ABOUT CALIFORNIA REVELS

California Revels seeks to foster the health of the human spirit through a rich array of performing arts programs.  We promote the celebratory and community-building power of the performing arts by presenting a unique and innovative form of Music Theater that embraces diverse audiences.

Since 1986, California Revels has brought the unique theatrical, participatory arts-form founded by singer, author and music educator John Langstaff in Cambridge, Massachusetts, more than twenty-five years ago to the audiences of the Bay Area.  Crossing religious and ethnic boundaries and appealing to young and old alike, Revels blends traditional music, dance, ritual and folk plays, presented by a large volunteer chorus of children and adults drawn from the community, and a number of highly talented professional actors, musicians, artists, directors, and “bearers of tradition” from many cultures.  Highlighting a particular culture and period, from a medieval English court to an Appalachian homestead in Kentucky, from a Russian village to the land of the midnight sun, Revels employs traditional materials and seasonal rituals to draw the audience into a magical revelry of song and dance.   

Every December, California Revels produces, "The Christmas Revels," a joyous production welcoming the return of the light back from the darkness of winter.  Elizabeth Lloyd Mayer, California Revels late Founder, claimed that many people celebrate the Solstice without realizing it. Decorating homes with lights for midwinter, for example, is an ancient ritual for “calling back the light” that predates Christmas by centuries. “The Winter Solstice falls on the shortest day and brings on the longest night of the year. Across the centuries, people have chosen this time to acknowledge and celebrate the cycle of light and darkness, good and evil, life and death, that governs all our lives.”

Throughout the year, California Revels holds a series of community-based performances, celebrating the seasons and  highlighting our professional actors in musicians in more intimate settings.  Our outreach and education programs also continue year-long, providing mentoring in the performing arts for at-risk youth and holding free performances for social service organizations and schools.

Reveling Across the Nation

Revels, Inc., a national, year-round organization which provides unique opportunities for communal celebration was founded by John Langstaff in 1971. Many different Revels productions occur annually in nine cities across the country, and many smaller Revels-inspired productions are performed in various small towns throughout the nation.

This December, over 70,000 people around the country will attend Revels performances in 12 different cities — 13,000 in the Bay Area — satisfying a deep human need to come together in communal celebration of the turning of the year and the re-birth of light out of darkness. Says Linda Schacht, KPIX newscaster and mother of two who's been taking her family to Revels every year for 15 years: “Christmas wouldn't be Christmas for our family if we didn't have the Revels.”

Visit the National Revels' website

Artistic Staff:

David Parr (Artistic Director) -- has been an active theatre professional in the San Francisco Bay Area for the past thirty years. Trained at the University of Illinois (M.A. in Theatre) he has a background in dance, photography and videography as well. During his years as a professional actor, he performed and directed on many Bay Area stages and for ten years, served as an elected representative for Actors’ Equity Association. He joined the staff of the California Revels as Resident Director in 1990 and was appointed Artistic Director in 2005. He is a tenured professor on the Theatre Arts faculty of San Francisco City College, where he founded the critically acclaimed City Summer Opera. David has    directed the Revels in Oakland for sixteen years, as well as the Revels in Tacoma and the Oakland production of Noye’s Fludde, featuring Revels founder Jack Langstaff. He resides in Oakland with his wife, Krista and two sons, Luke and William.

Frederick Goff (Music Director)--has degrees in music theory and liturgy from the University of the Pacific and Pacific School of Religion. He has performed on choir tours of the Soviet Union and Great Britain, in the Los Angeles Master Chorale and in madrigal quartets. His teaching duties have included public and private schools in Alameda, San Francisco, and Conta Costa counties, San Francisco State University, San Francisco City College, and Laney College. He is the resident music director for the California Revels and music director of St. James Episcopal Church.

 Artistic Associates

Administrative:

Dirk Burns  (Executive Director) – began working for California Revels as the box office manager in 2002 before becoming Executive Director in 2004.  From 1990-2001 Dirk was the Director of Ticketing for San Francisco’s Blue & Gold Fleet, where he oversaw the sales of 1.3 million tickets annually for the Alcatraz Island tour.  He has also worked for the Shubert Organization in New York’s Broadway district, the Catalina Island Blues Festival and  Shorenstein Hayes & Nederlander Theaters in San Francisco.

Board of Directors

Advisory Committee