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: The History of the Recorder and A Maritime Voyage in Song. March through November, David can also be found on 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 THE WELLERMAN SONG!) 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, two of which became a digital album; A Revels Hymn Sing and A Virtual Maritime Concert. 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 36 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.”

Jake Blount (Band Leader, Fiddle) is a performer and scholar of Black folk music based in Providence, RI. Initially recognized for his skill as a string band musician, Blount has synthesized his scholarly and artistic pursuits into a diverse performance practice that has taken him to Carnegie Hall, Newport Folk Festival, NPR’s Tiny Desk, and beyond. His albums, released on Free Dirt Records and Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, have been featured in best-of lists from NPR, The New Yorker, and Rolling Stone. His scholarly publications include “Jail the Zombie: Black Banjoists, Biopolitics, and Archives,” published in Modern American History. He also served as a music consultant for the movie Sinners, and performed on the soundtrack of Ken Burns’s The American Revolution. Blount holds an A.M. in Musicology and Ethnomusicology from Brown University, where he is working toward a Ph.D. in the same and a second master’s degree in Anthropology. He recently released a new string band recording, Single-Footing Horse, and announced a new musical project forthcoming in the new year.

Regie Gibson, the inaugural Poet Laureate of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, has lectured & performed in the U.S., Cuba & Europe. Representing the U.S. in Italy,  he competed for & received the Absolute Poetry Award in Monfalcone & The Europa in Versi Award in LaGuardia di Como. He & his work appear in “love jones”: a film based on events in his life. He has served as consultant for the NEA, has featured on HBO, several TEDx events, & various NPR programs including On Point & Radio Boston. Regie has performed with & composed texts for The Boston City Singers, The Mystic Chorale, & the Handel+Haydn Society. He is a Brother Thomas Fellow & has received two Live Arts Boston Grants for his first play, The Juke: A Blues Bacchae, in which he uses the Euripidean tragedy to explore African-American history, culture, and spirituality. He appeared in “Black Odyssey Boston, (Underground Railway Theater & The Front Porch Arts Collective) & performs with Atlas Soul: a world music ensemble. He is Artistic Director of Shakespeare to Hiphop’s Shakespeare Time-Traveling Speakeasy: A multi-media performance focusing on the influence of William Shakespeare. He teaches at Clark University.

Sarah Corey (Magda): Revels:  Christmas (1990, 1991), Sea and Spring (1 each, sometime before that!).  OFF-BROADWAY: A Letter to Harvey Milk, Love & Real Estate, Illyria. INTERNATIONAL TOURS: Prospect Theater Company: Death For Five Voices. SELECTED REGIONAL: The Huntington: Leopoldstadt, The Band’s Visit;  Commonwealth Shakespeare Company: Much Ado About Nothing;  Kennedy Center:  Shear Madness; Ford’s Theater:  Come From Away, Sister Act; Shakespeare Theatre Company:  Leopoldstadt, Much Ado About Nothing; Alabama Shakespeare Festival: In the Book Of;  Theater J: Nathan the Wise;  Gamm Theatre: Bad Jews;  Gulfshore Playhouse: The Refugees;  Tantrum Theater: Rhinoceros;  TheatreSquared: A Christmas Carol;  Olney Theatre Center: Oil;  Arena Stage: A Thousand Splendid Suns;  Rep Stage: Songs for a New World, Falsettos;  SpeakEasy Stage: Caroline, or Change;  New Repertory Theater: Lippa’s The Wild Party, Lyric Stage: Meshuggah Nuns!, Stoneham Theater: Tommy, You Never Know. TV: Swagger, Lady in the Lake, We Own This City. TRAINING: Princeton University, LAMDA, Shakespeare & Company. IG: sscoreyny. Website: sarah-corey.weebly.com.

