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For more than 30 years, the Puget Sound rebels have been entertaining the northwest with a long series of annual plays and musical productions during the holiday season.

This year's production centers around a place called Seneca Village, a small African-American settlement that was established in 1825, in what today is known as Central Park in New York City.

Meet the Puget Sound Rebels next on northwest, now.

You.

Their motto is We fling Joy, and the Midwinter Revels program has been flinging joy since December of 1994 at Tacoma Rialto Theater.

The National Revels Organization is based in Watertown, Massachusetts, and there are nine active revels companies across the United States, one being right here in Tacoma.

This year's Midwinter Revels opens tomorrow night and runs through Wednesday of next week.

As Steve Coogan tells us now, the cast has been hard at work preparing their parts and getting into the spirit.

There's this guy for the mantra is whistling joy.

Oh.

In early December, casting crews stretch their vocal cords and rehearsed lines, preparing for the latest production from Puget Sound rivers.

Tell them about town.

It's definitely not your regular program.

This is a celebration of, like, resilience and community.

Stage director Michelle Matlock wrote and directs this season's production, titled The Midwinter Revels Christmas Time in Seneca Village.

The founders here, I want you to come up to her level.

It's a theatrical production depicting the times and lives of free black Americans who built community beginning in 1825, in a place called Seneca Village.

It became a symbiotic community, an integrated community, which we find in terms of messaging, in terms of what what that's important is.

It's it's about a unity and it's about belonging.

This unity and belonging.

Just a pair of the themes woven through the latest Puget Sound Revels production celebrates the legacy of Seneca Village.

It's not some ramshackle, chanty town.

It was.

There were people who owned their property and built proper homes.

Seneca Village was founded in 1825.

The community also welcomed Irish and German immigrant families until 1857, when settlers were forced to leave and their homes were torn down in order to build what is now New York City's Central Park.

Those individuals who formed that community went off and formed new communities.

They knew how to do it.

They knew that.

We knew what it took.

Even though, you know, all the people of Seneca Village were removed because of Central Park, they went on to do wonderful things.

Seneca Village, New York the production premieres inside the historic Rialto Theater in downtown Tacoma, where cast and crew performs five shows with professional actors and musicians.

Christmas Time in Seneca Village aims to celebrate community and culture through traditions of song, dance and story, highlighting the values that brought Seneca Village together and continues to strengthen South Puget Sound communities today.

We think about this story in terms of themes of hope, resilience, community, unity, all of those things that are really needed right now.

In Tacoma.

Steve Higgins, North West now Joining us now are Amy Wickstrom, the executive director of the Puget Sound Revels, Michelle Matlock, playwright and stage director.

And Megan Over Field, the Puget Sound Revels Music director for 20 years.

Welcome all of you to north West now.

Great to have a conversation about the Puget Sound revels.

And, this annual production, you do every year this year.

Really an interesting story that you folks discovered and decided you want to invest some time and resources in the story of, Christmas time and Seneca Village.

Let's start with a little bit of a history about that.

A guy named Andrew Williams founded this village back in 1825.

Before the abolition of slavery in New York City.

So, Amy, this is this is a piece of work.

You were really having to reach back into the past to try to pull together into a modern story.

Talk a little bit about about that process and what you've learned about Seneca Village in, during that process.

Well, when Michelle came to me with the idea of, centering the show in Seneca Village, I said, what, Seneca village?

Yeah.

And I had to do research to kind of catch up with her inspiration, which took me all over the internet and through books.

But once I understood what her vision was, I was hooked.

It was goosebumps.

And I was immediately on board for what Michelle was hoping to create.

Michelle, talk a little bit about your inspiration for this.

This is, you know, archeology is telling us more and more and more.

It was kind of a response to folks in New York City trying to kind of get away from some of the racism and some of the problems in the downtown area of New York, because back in the day, Central Park was out in the sticks.

That's right.

It wasn't didn't look like we know Central Park to look like today.

It was rural and rocky and farmland and whatnot.

And so yeah, I when I was researching, trying to find something, that I could write about and bring to the rebels, I found Seneca Village.

I didn't know about that history either.

And I happened the very next week to be going to New York.

So I went up to where it existed.

And there's lots of history and information and plaques where everything where they found foundations of the church and houses and whatnot.

And I just thought that it was perfect for revels platform.

Since the Seneca Village was founded by, free and formerly enslaved African Americans who were property owners and voted.

That's right.

They they bought the land so that they could vote.

That was part of the strategy.

A lot of people bought land there and didn't live there just to be able to vote.

But Andrew Williams did live there and built homes there and invited and cultivated this whole community that also included Irish and German and even indigenous folks.

So that's where it became really clear that we could, you know, be inspired using the revels platform to tell this story, because there's a mixture of diversity and cultures that we could really pull from the cultural piece.

Megan.

You know, try you're trying to get in touch as the music director to with something that occurred, you know, many years in the past.

We have a, a pretty robust, archive of classical music, from Western, traditions, European traditions.

