Scottish Rite Theater (Oakland, CA)
The 22nd annual Christmas Revels is a theatrical celebration of the Winter Solstice as told through the music, drama, dance and traditions of the 19th-century English countryside. This festive pageant revolves around the story of a "Songcatcher" whose purpose is to collect the songs, dances, and village traditions that mark the turning of the year. Comic actor Geoff Hoyle is the special guest artist.
Event summary prepared by the Goldstar Editorial Team.
* Additional fees apply.
All offers for The 2007 Christmas Revels have expired.
Tell me when more tickets / dates are added
The last date listed for The 2007 Christmas Revels was Friday December 14, 2007 / 7:30pm. (view all dates)
Most Popular Theater Event Nearby:
Berkeley Repertory Theatre presents the world premiere of American Idiot. Co-created by punk rock superstars Green Day and Tony Award-winning director Michael Mayer (Spring Awakening), this high-energy rock musical follows its working-class characters from the suburbs to the city and the Middle East. It's based on Green Day's album American Idiot, which won two Grammy Awards and sold 12 million copies. Learn More
I only wish we could have seen it twice -- it was that good!
Tremendously entertaining, a treat for kids of all ages, and a great way to awaken the Holiday Spirit.
I went with 3 other adults and our kids, as a mom/kid outing. We all (adults and kids) found it dull and lacking in pizzaz and sparkle. One of the moms had been before (in some year past) and remembered it as a fun, lively and appropriate event for children. We were all sorely disappointed and left at intermission. For the kids it was deadly in its boredom. They couldn't understand the "ye olde English-y" style of speach, but worse than that, the dance, action and song were just flat.
Skip it and go to a Nutcracker production, any Nutcracker production (would be better than this)....
The annual Christmas Revels has been entertaining Bay Area families for more than two decades and is highly regarded to be one of the high points of the holiday calendar! For their 22nd annual season, the Calfornia Revels will journey through the 19th-century English countryside, led by the marvelous comic actor Geoff Hoyle.
This festive pageant revolves around the story of a “Songcatcher” whose purpose is to collect the songs, dances, and village traditions that mark the turning of the year. On his journey, the Songcatcher will encounter a variety of entertaining characters -- from church wardens to farmers, pub keepers, spinsters, and even the itinerant music hall performer. Each personality has a bit of traditional lore to share with him, and with the audience. And as they are every year, the beloved traditions of the Abbots Bromley Stag Horn Dance and the Sussex Mummers Carol will be highlighted in the pageant, and audiences will be invited to dance through the halls singing the traditional “Lord of the Dance” chorus.
Special guest artist Geoff Hoyle has clowned with Cirque du Soleil, The Pickle Family Circus, and Circus Flora. He performed his solos "Feast of Fools" and "The Convict's Return" (commissioned by Berkeley Repertory Theatre) in New York, San Francisco, Paris, London, and the former Soviet Union, and at various regional theatres in the U.S. and England. He has appeared in comic roles at the Berkeley Rep, ACT, Eureka Theatre, American Repertory Theatre in Cambridge, Arena Stage, and La Jolla Playhouse. He received five NEA grants and an ArtsLink grant to visit circuses in Latvia and Russia. He created the role of Zazu (Drama Desk nomination: Best Featured Actor in a Musical) in the original Broadway cast of The Lion King, and this year wrote and performed The First Hundred Years for the Berkeley Rep and the Arizona Theatre Company, performed the role of Vladimir in Waiting for Godot for Stanford Summer Theatre, and appeared in The Green Bird with Theatre de La Jeune Lune at Berkeley Rep.
California Revels promotes the celebratory and community-building power of the performing arts, pioneering a unique form of music theater that draws on diverse cultures and ritual traditions to embrace an audience of many ages and varied backgrounds. Each December since 1986, California Revels has produced "The Christmas Revels; A Theatrical Celebration of the Winter Solstice" at the Scottish Rite Theater in Oakland. Revels blends music, dance, ritual and drama, presented by a cadre of professional performers, designers and directors. With tradition bearers from every culture and a volunteer chorus of adults and children drawn from the community, Revels inspries a magical quality of audience engagement.