Gary Thomas Ng (Wai-On) is excited to be part of this year’s Midwinter Revels. Select Boston Credits: The Prom, The Wizard of Oz, Roald Dahl’s Willy Wonka, Beauty and the Beast, Billy Elliot and Seussical (Wheelock Family Theatre); The Great Leap, Pacific Overtures and Sideshow (Lyric Stage Boston); Allegiance (Speakeasy Stage – IRNE nomination Best Supporting Actor); All Is Calm (2022 Elliot Norton Winner Best Musical) and Miracle on 34 th Street (Greater Boston Stage Co.). Regional Credits: Miss Saigon, Grease!, Joseph/Dreamcoat and Footloose (Ogunquit Playhouse); Children of Eden (NSMT); and the Far East Tour of Cole Porter’s Aladdin.

Eliza Fichter (Catherine) is thrilled to be reveling again! Regional: The Wash (Front Porch); Dear Alien (Chester Theatre); How to Not Save the World With Mr. Bezos (Great Barrington Public Theater); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Actors’ Shakespeare Project); Noises Off (Lyric Stage); As You Like It, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Servant of Two Masters (Lanes Coven); Morning, Noon and Night (Company One); The Minutes (Umbrella Stage); The Crucible (The Nora/Bedlam); The Revolutionists (Central Square Theater). Eliza also works as a printmaker. elizafichter.com

Doug Lockwood (Johann) – Actors’ Shakespeare Project (Founding Member): Actor: Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors; A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Pride and Prejudice, Richard II, Twelfth Night, Antony & Cleopatra, The Merchant of Venice, Othello, Much Ado About Nothing, Henry V, The Winter’s Tale, Measure for Measure, King Lear, Titus Andronicus, Richard III Director: King Lear, Hamlet, Middletown, Cymbeline; Boston Area: Acting: Beckett’s ‘Texts for Nothing’ (Nervous Theatre); Art, The Waverly Gallery, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, Twelfth Night (New Rep); The Cherry Orchard (Nora); Carnival (Gloucester Stage); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Commonwealth Shakes); Pericles (A.R.T.); Lilli’s Purple Plastic Purse, Snow White, Pippi Longstocking (Wheelock Family Theatre); Regional: Wallace Shawn’s ‘The Fever’ under the direction of Ken Rus Schmoll (performed in over 50 living rooms); Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Edmonton Festival, Colorado Shakespeare Festival; Director: The Glass Menagerie (Elliot Norton Award for Best Directing-Midsize Theatre; Auld Lang Syne (Gloucester Stage Company); Chesapeake, Cyrano (New Rep); Three Sisters, The Cradle Will Rock, Coolsville, Machinal, Bent, Cloud 9, Landscape of the Body, Two Gentleman of Verona-The Musical, The Beckett Bash, Twelfth Night (The Boston Conservatory at Berklee); Education: MFA: University of Washington under the direction of Steve Pearson; Teaching: The Boston Conservatory at Berklee: Professor of Acting 2004-present

Isabel Gray (Marysa) (she/her) is so excited to be making her Revels debut! Isabel is an NYC-based actor, writer, and creative. Education: Vocal Performance Musical Theatre, NYU Steinhardt. Credits include: Jesus Christ Superstar (Mary Magdalene), Show Me Eternity (Hope), L’enfant et les sortileges (L’enfant), Oklahoma! (Laurey), as well as many cabarets and workshops. Isabel is represented commercially by Element Talent Agency. She is passionate about folk music, poetry, and her yearly Renaissance Faire costumes. isabelgray.com

Hamish Swanson (John-Patrick) is delighted to be returning to the Revels stage for the first time in forever. Based out of NYC, he is a freelance scenic production carpenter. Special thanks to my family for convincing me to do this, to my amazing partner Kathryn for keeping a secret, and to the Revels community at large for everything you have done for me over the last 25 years. Technical credits include: 2nd Stage; Meet The Cartozians, The Visitors. Audible Theater; Mexodus, The Disappear, Sexual Misconduct of the Middle Classes, Laramie Project 20th Anniversary, (Audible Theater) and many more.

Boston Chinese United Dance Troupe (Featured Ensemble), founded in 2022 by Charlene Xiaoyun Cong, Founder and Director, Boston Chinese United Dance Troupe brings together dancers ranging in age from 8 to 80, sharing the stage across generations and celebrating the beauty and spirit of Chinese dance and culture.