What's the resource for this?

There are equally abundant folksong resources, throughout the, academic, academia and throughout What I want to say is that folk community and so finding people who have done their studies in that and finding people who are aware of a certain tradition or from a certain area, there's much, much that's been recorded and there's much that's been speculated on.

And the nature of folk music is that it evolves and changes constantly.

So trying to find primary sources and trying to find things that have come down with a chain of evidence, that shows us that this really happened or it was really done this way.

There's also some guesswork.

So you really had to put your musicologist hat on there to, to to investigate this.

Is there is this an original score or does it borrow or how do you manage that?

It it will be an original score, but we're pulling folk music from all the different traditions.

We try to build a village on this stage and set up something that our audience can come in, and by the end of the two hours, they'll be part of that village, too.

So we're trying to find things that inform the drama and also give us a sense of space and time, and also work with the resources that we have at hand.

The performers and the instruments and what what's going to work for us?

Yeah.

Michelle is the playwright.

This story in real life only lasts 32 years.

So do you take this all the way to the end of the the dissolution of Seneca Village, or do you kind of stop at a happier time when people are celebrating Christmas?

How do you approach that?

Because a big part of this story is, you know, the media back then, kind of doing a smear campaign, calling them tramps and squatters and pulling out the old eminent domain to boot them off their property.

To turn it into Central Park, which is a wonderful resource, but still, point being, it wasn't pretty.

So how do you deal with that?

Yeah.

And you know, that whole thing, eminent domain.

And, I mean, it's a part of our American history with a lot of African-American, neighborhoods throughout history.

Right.

So we know that that's happened.

We know that that's very sad, but we're choosing not to focus on that.

We're choosing to focus on the celebration that they were able to do this and that they existed, and that they were a diverse community unlike any other community.

I think of that time where, you know, they were going to school together, they were being buried together.

They were going to church together.

I think that there's something really unique about that and perfect for the the revels platform.

So yeah, we're we're focusing in on maybe that ten years prior to, you know, when the battle was just beginning.

Seneca Village kind of.

Yeah.

Right.

And we do bring in sort of our dark part is that the the park is coming in to do this, but it's like maybe that first victory they had when they weren't able to do it as quickly as, the city wanted to.

So we're really focusing in on the joy that the, the, the trading of, you know, traditions and culture and just is like when we spoke to the, the descendants of Andrew Andrew Williams, you know, they were very much about this is a story of celebration.

They don't see it as a bad thing because their descendants went on after Seneca Village to create other villages in, in, in New York and left them a legacy.

So it's not a bad thing.

Amy, can you talk a little bit about the involvement of the Williams family?

How did you how did you communicate with them?

Did they find you?

You find them?

What was the story there?

So in the research I was doing, trying to find references and books, I stumbled upon a self written family history book that they had published.

And I bought a copy and I thumbed through it and lo and behold, it was the descendants of Andrew Williams.

So then, like any other person, I'm googling them, and I'm, trying to figure out how I can get in contact because there wasn't any contact information in the book.

So I went on LinkedIn and I found Mariah.

She is the wife of Andrew Williams, and I messaged her on LinkedIn, and she had a willingness to communicate and do a zoom, call with Michelle.

And I. Yeah.

Talk a little bit about the process of lifting this up from, you know, I think a lot of people, the idea they go to a play and it's like, oh, well, to make a play, people do their parts and we watch it and then we're done and we go have dinner.

No, this thing has to be stood up from nothing.

How did you get the involvement of the family, getting the story right, doing the research to make it historically accurate.

And then turn this into a, Christmas celebration.

That's got the set correct for it.

And all the pieces.

You've talked about that in general, but I guess maybe explain to folks what it takes to lift that up into an actual production.

Well, first I just want to say that the what we're doing with Revels is inspired by the stories in Seneca Village.

We aren't trying to do a reenactment of the history.

I've taken some of the primary characters that I found in history that were that were there, and I've created their profiles for them to share.

The beginnings of this, this, this village.

So I don't want anyone come to come and think that they're going to get, like, a total historical.

Well, it doesn't exist.

I mean, you have to project some.

You have to.

What might they have said?

How might they have acted?

How might they have reacted?

Yes.

Which which is the art part of this?

That's right.

And I've spent I spent the past 30 years writing original works that that bring untold stories, especially African American stories, to life.

And so I was very familiar with that.

Yeah.

And so, so we want to honor this, this story and be inspired by what happened there, what we know and what we can feel.

But it's not going to it's not going to be a reenactment, but it's going to be a celebration of of of Seneca Village, for sure.

Under the musical piece Benjamin Hunter.

I don't know anything about it.

Maybe you could talk to him a little bit.

You gestured earlier at kind of doing this major research piece that you had to do, and finding those resources and touch points in folk music, to give you that authenticity that you're looking for.

He sounds like a great resource.

How did you find him?

And what does he bring to the table for you?

Well, Ben Hunter is a northwest treasure, and he is an African-American man who now lives on ocean.

