Washington Revels
presents
the 40th annual production of
The Christmas Revels

This holiday, Washington Revels brings the 40th annual Christmas Revels back to Lisner Auditorium for a homespun celebration of the holidays with music, dance and stories that echo from Celtic homelands to the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Friends and neighbors living in a 19th-century “hollow” gather to prepare for “Old Christmas,” and the coming of the New Year. As the holidays draw close, they share music, the warm family rituals that reflect their ancestral roots, and stories of the journeys that led them to their Appalachian home. Scottish, Irish, German, Appalachian, and African American musical influences create a rich, uniquely American mash-up of toe-tapping reels, lush ballads and soaring spirituals, all culminating in a joyous Cèilidh and “breakin’ up Christmas.” 

Join Washington Revels to celebrate the season with rousing carol sing-alongs—including a rollicking “Twelve Days of Christmas,” a new “old” Mummers play featuring characters from many traditions, and dancing in the aisles with our multigenerational cast of 80. Enjoy songs of the Old World and new by local favorites the Whiskey Before Breakfast Band; the Highland pipes, great and small; and the majestic sounds of the Washington Revels Brass. 

This year's cast and crew includes Bill Hoffmann '79, Christopher Lewis '98, Patrick Malone '97, Chris Simon, and past Potomac parents Greg and Susan Lewis. This year Potomac School student's Genevieve Privetera  (3rd grade), Journey Jackson (4th grade), Millie Stanzel (4th grade), Ben Levin (5th grade), and Leizel Phillips (5th grade) are part of the children's chorus.

Special 20% Potomac Discount.*
Saturday, December 10 
2:00 pm & 7:30 pm
—
Saturday, December 17 
7:30 pm
—
Sunday, December 18
2:00 pm

GW Lisner Auditorium (Washington, DC)

*Offer in effect through Friday, December 2
or whenever 200 discount seats are sold.
 

The Revels Tradition at The Potomac School

Potomac’s involvement with the Revels dates back over 60 years, when Revels founder John M. (“Jack”) Langstaff, beloved music teacher and Music Director at Potomac from 1955 to 1967, gathered his students to create seasonal celebrations of the winter solstice and the rebirth of spring. Elements of those celebrations remain part of Potomac’s holiday assemblies and May Day festivities. Potomac alumni and teachers helped form Washington Revels in 1983. Potomac students made up the children’s chorus in that first Christmas Revels and (along with many other members of the Potomac community) have acted and sung in every show since then. Washington Revels' allocation to Potomac of up to 200 discounted tickets for two shows on the first weekend also dates back to 1983.

Potomac has recognized Jack Langstaff by naming the Engelhard Performing Arts Center auditorium after him. For its part, the Revels, celebrating the universal themes of the renewal of light and life through the prisms of different cultures, and the common responses that bind the human family together, honors values that have helped shape Potomac for over a century.

About Revels and Washington Revels 

The first Revels organization was founded in 1971 by Jack Langstaff in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Revels companies are now active in nine cities across the United States. Each city is an independent nonprofit institution with its own board, office and artistic staff, and separate finances. An umbrella organization, Revels, Inc., maintains artistic standards for all cities, researches traditional materials from many cultures, and assists with scripts and music. Washington Revels, the fourth Revels company, was founded in 1983. Currently, Washington Revels is in a new location, historic Glen Echo Park, and has a new Executive Director Tamara Williams who is Washington Revels' first African American executive.  With so much newness, Washington Revels is still delighted to return to our old home, Lisner Auditorium, for our 40th Christmas Revels production.

Find out more about Washington Revels at www.revelsdc.org.

Find more about the origins of the Revels by reading about Revels founder Jack Langstaff.

Experience Revels music through Revels Recordings and Videos.