Based in Greater Boston, the troupe performs at Chinese New Year celebrations, cultural festivals, community events, and multicultural programs. Its repertoire includes traditional and contemporary Chinese dance, folk-inspired works, and performances that connect Chinese culture with the wider world. The troupe’s featured works include Helping Hands, Jasmine Flowers, and The Evening Bell at Nanping (Nanping Wan Zhong).

For this year’s Midwinter Revels, the troupe presents Colorful Clouds Chasing the Moon (Cai Yun Zhui Yue), inspired by the musical and cultural heritage of Guangdong in southern China. The dance expresses the longing of a family separated by an ocean: a husband who has traveled to America to work as a railroad laborer, while his wife and daughter remain in Guangdong. Under the same moon, they share their love and longing across the miles.

The troupe believes dance is more than performance—it is a way to preserve traditions, share stories, and build connections across generations and cultures. The troupe is honored to bring this story to the Revels stage.

Jeffrey Binder is a theatre artist and arts leader whose work spans directing, playwriting, producing, education, and nonprofit administration. He brings a lifelong commitment to storytelling that fosters empathy, joy, and a sense of belonging across generations and communities.

Binder spent nearly three decades performing on Broadway, in regional theatres across the country, and in London’s West End. He later served as Associate Artistic Director of Gulfshore Playhouse in Naples, Florida, where he helped shape artistic programming, expand education initiatives, and support a successful capital campaign culminating in the opening of a new state-of-the-art theatre complex.

As a playwright, Binder’s modern adaptation of Scapino is published by Samuel French and has enjoyed record-breaking productions. He is deeply passionate about building artistic homes that honor tradition while welcoming new voices and is energized by styles and performances that are uniquely theatrical.

Jeff is thrilled to join the Revels family along with his daughter Annika, husband Mike, and dogs Quincy and Penny – with occasional, reluctant participation from his creaky old cat, Torch.

Elijah Botkin (Music Director) is a Boston-based conductor, arranger, choral educator, and performer who has served as Revels’ music director since 2021. He also directs the Northeastern University Madrigal Singers, which he founded in 2013, and serves as assistant conductor of the Zamir Chorale of Boston. He previously served as Spring Artistic Director of the Reading Community Singers, concluding his tenure in spring 2026.

At Revels, Elijah helps shape each production’s musical program, creating arrangements for its singers and instrumentalists to help bring our stage story to life. He enjoys exploring the traditions at the heart of each year’s show and helping performers discover the sounds, stories, and character of sometimes unfamiliar music. His arrangements for Midwinter Revels over the years have been praised as “uncannily idiomatic.”

Elijah graduated from Northeastern University in 2015 with bachelor’s degrees in Music History & Analysis and Mathematics. In addition to founding the Madrigal Singers, he served as president and assistant conductor of the NU Choral Society and sang with and arranged for the award-winning a cappella group Distilled Harmony. His work on Distilled Harmony’s quarterfinal-winning set earned an Outstanding Arrangement award at the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella. The group’s recording of his arrangement of Little Mix’s “Nothing Feels Like You” also won a Contemporary A Cappella Recording Award for Best Mixed Collegiate Song. In 2014, he received the Gideon Klein Award to compose The Closed Town, which premiered with the Northeastern University Chamber Choir in April 2015.

As a performer, Elijah has appeared with Carduus and Nightingale Vocal Ensemble, and in the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s performance of Morton Feldman’s Rothko Chapel. Whether leading a rehearsal, performing onstage, or inviting an audience to sing along, he loves bringing people together through music and sharing the joy of singing with anyone willing to lend their voice.

Chris Newell (Script Historian) is founding director of the Native American Cultural Program for the University of Connecticut and co-founder/director of education for Akomawt Educational Initiative; a majority Native-owned educational consultancy based in Connecticut.  He is a multi-award-winning museum professional born and raised in Motahkomikuhk (Indian Township, ME) and a proud citizen of the Passamaquoddy Tribe at Indian Township.  He also serves on the Board of Trustees for the New England Museum Association, Tides Institute, Maine Public, Indigo Arts Alliance, and the New England Foundation for the Arts.  

