2011 Fezziwig’s Christmas Party

Fezziwig’s Christmas Party

Stage Director: Cynthia duPont Tobias
Music Director: Helene Furlong
Asst. Music Director: Kristin Nelson

with … St. George and the Dragon,
a Mummers play

Directors: Henry Porreca and
Valerie Hutchinson

Dec. 9 – 10, 2011 in Arden
Dec. 11, 2012 in Smyrna, DE
Accompanist: Jon Williams
Stage Manager: Bruce Monroe
Producer: Phil Galvin

Join in Arden’s very own Christmas revel, hosted by Mr. & Mrs. Fezziwig, and including appearances by Father Christmas, the Lord of Misrule, King John, two divas of the stage, many jolly wassailers, and even the Arden Young Actors performing a Mummers Play, “St. George and the Dragon”. We’ll sing Christmas favorites, both familiar and not, and even some selections from The Messiah. This is a show sure to fill the heart (even of Ebenezer Scrooge) with the spirit of Christmas!

Program Order –

Audience greeted by carolers

Act 1

Welcoming remarks by Mr. & Mrs. Fezziwig
Deck the Hall
Appointment of the Lord of Misrule
Gloucestershire Wassail
Father Christmas presents Christmas candy
Boar’s Head
King John pleads to Father Christmas (Part 1)
While Shepherds Watched their Flocks by Night (Yorkshire)
Introduction of the Divas, Faustina Bordoni and Francesca Cuzzoni
King John pleads to Father Christmas (Part 2)
Orientis Partibus (Song of the Ass)
The Bitter Withy
King John pleads to Father Christmas (Final Part)
In the Bleak Midwinter
It Came upon a Midnight Clear (Arthur Sullivan)

Messiah selections –
And the Glory of the Lord
But who may Abide the Day of his Coming?
He Shall Feed his Flock like a Shepherd
Hallelujah Chorus

Act 2

St. George and the Dragon, A Mummers Play
Sussex Mummers Carol
One Horse Open Sleigh
Apple Tree Wassail
To Phoebe (a Bab Ballad)
Care is all Fiddle-dee-dee (Arthur Sullivan)
Good Christian Men Rejoice
Ding Dong Merrily on High
Dona Nobis Pacem
Lo, How a Rose E’re Blooming
Silent Night
Marcellus remarks on the Christmas season (from Hamlet)
Adeste Fideles

Adult Cast Members –
Mr. Fezziwig	John Newport
Mrs. Fezziwig	Amy Karash
The Lord of Misrule	Karla Hasben
Father Christmas	Phil Galvin
King John	Ron Fava
Divas: Faustina Bordoni & Francesca Cuzzoni	Deborah Fox & Martha Smylie
Dowager Countess of Sussex	Pat Zevnik
Messiah Soloists –	John Dennison & “The Divas”
Bitter Withy Soloists –	Cynthia duP. Tobias & Paula Gonzalez
Other Soloists –	Elizabeth Corson, Chris Galvin & John Trexler
along with … Polly Brown, Peggy Figun, Helene Furlong, Felicia Gaus-Woollen, Kristen Nelson, Veroncee Zevnik

Saint George and the Dragon

Folk plays like this exist all over the world. They always contain some symbolic contest, as well as a “medicine man,” or clown figure, who restores the fallen hero to life. The hero, killed and then revived, symbolizes the triumph of life over death, light over darkness, spring over winter. The audience usually participated in some way at the conclusion of a performance by sharing food, giving contributions, or singing and dancing together. This was a way of bringing good luck to everyone, just as the Old Year turned and the New Year was about to begin.

Even though the original purpose of primitive ritual is obscured today, three vestiges of it remain. First, the folk plays are performed only at certain important times of the year; second, the form of presentation is usually in a ceremonial manner and, finally, the actors disguise themselves in some simple way. (Anonymity insures good luck.) These actors were known as mummers and traveled about with their play to farmyards, houses, kitchens or halls. In some of the oldest examples of the folk play, the traditional sword dance is a particularly important part of the action. With makeshift swords, often agricultural or fishermen’s implements, the intricate patterns of the dance culminate in a woven “star” of swords.

Saint George Cast
Room, a herald	Kate Harbaugh
Father Christmas	Phil Galvin
Johnny Jack, a sweeper	Justine Wagaman
Johnny Jack’s Daughter	Dawlat Refaie
Fool a clown and “medicine man”	Chris Galvin
Old Bet	Emma Harbaugh
Giant	Sean McGuire
Hobby Horse	Jackson Politis
Speckleback, a dragon	Felicia Pope
Saint George	Robert Cameron
Sword Dancers	Young Actors
John Brown, a quack doctor	Wylie Florence-Bushner
John Finney, the doctor’s servant	Lily Nordheimer
The doctor’s horse	Alana Harbaugh & Dawlat Refaie

Video clips from “St. George and the Dragon”, December 2011.

–>