With Christmas time arriving comes the annual S.H.S. Madrigal dinners, which have been a tradition at the high school for over 20 years. The madrigals group started up their rehearsals at the end of August, almost right after the school year began. Starting that early in the year, although the dinners weren’t until the beginning of December, was a necessity because of the legacy madrigals have on Sterling High School’s kickoff to the Christmas season.
Those who attend the dinners yearly may notice that there seems to be a repetition in the script and classic Christmas tunes.
“I follow the same guideline, script, and songs because it is a madrigal tradition that has been done at S.H.S. for many years,” director Weston Henry shared.
Every year Henry receives positive feedback from those in attendance and his involvement with the kids in this group aids in their performance.
Senior Benjamin Boze shared, “(Henry) is a funny guy and always puts others before himself.”
A recently added addition to the dinners has been the “Madrigal Strings,” which consists of orchestra Erik Oberg and some of his orchestra members performing classic Christmas songs when attendees are mingling and enjoying their food.
“The music used by the madrigal strings is meant to be quiet, comforting, and in the holiday spirit. It is meant to serve as a ‘background curtain’ to the conversation at dinner,” Oberg added. This group began only a couple of years ago and it seems it will continue to happen for many years to come.
The Bethel Reformed Church doesn’t just magically become decorated in lights and holiday cheer. There is a lot of work spent days before the dinners in that decorating done by involved students and more specifically the Director of Theatre, Tim Schlegel.
Schlegel said, “The most difficult part is getting the room to look warm and welcoming. Getting everything loaded in the truck and then getting everyone to help put it all away is sometimes difficult.”
At the end of the festive week, the group assists Schlegel with putting everything in the church back to how it was, that way it looked as if they were never there.
Schlegel also helps direct the acting portions of the dinners, which are typically more on the comedic side. This year’s bunch of actors include junior Rileigh Wren, senior Michelle Henderson-Bellows, and freshman Evalyn Gaffey.
In the opening scene, Gaffey nods at the group of madrigals, making them “fall asleep” and sing “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer ” under her direction. For Wren and Henderson-Bellows’s scene, Wren tries to sneak a kiss from Bellows with Christmas jokes and different comedic distractions.
“When memorizing these lines, it was an easier process than musicals and other acting because this type of medieval literature often rhymed,” Wren shared. The actors began practicing around the same time as the Madrigals in order to efficiently memorize and perform to the best of their ability.
The dinner’s were performed December 5-7 of this past week, with Wednesday night being completely sold out and Tuesday and Thursday being just seats away from full. The performances received nothing but good reviews and only created more memories for years to come.