Chris is a longtime singer with the acclaimed Mystic River Singers, based in Connecticut, and has traveled the US and Canada singing and participating in cultural celebrations, powwows, and live stage performances. Chris was the Senior Advisor for the Emmy-award-winning documentary Dawnland and a participant and co-director of the short documentary Weckuwapok: The Approaching Dawn (2022), chronicling a historic sunrise concert collaboration in 2021 with Wabanaki musicians/storytellers and 19-time Grammy-winning cellist Yo-Yo Ma, as well as co-curating a show called We Are Water with Yo-Yo Ma for the reopening of Dartmouth College’s Hopkins Center for the Arts. In addition, Chris is a published author of the Scholastic book If You Lived During the Plimoth Thanksgiving, a non-fiction historical children’s picture book focusing on the history of encounters with Wampanoag peoples and early English colonists, which earned starred reviews from the School Library Journal and Kirkus Reviews. His newest book, If You Lived During the American Revolution, published this year, received the Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection.

Andy Taylor (Choreographer) is thrilled to return to the Revels community, having choreographed the dance sections in 2011. She started International Folk dancing at a young age under the guidance of her parents, Marianne and Conny Taylor, co-founders of the Folk Arts Center of New England.  Andy was certified in Scottish Country Dance teaching at 17 and graduated with a BFA in Dance and a minor in Social Anthropology from Univ of Mass/Amherst.  

Andy’s professional dance career spans 40 years of performing with local and international choreographers and includes 20 years with Prometheus Dance, a touring company.  She is the artistic director of the Boston Scottish Country Dancers and of Mladost Folk Ensemble, a youth folk dance troupe that appeared in the 2009 Revels. She is also artistic director for Back Pocket Dancers, an intergenerational group who tell stories through narration, movement, and music. Dance is to breathe, to grow, and to explore ourselves.

Andrea Haber (Polish Tradition Bearer) nee Pierce, began dancing with the Krakowiak Polish Dancers of Boston as a teen.

She took a leave of absence from Smith College to spend a year at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Poland studying language and dancing with the local group AGH Krakus, the oldest student folklore song and dance ensemble in Poland. She also graduated from the Course for Instructors of Polish Folk Dance in Lublin, and was appointed Assistant Choreographer of the Krakowiaks.

After moving to Australia, she founded the Polonia Polish Dancers of Perth and served as Artistic Director until her return to Boston.  While in Perth, she worked as “Ethnic Arts Officer” – a position jointly funded by the Australia Council for the Arts and the Multicultural Education Council of Western Australia, for the advancement of artistic endeavors in immigrant communities in the state. She also taught folklore and dance at the local Polish “Saturday school”.

After returning to Boston, she performed with the Mandala Folk Dance Ensemble, a semi-professional international ensemble, choreographing Polish suites, directing several other suites and serving on the Artistic Committee – Mandala’s committee approach to the post of artistic director.

She has led several Polish dance workshops at the New England Folk Festival. From the fall of 2007 to the present, she has been the Artistic Director of the Krakowiak Polish Dancers. Last summer, she began work toward a second choreographer’s diploma, at the Studium Choreograficzne at Rzeszów University in Poland.

Sammy Wetstein (banjo, fiddle, bass) is a multi instrumentalist, composer, and teacher inspired by bonds of kinship forged through music and dance. He found his love for music traveling between multigenerational folk music workshops and festivals in search of a musical community to call home. His journey led him to pursue a degree in folk and jazz string performance at Berklee College of Music, where he became versed in a variety of styles, performing, recording, and teaching throughout the worlds of classical, jazz, and traditional Celtic, New England, Bluegrass and Old time fiddle music. 

As a multi instrumentalist fluent in playing accordion, piano, cello guitar, mandolin, banjo, bass, violin, and viola, he has appeared at venues such as the Newport Folk Festival, Grey Fox Bluegrass festival, and the Smithsonian.  He has served as faculty at camps and workshops such as Maine Fiddle Camp, The Swannanoa Gathering, The Ashokan Center, Fiddle Hell, Pinewoods, and the IBMA Kids on Bluegrass Program, and co directs a number of weekend folk cello retreats throughout the year. 

