San Marin's Madrigal Feast: A Holiday Tradition

's annual production of the Madrigal Feast is such a longstanding and beloved Novato tradition, no one really remembers exactly how long the Merry Olde English holiday showcase been going on.

Longtime volunteer Susan Fischer said the first one was "probably in 1987 or 1989," before her own kids were involved in the school's music program. "I remember taking my husband kicking and screaming," she said.

With the couple having attended each feast since then, Fischer now coordinates the enormous team effort behind the scenes even though all three of her children have graduated. The last one graduated from the school in 1998.

San Marin's musical excellence is at the heart of the Madrigal Feast, a lively celebration of early music, theater and traditional feasting (Wassail! Huzzah!) with all the historical reenactment fun of the Renaissiance Faire or the Dickens Fair going on in San Francisco right now. A few characters appear to have come alive out of the elaborate drawings on a deck of cards. Singers and musicians, under the direction of Samantha Maas-Baldwin, perform a concert of traditional Christmas music as the evening's finale.

"It's so moving. I've ended up in tears after," Fisher said. 

Maas-Baldwin is a graduate of San Marin and has performed in many of the  Madrigals herself. She now teams with her former teacher, Emily Gates, the longtime leader of San Marin's highly regarded music program, in mounting the production. 

The Madrigal Feast begins with a play, directed this year by Cheryl Moore. Like most Madrigal dinners, the production has a medieval setting, replete with a king, his queen and mingling lords and ladies dressed in period garb such as headdresses, tunics, man-hose and all. 

The players interact with the guests, sharing jokes, songs and tricks. "... And stealing rolls," added Adrienne Nichelini, who plays the king's daughter. There's even the customary boar's head — a real boar's head — on stage, which audience members are encouraged to kiss.  According to Nichelini, the audience plays along.

Sarah Marthinsen, who will be performing in the Madrigal Feast for the third time, attributes the continued success of the show to the "spirit of everything." She plays the role of the Damsel in Distress. "It's really fun when (the audience) is laughing with you," she said.

Steve Jun plays the king this year and said his role is both exciting and nerve-wracking because, "I sit at the table where everyone can see me."  To fight his nerves, Jun says he focuses on the character, "'Oh, those peasant people!' I try to be a stuck-up king."

Eliott Hanson, who plays the Jester, says "I will be attempting cartwheels. They will be amazingly horrible," he promised. "I work hard every night trying to get my feet higher in the air." He shakes his head. "I give it my best."

The effort behind the Madrigal Feast is immense. Sets, costumes and food are prepared by an all-volunteer force. The dinner menu was revised a few years back by Pat Cash, a local caterer and parent of a San Marin graduate who saw an opportunity for the event to earn a profit for the music program. Previously the music program had hired a caterer.

Cash added her personal touch to the recipes and trained the volunteers. Now the dinner boasts a tasty herb chicken and "the best potatoes in town," according to Fischer. 

Marthinsen is more excited than nervous to perform in the upcoming show. "Everyone who goes to Madrigal always has to come back," she says. "It's like one big party. It's the kickoff of the holiday season."

RESERVATION DEADLINE IS WEDNESDAY

The San Marin High Madrigal Feast takes place Dec. 3, 4, and 5 at the Emily Gates Center on the San Marin campus. "Castle gates" open at 6:40 p.m. To purchase tickets, open the Madrigal Ticket Form PDF below and fill it out. Reservations must be turned in to the office at San Marin High, 15 San Marin Drive, by 3 p.m. Dec. 1 so that proper amounts of food can be prepared. For more information, call the school at 898-21-21.