Wendell Brooks leads the audience in "Adeste Fidelis" in "The Christmas Revels" at the Scottish Rite Theater in Oakland. (SEAN CONNELLEY - Staff photos)

YOU'LL HEAR a lot of buzz this holiday season about the best Christmas pageant ever. And with apologies to schoolchildren everywhere, the very best of them all is "The Christmas Revels," the annual celebration of the winter solstice and the shortest day of the year at Oakland's Scottish Rite Theater.

For pageantry, music, dancing, storytelling and a sense of holiday spirit so warm you can wrap yourself up in it, there's just no beating "Revels," which marks its 20th production this year.

Amid the celebration there is also sadness. Elizabeth Lloyd Mayer, the founder of California Revels, the company that produces "Revels," died early this year, and her presence — not to mention her reading of the poem "The Shortest Day" — is sorely missed.

But Mayer would be pleased to know that this year's production, helmed by new artistic director David Parr, is glorious.

The setting is — as it was in the first "Revels" in 1986 — Medieval England and more specifically the great banquet room of Haddon Hall in Derbyshire (terrific set by Peter Crompton), where a crowd attired in richly colored, velvety clothes (gorgeous costumes by Callie Floor) has gathered for some revelry.

Reading the poem "Nativity" by W.R. Rodgers, Wendell Brooks incites the audience to clap hands, hug, dance, raise the shouting and sing. And so we do.

Among the singalongs are "Adeste Fideles" (in English and Latin), a traditional counting song that's a little like "The Twelve Days of Christmas," "In Dulci Jubilo," "Dona Nobis Pacem" and the traditional finale "Sussex Mummer's Carol" in which the master and mistress of the house are blessed along with the children, the cattle and the stores.

As all you singalong "Messiah" folks know, there's nothing quite as heartening this time of year as singing alongside friends, family and strangers.

"Revels" even goes a step further and ends Act 1 with "The Lord of The Dance," a singalong that turns into a dance-along as audience members join hands with cast members and dance through the hall, into the lobby and back again.

There are so many highlights in this year's "Revels" that the word highlight tends to lose its meaning.

Fred Goff's music direction is, as usual, superb, but special mention has to be made of the outstanding choral singing. Thomas Ravenscroft's "Oaken Leaves" is performed by an a cappella women's choir standing and singing in the back of the theater. The sound is pure, enveloping and transporting.

The entire chorus is showcased in Act 2 on the gorgeous "In Dulci Jubilo," a 17th-century arrangement of the same 14th-century song the audience sings in Act 1.

Hands down the best, most adorable and most hilarious holiday performance in the Bay Area this year comes from the "Revels" children's chorus performing "The Twelve Days of Christmas." Not only is the song sung at breakneck speed but also with choreographic flourishes that might make Mark Morris jealous.

The Golden Ring Morris dancers — Dan Pellegrini, Jay Stirm, Bill Batty, Marc Newell, Cliff Stevens, Mike Donohue and Ethan Hay — are in fine

	The grand holiday pageant "The Christmas Revels" is set in medieval England in the banquet room of Haddon Hall in Derbyshire. (Sean Connelley - Staff)

form with their jingle bells strapped to their shins. They perform a traditional stick dance as well as a sword dance as part of the tale of "St. George and the Dragon."

Speaking of dragons, two of the ugly worms appear in the show. The first is part of a marvelous story called "The Laidly Worm of Spindleston Heugh," which involves a wicked stepmother (Raewyn Glasgow) and a lovely princess (Carolyn McMillan) transformed into a beast.

The other is about young St. George (Liam Zarri) slaying the dragon, which in this case is a fantastic costume filled by Tom Robinson in the head and 11 people of descending height behind him (the tail is the smallest boy in the company).

Other memorable numbers include "John Barleycorn," beautifully arranged by fiddler, singer and associate music director Shira Kammen, and the folk dance "Jenny Pluck Pears" choreographed by Ray Price.

Of all the sentiments expressed in the show — and there are many — perhaps the simplest is the best for this holiday season. To paraphrase: May you have a loaf in your locker and pudding in your pot. And a "Christmas Revels" in your future.