Sammy has appeared alongside artists such as the Grammy winning 8 Bit Big Band, jazz icons Joe Lovano and Kenny Barron, renown string players including Eugene Friesen, Darol Anger, Mike Marshall and Jason Anick, and toured with trailblazing folk artists Jake Bount and Nic Gareiss. Advocating for furthering the role of the cello in traditional music, he has been featured on Bluegrass Today and Sirius XM Bluegrass Junction. In 2024 his new acoustic quartet Catfish in the Sky was a winner of the Freshgrass band competition, and his Celtic trio was voted one of the top 5 Celtic bands of 2022 by Irish and Celtic music podcast

Sammy plays music in hopes to bring others together, and in his teaching he works to encourage string players of all ages and backgrounds to find freedom in their music, explore global music styles, and play music as a means to exist in community while better understanding themselves.

Tom Pixton (Accordion) has been active in a variety of traditional music scenes for more than 30 years and is a dear friend of Revels. He has been a regular Revels performer since 1997, appearing on numerous stage and recording projects as accordionist, arranger, singer, and bandleader. He works regularly with many traditional dance camps and festivals around the US. Learn more about Tom at https://www.pixton.org/.

Austin Comerford (Tuba) is an active orchestral and chamber musician based in Boston and a member of the Back Bay Brass Quintet and Ringers Brass. He performs regularly throughout New England and has appeared with the Bangor Symphony Orchestra, New Bedford Symphony Orchestra, Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, Cape Ann Symphony, Lexington Symphony, Vista Philharmonic, Pro-Arte Chamber Orchestra, and numerous other ensembles. He has also served as principal tuba with the Cape Ann Symphony and is a frequent substitute and guest musician with ensembles throughout the region.

A passionate educator, Austin maintains an active private teaching studio and is a former faculty member at Bridgewater State University. He has presented clinics and master classes at schools and colleges throughout New England and Minnesota. His students regularly earn high honors in district and state music competitions, and he takes particular pride in helping young musicians develop both their technical skills and artistic voices.

In addition to his performing and teaching career, Austin has held administrative positions at the New England Conservatory and Northeastern University. His diverse experience in performance, education, and arts administration reflects his commitment to supporting and strengthening the musical communities in which he works.

Tom Duprey (Trumpet) has been actively playing trumpet in the Boston area since 1986 when he moved here to receive his Master’s degree in Jazz Studies & Composition at the New England Conservatory of Music. His performance focus at that time was with the group The Mandala Octet, playing such venues as The Knitting Factory in NYC , Café No in Portland ME, The Middle East Café in Cambridge MA and the Kool Jazz Festival in Saratoga Springs, as well as cutting 3 CDs with the grouo.  Since then Tom has performed in many regional, college and downtown musical theater productions and orchestras as well as solo and general freelance work. He has also performed for many star acts such as Dionne Warwick, Johnny Mathis, Robert Goulet, Tommy Tune, Madeleine Peyroux and various other artists. After playing multiple instruments on stage for ART’s production of Prometheus Bound, Tom collaborated with System of a Down leader Serg Tankian on Serg’s jazz album Jazz Is Christ.  He can most recently be heard on the 2021 Belle & Sebastian album What to Look for in Summer, and sometimes performs with them when they are in town on tour.  

Currently, Tom is focusing more on teaching, both at Dover Sherborn Middle School, where he is in his 28th year, as well as Wellesley College where he is Senior Trumpet Instructor in both the Classical and Jazz & World Music Departments.  He is more picky with the freelancing these days, with Mid Winter Revels being the highlight of his trumpet playing year, having performed off and on since the 1990s.

Abe Finch (Percussion) is a Boston-area freelance percussionist and music educator. In 2025, he was appointed the principal percussionist and timpanist of the Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra of Boston. 

