble “Discover Great New Writers” selection, and her speculative-fiction romp, The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. (co-authored with Neal Stephenson) was a New York Times bestseller. Her humor-advice column in the Martha’s Vineyard Times, “MV P&Qs,” was a finalist for the NENPA award, and she’s taught creative writing workshops on both sides of the Atlantic.

But Nicole has never stopped making theatre. She has co-directed the irreverent troupe Shakespeare for the Masses on Martha’s Vineyard since 2008, and occasionally directs for Newton Nomadic Theatre, which is too eccentric and wee to have a website. She recently co-wrote and directed Last Call, a play about traditional Irish music, in the village of Howth, County Dublin, where she lived for a year; it will be revived in spring 2025.

Her 11th novel, BOY, a coming-of-age tale set in Shakespeare’s London, will be published by William Morrow in February 2025.

Lizandra “Liz” Gomes (u/s/ Maritza) is an experienced professional with ten years in public service, serving as Deputy Chief of Staff and DEIB Program Manager at the Massachusetts Office of State Treasurer & Receiver General. She combines strategic leadership with a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. Liz co-founded the Paula Ortet ’11 and Lizandra Gomes ’10 Scholarship Fund to provide support to Cabo Verdean students. She holds an MBA from Babson College and dual degrees in Mathematics and Theatre Arts from Bridgewater State University.

Heidi Hermiller (Costume Designer) has been designing Revels costumes for 30+ years and loves each exciting new challenge! Along with the Revels, Heidi has designed the Harvard Hasty Pudding (now with actual women in the cast!), but wherever she is in Cambridge, Heidi loves the craziness, research, and outright joy of designing costumes for director Paddy Swanson, including Sanders statues brought to life, pirates, dragons, trolls, killer fish, dancing crabs, tiny ballerinas, incredible singers, beautiful dancers… anything to make Midwinter Revels magic burst to life! She would especially like to thank her husband John for his love, patience, and understanding when asked to climb up the ladder and hand down the Jingly Jesters… no, not the sparkly jester or the French Jester… or the Velvet Jester…etc.

Trained as a clinical social worker, Sarah Higginbotham (Assistant Music Director) finds joy in developing authentic ways to create multigenerational community through creative arts. She’s been a songleader in schools, camps, churches, and children’s theaters. Sarah was the Revels Education Director from 2005-2009, establishing after-school workshops and in-school residencies around greater Boston, and she has assisted the music directors of Revels for over 20 years. Sarah currently serves as Director of Communications & Christian Formation at First Church in Cambridge, UCC.

Stephen Lewontin (Program Artist / Props Builder) is a photographer, painter, and former engineer who’s worked in Boston area theater for 30+ years. He’s made shadow puppets (Creation, Underground Railway), a village of miniature houses (A Christmas Carol, Central Square Theater), and even a 15-foot puppet of Toussaint L’Ouverture (Roots of Liberty, URT, starring Danny Glover). Stephen’s photographs have been published in newspapers and magazines worldwide, including The New York Times, The Boston Review, and Popular Photography. He was the winner of the 1984 Boston Globe and Kodak International photography prizes.

Elizabeth Locke (Props Coordinator) is celebrating her 28th straight year on the Revels production crew, either as props coordinator, assistant stage manager, or in some years, both! Other credits include props coordination for the first four years of Actors’ Shakespeare Project, props for Central Square Theater and Concord Academy, stage management at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and helping to found Cornerstone Village Cohousing in Cambridge.

Revels is a family affair; all three of Elizabeth’s children, two of her grandchildren, two ex-husbands, and her current partner have appeared on the Revels stage. The opportunity to work with a multi-generational backstage team has been the most satisfying part of her Revels experience. She is energized and inspired by the cooperation and collaboration (and just plain fun) that gets the team to opening night!

Jackie O’Riley (Choreographer) spent her formative dance years in the Irish set dancing community in Boston, MA.  Over the past 20 years, she has ardently sought out old-style or traditional step dancing, sean-nós dance, and set dancing and is now a respected performer and teacher, with a unique repertoire that includes older steps she’s collected from masters and field footage, and original material she’s composed.  

Jackie performs and teaches in the US, Canada, and Ireland, was an original member of the touring sean-nós dance show Atlantic Steps, and in 2018 performed at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin as part of Na Píobairí Uilleann’s production, “The Sound of Ireland”.  She founded, directs, and teaches O’Riley Irish Dance, a unique, non-competitive dance program for kids and teens now in its 14th year, is the co-recipient of a 2017 and 2022 grant for choreographers through the Boston Foundation, and a co-recipient of a Mass Cultural Council Fellowship in Choreography in 2021.

In 2019 she co-released a debut, first-of-its-kind visual album, From the Floor.  Above all, she believes in prioritizing musicality in dancing, being a part of the wider musical and traditional community, and maintaining the joy that drew her to the tradition in the first place.

Aminah Pilgrim (Tradition Bearer) is a proud Kabuverdiana. An Associate Professor of Africana Studies at Berklee College of Music, her classes include African Diaspora, Hip Hop, and Black Liberation music. Her 23 years of teaching experience includes positions at UMass Boston and other colleges. An award-winning scholar, she has authored several publications and contributed to documentaries. Dr. Aminah consults and speaks widely on culturally/linguistically relevant education and social justice. She’s a Mom, wife, community leader, researcher, author, and artist.

Bill Winn (Sound Designer/Engineer) has toured all over the world working with many of music’s top acts such as Whitney Houston, Herbie Hancock, and Joni Mitchell. He has designed and implemented sound for the DC Jazz Festival, 2004–2014; Barbara Streisand Live at Shrine Auditorium; 2000 DNC; and the Thelonious Monk Jazz Competition, 1987 to the present. His television-broadcast sound and mixing work has included the 2017 Emmy Award-nominated Front Row Boston (WGBH featuring Sean Lennon and Les Claypool), The United Nations International Jazz Day at the White House (ABC, 2016), and the White House Tribute to Thelonious Monk (2008). He also won the 2020 Emmy for “Outstanding Audio” for “Sing That Thing” at WGBH.

Bill has been working with Revels since 1995. He met Revels founder Jack Langstaff and former music director George Emlen while working on several Revels recordings with John Newton of Soundmirror. In 1999, Revels sound designer Berred Ouellette passed on the task of creating the Revels sound to Bill, who has been sitting at the board in orchestra row V every December since.