11/27/12 tc/kb
HAYS, Kan. -- "Castles and feasting meet dinner theatre"
returns to Fort Hays State University's Memorial Union in the form of the
annual Madrigal Feaste on Friday, Nov. 30, and Saturday, Dec. 1.
Some seats are still available.Tickets
-- $25 for FHSU students and $35 for the public -- can be purchased at the
Memorial Union Office, room 208, or online at www.fhsu.edu/madrigal. No
telephone orders will be taken, but for more information call 785-628-5308.
Modern day madrigal dinners transport the audience to a
fabulous medieval or renaissance ceremonial feast, said Dr. Terry Crull, FHSU
choral director and director of the Madrigal Feaste.
"After Advent, a time of introspection and fasting,
elaborate preparations were made for a truly festive event," said Crull. "It
was a real celebration, with eating, drinking, dancing and even animals
parading through the great halls of castles and manors."
The event provided an opportunity to visit and exchange
news. Trumpet fanfares signaled the service of specific courses and dishes
within the feast. Guests danced, told stories and sang in enthusiastic
outbursts of merrymaking.
Madrigal singing began as entertainment in Renaissance Italy
and quickly spread throughout Europe, said Crull. Madrigal singing reached the
height of its popularity in Elizabethan England, where several collections of
madrigals were printed in Queen Elizabeth's honor.
The university's Madrigal Feaste is produced by the Memorial
Union and presented in partnership with the Fort Hays Singers, led by Crull.
The madrigal tradition at FHSU began in 1964.
"It's one of the most beloved and popular cultural
traditions here," said Edie McCracken, director of the Memorial Union, who
also noted that, in recent years, "audience members have begun to get into
the Madrigal Feaste spirit by attending in costume."