Abe was the featured percussionist in the world premier of James Kallembach’s “Audubon” at  Jordan Hall, performing with Chorus Pro Musica under the direction of Jamie Kirsch, 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 Revels and on  seven Revels CD releases, while also having 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. Abe 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 30 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 served as a guest coach at the SHOBI College of Music in Japan. Locally, he has appeared with a many ensembles throughout New England ranging from historical performance to folk including Boston Ballet, Emmanuel Music, Harvard Baroque, Providence Baroque, Handel and Haydn, 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 and in the Trinity United Methodist’s Boar’s Head Festival in Springfield, MA. He was a student of Tim Morrison, Byron Pearson, and Louis Ranger. In addition to performing, Greg teaches at Lexington Community Education. Raised by musicians in rural Vermont, Greg can often be found outdoors with his wife, two kids and their dog.

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 groups 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.

Sarah Higginbotham (Assistant Music Director, Children’s Music Director) finds joy in developing authentic ways to create multigenerational community through art. 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 Revels music directors for over 20 years. Sarah currently serves as Director of Communications & Christian Formation at First Church in Cambridge, UCC.

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.

Jeff Adelberg (Lighting Designer) celebrates his 16th year designing for the Midwinter Revels! A Boston-based designer, he is responsible for over 350 productions in New England and beyond. Recent work includes Delirium, Our Class and The Dybbuk (-arlekin!, Boston, NYC, and San Francisco); Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Ghosts, Angels in America parts 1 and 2, (The Gamm Theatre, RI); El Matrimonio Secreto (Florida Grand Opera), The Mystery of Irma Vep and Mrs Warren’s Profession (Central Square Theatre, Cambridge MA); Frankenstein (Cincinnati Shakespeare Co. and Merrimack Repertory Theatre); Million Dollar Quartet Christmas (Capital Repertory Theatre, Albany NY). Jeff has won five Eliott Norton Awards and four Independent Reviewers of New England (IRNE) Awards for his designs. He attended the University of Connecticut and is on the faculty 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 with over two hundred credits in theatre, opera, and dance. Since 2007, Jeremy has been Revels’ resident scenic designer.  As a visual artist, Jeremy creates large-scale public art in the US and internationally.  He recently exhibited at the Cerdeira Home for Art (Portugal); The Art and Ground Cave Gallery (Spain); and the Krasl Art Center (Michigan). Jeremy is Chair of the Department of Theatre at Oakland University.  Find more of Jeremy’s work at www.jeremybarnett.com

Heidi Hermiller (Costume Designer) has designed Revels costumes for 30+ years! Along with the Revels, Heidi has designed the Harvard Hasty Pudding, but wherever she is in Cambridge, Heidi loves the craziness, research, and joy of designing for Debra Wise and Paddy Swanson; Sanders statues brought to life, dragons, trolls, killer fish, dancing crabs, tiny ballerinas – anything to make The Revels magic burst into life! She would like to thank her husband, John, for his love, patience, and understanding.

Brian McCoy (Sound Designer) is a Boston-based sound engineer with a career that bridges musical performance and theatrical sound design. He is a graduate of the audio engineering program at Berklee College of Music, and he has toured with several international acts and supported hundreds of productions across New England. Brian is also the founder of McCoy Audio Systems, a company that provides tailored sound solutions for concerts, theatrical productions, and a variety of events throughout the region and beyond.

Alaina Ortiz (Props Designer) is a visual artist and K–8 art teacher in Brookline, Massachusetts. She holds a BFA in Painting and an MFA in Studio Teaching from Boston University. Her props work draws on her artistic background, with an emphasis on craftsmanship, storytelling, and collaboration.

She served as Assistant Props Designer with Elizabeth Locke for Midwinter Revels’ 2025 production of A Scandinavian Christmas Story. She has also designed props for Mass Arts Center’s Good People, The Cottage, Gypsy, and the upcoming A Little Night Music. In 2024, she designed and created the dragon Smaug for the New England premiere of Dean Burry’s operatic adaptation of The Hobbit presented by Voices Boston.

Her theater work began as a way to connect with her two daughters and contribute artistically to shows they were cast in. She is especially excited to share the Revels experience -one of her daughters performed in the Children’s Chorus last year and the other will be performing this year.