Paly Choirs brings the festive season with their Annual Madrigal Feaste. Every year, the choirs prepare a 2 hour show featuring festive choral music.
“The Madrigal Feaste is a long-standing tradition and rite of passage in Paly Choirs,” said choir teacher and director Britney Kerby.
“The freshmen serve food in their servant’s outfits, and then when they are older they get to wear the court attire, which is much more formal. Every group does have a role, and it has a purpose, and it’s one of the things that I think make the show really special.”
Freshman Ella Miikkulainen-Katila, who sang in the Servant Choir, talks about the unity she felt during this experience.
“The highlight was listening to the other choirs and seeing how everyone came together as one.”
Miikkulainen-Katila also found enjoyment in connecting with her upperclassmen peers.
“I can always look to the sophomores, juniors and seniors for help.”
The 23rd annual performance, titled “Law and Disorder”, follows two detectives in medieval times as they search for the culprit of a royal kidnapping.
“This is one of our performances that definitely feels more theatrical because there is a story,” said Kerby.
From the renaissance costumes to the scripts, the Madrigal Feaste brings new elements of performance to the stage.
“We love having our students that do both choir and theater. This gives them an opportunity to really shine in a different way in our ensemble,” said Kerby.
For senior and passionate thespian Rei Prior, who played the role of Detective Olivia, the theatrical aspects of the performance brought out enjoyment.
“Having a role in this production was definitely an added layer of fun,” said Prior. “[Detective Olivia] was not the most challenging role I’ve played, and I learned a Scottish accent in 3 weeks.”
Kerby finds the comedic story of the performance through the script.
“We have a bunch of scripts that are in our archives and we pull on over the years,” said Kerby. “We change them up often, we try to make them more contemporary.”
For this year’s performance, there were added references to pop culture and internet memes. Kerby talks about the inclusion of the massive online meme “6-7”.
“This year, there was a joke about two numbers that are trending currently. We try to make it relevant to what is going on in the culture.”
Another hit moment with the audience was when the Servant Choir brought their phones on stage and started texting people.
“There is a song called Text me Merry Christmas,” said Miikkulainen-Katila. We’re all on our phones texting because it makes the song more enjoyable, and we can live in the song.”
Every song sung in the performance is intentional, as said by Kerby.
“[All of the songs] have a story, and it’s our responsibility to communicate that. You’re trying to get the audience to feel a certain way, and we are building this overarching story that is two hours long.”
Miikkulainen-Katila feels inspired and festive by the experience.
“I think it is a great way to end the year,” Miikkulainen-Katila said. “[The Madrigal Feaste] has been a wonderful time of connection and fun.”
