Published: October 24, 2007 02:50 pm      

Feaste features medieval menu

Toss the wenches and light the raisins

Looking for singing and food in a medieval hall? You’ll find the Madrigal Christmas Feaste has it all.

The 37th annual Feaste will be held at 6:30 p.m. Nov. 30 and Dec. 1 and at 4:30 p.m. Dec. 2 in Cosgrove Hall, Mount Aloysius College, Cresson.

The madrigal began as a small dinner with a choral group singing Renaissance music, said Michelle McGowan of Altoona, who directs the madrigal under the title Lady of Misrule.

It has grown into a costumed, interactive dinner theater whose tickets disappear faster than plum pudding.

“It was part of the music program when it started,” McGowan said.

“Mount Aloysius music students performed without costumes. From those humble beginnings, it turned into a Renaissance fair and took off.”

Table assignments are based on the date of paid reservations, and seating is limited.

The madrigal is held in Cosgrove Hall, the Mount’s dining hall, which is transformed into a medieval castle.

McGowan said that once a year, the lord and lady of a manor would invite their vassals to the castle for Christmas dinner.

Jan Bergamaschi of Ashville and James Dugan of Altoona will portray the lady and lord of the manor.

The entertainment is different each year, but always includes the Wench Toss and the 12 Days of Madrigal, in which audience members are urged to jump to their feet and shout and spin their napkins in the air.

The raisin toss has been brought back for the past two years, McGowan said.

“In the ninth and 10th century, they would soak raisins in alcohol and set them on fire, then try to catch them in their mouths,” McGowan said.

Part of the interactive show this year will be “God’s Angels,” a 15-minute play written by McGowan. The audience will play shepherds and angels.

The Feaste is based on a Renaissance fair and is more loud and bawdy than a typical Renaissance dinner, which McGowan said would be more formal.

She has been the Lady of Misrule for 35 years. Despite her title, it is her job to keep order at and direct the madrigal.

“There’s a lot of work going on backstage,” McGowan said. “It takes a lot of coordination. It looks unrehearsed, but it’s not.”

Scott Stuttard of Altoona will play Hazzah, the Lord of Misrule.

Despite all the wench tossing and flaming-raisin catching, the main part of the madrigal is still the singing.

The Mount’s Vox Nova Singers, under the direction of Nancy Rosensteel-Way, will provide some Renaissance-style songs. The audience will be able to join in with a Christmas carol sing-along.

Audience members also may come in Renaissance costume.

“If they do come in costume, they can stay and get their pictures taken with the lord and lady of the manor,” McGowan said.

The Renaissance menu will feature salad greens, roast beef, English scones, horseradish sauce, raisin-bread pudding with rum sauce, roasted vegetables, garlic mashed potatoes, cheddar cheese bits and spiced tea. Vegetarian meals are available, but must be requested with the reservation.