SPRING REVELS 2000
Emerson Majestic
Theatre, Boston April 28-30, 2000.
The 2000 Spring
Revels celebrated the courage and resilience of the Acadians,
as these early French colonists were ousted by the British in
1755 and forced on a journey that separated families, scattering
them among the colonies on the Atlantic Seaboard, including Louisiana
where they became known as "Cajuns." Using Henry Wadsworth
Longfellow's epic poem Evangeline as a framework, director
Patrick Swanson and music director George Emlen utilized the talents
of more than 70 performers, including the Revels Chorus, the River
Rat Children, musicians David Coffin and Tom Pixton, actress Paula
Plum, and Barachois, guest artists from Prince Edward Island,
who delighted crowds with their spirited fiddling, clogging and
singing.
The Boston Globe
wrote:
"This year's Spring Revels follows the journey of eastern
Canada's tragically expelled French Acadians to their new homes
in Louisiana, where Acadian was pronounced Cajun and a new American
music was born.The result of this sorrowful trek, however, is
the most frisky, musically splendid, and entirely entertaining
Spring Revels in memory. In a tightly wrapped show, every number
seemed a highlight, every tale a treasure, every dance a show-stopper."
