The Washington
Revels presents the 24th Annual Christmas pageant in the big hall at Lisner,
filling it with melody, rhythm, stories and not a few laughs in a lengthy
revue of American music, dance and stories drawn from Appalachian, Shaker,
African-American, Moravian and Native American traditions. It is a family
friendly package that finds very young and very old along with those in the
middle enjoying something warm and welcoming. It tries to
touch the emotional responses of people who value home, hearth, family,
wholesomeness, and the values often attributed to the simpler times and
societies of early America. With something like 85 performers on
the Lisner's wide stage - many of them youngsters of grade-school age, the
event can be just a little bit overwhelming, especially for the very young
who may find it difficult to keep still and pay attention for nearly three
hours, but the performers do their best to cast a spell, engage the audience
with an occasional sing along or round, and the intermission is long enough
to "get the wiggles out" (and to purchase CDs, books, crafts and candy from
the many tables in the lobby.)Storyline: This year's Christmas Revel celebrates the winter solstice by
reviewing the songs, dances, traditions and stories that would be sung or
told in the middle 18th century, mostly on the eastern half of the United
States -- Appalachian dances, Quakers celebrations, contributions by
Moravians, Pennsylvania Dutch, African-American traditions from plantation
societies and even a touch of Native American storytelling.
The sprawling show begins with the Belsnickel
Brass performing a suite of Appalachian tunes such as "Turkey in the Straw."
Soon they are joined by the Breakin' Up Christmas Band for a fiddle tune.
Add the Morning Star children for the Kentucky Wassail Carol and the
stage is pretty much filled with bright faces singing out in joy. Soon, the
audience is joining in on "Joy to the World" and a full throated carol in
the round, "Bethlehem" fills the hall.
The mixture includes Native American stories
told by Lakota Kiowa Dovie Thomason, a recreation of slave songs and the
dances of a Jonkonnu holiday festival with a procession of slaves complete
with rag man and a gumba box drummer. Further sets sample shape-note
singing, offer a mummers show and present "The Night Before Christmas"
in a skit that finds a whip wielding Belsnickel transformed into a Santa.
The selection of material feels at times as if it was made with an eye
toward avoiding any criticism for not being inclusive enough in an age that
values the politically correct. The main omission is of any sampling from
Latino cultures, and they even include a note in the program that seems
close to an apology for that oversight and promise a later Latino Revels.
No one presentation lasts too long and things
move along quite briskly. However, the pace slows for a few delightful
moments as the cast spreads out along the walls on either side of the
audience for a serenade that represents the original "surround sound" - the
natural way.
Directed by Roberta Gazbarre. Music direction
by Elizabeth Fulford Miller. Design: Michael Phillippi (set) Colin Bills
(lights) Rosemary Pardee and Emily Long (costumes) Cecily Pilzer (children's
costumes) Mary Combs and Emily Dere (hats) Peter Zakutansky (makeup) Mary
Gene Myer (properties) Charlie Pilzer (sound) Steve Marschall (photography)
Gil Thompson (stage manager). Cast: Peter and Mary Alice Amidon, John
Devine, Steve Hickman, Tobias Johnson, Charlie Pilzer, Dovie Thomason,
Belsnickel Brass,
the Breakin' Up Christmas Band, Pleasant Hill Singers and
Dancers, Mountain Valley Teens, Morning Star Children. |