And he's a fiddler and a storyteller.

And he has, maybe a future guest.

I'm thinking he has his hand in, in many pies, in the musical and the folklore, world.

And so we had worked with him previously on another show and, and we, were able to call on him to help us, flesh out some of the music.

He has some historical, studies that he's done.

And so he's, well versed in what would it be, what would be appropriate?

And, and digging through the minefield of what's appropriate and what's appropriation.

Yeah.

And finding the balance between those kind of things.

So he has pulled together a band, an African American band.

He's pulling up, a banjo player from Oakland and, a bass player, a local bass player.

Okay, I love that.

I love that getting it right between appropriate and appropriation.

Amy, you went through a process with the community.

I think proactively to get the rebels to that place.

Talk a little bit about what that process was, what you were seeking in it.

And, we even I think you I think the mayor's involved, too, right?

Right.

So one of the things that's really important about our shows, when we approach a cultural aspect is to find tradition bearers, kind of, to Meghan's point, what's appropriate?

And so what I sought to do is meet with a lot of different civic leaders in our black community to, to gain their advice and support on the topic in the show.

We did meet with an there, and she immediately asked for a role and a walk on role.

Well, created a walk 100 role for the mayor.

No.

Victoria.

Not totally surprised.

Yeah, yeah.

But also, you know, this the the themes of the show that Michelle has written, the themes of resilience and hope and community and unity, really resonate with a lot of folks right now.

And we're doing a panel discussion with some of our civic leaders, in partnership with the Urban League, about how the show lends to being able to talk about those important themes in our community and what that means to us in the here and now.

Can I say one thing?

Yeah, just just to, you know, about appropriation is that usually it happens when it's out of context.

And, there's no there's no representation and no permission.

And so I think that we're stepping out of that because we are very much within the context of, of the original culture, right, telling this story.

And we have representation on stage.

I mean, we have representation in media, in the families involved, the families involved.

Right?

And so and so when we when we are exploring these traditions of these cultures and the dances and all these different things, I think we don't, you know, appropriation.

I'm I'm not I'm less concerned about appropriation because because we have all the we have all the things that we need to be able to to tell this story and celebrate the culture.

We're not doing it out out of context and, you know.

Yeah.

But with that said, I think it's a great thing to consider.

Oh, of course, yeah, of course.

And an important thing to also mention, about about the process and how, diligent you you've all been in doing something that's entertaining, which is sometimes a little bit of a trade off, too, because if you try to do something completely documentary, you know, go to sleep and nobody's going to buy a ticket to go, you know, take it, take a two hour nap watching the rentals do a documentary.

So trying to get trying to get the entertainment piece and the happy piece along with the this actually happened and there are some things piece that's hard.

Yeah.

Oh yes.

Believe me I know.

Yeah, yeah.

Bringing you know time of of of when, when people were enslaved to the revel stage is definitely, something that we have to acknowledge.

But, you we have to acknowledge it.

That's.

I guess that's the.

Yeah.

Statement.

I want to talk a little bit about the rebels.

In general, Seneca Village can be a part of this, but just about the troupe, first of all.

And I'll maybe go down the line for this and start with the musical piece.

Where do you get your talent from?

I know for this particular production, you kind of cherry pick some people who are really involved in that aspect of folk music and some expertise, but generally speaking, can people audition for this or are they in the community or how do you go about it?

We we draw from the community.

We every year we have auditions for this particular show.

We have lots of other opportunities to perform throughout the year.

But for this one, we get a chorus, an adult chorus of about, 30 to 35 people.

We have a kids chorus of about 15, and then we pull in, our folk band, which is often our tradition bearers from whichever culture we're, we're dealing with.

And we also have a brass quintet plus percussion that is there every year.

So the forces on stage are many and multitudinous and, very talented in lots of different ways.

How long do you have to pull this together?

I mean, when did they say, hey, by the way, we're doing Seneca Village circa 1825, so good luck with that.

How long did you have?

We we choose our show.

We try to choose our show in, February or January, and hopefully we have an ongoing plan.

Years in advance.

But that's when we settle on it and then we start pulling the forces together, contracting the musicians and saying, who's going to help us with this?

Who's going to be actors?

This, is, a unique setup where it's, trained amateurs and professionals working together.

So our, our amateur chorus, we have probably two thirds of them returning every year.

So there's some kind of continuity and there's some kind of education involved in that.

Yeah.

So they're not starting from the ground floor.

They know what the flow is, how the show is going to develop.

What okay, I gotcha, but it's still everyday people who have jobs and kids and all the things.

So pulling that together is interesting.

Nice.

Amy, on the on the acting piece too, because it's not just musicians, it's also players.

How do how does that process work and who can be involved?

Well, again, it's through the audition process for regardless of it's of course piece or not.

But we did some special auditions this year so that we had, a broader scope, of culturally appropriate actors.

Oftentimes had to go a little wider.

We did have to go a little wider.

Yeah.

And then oftentimes we find people through people.

And that that's been helpful too.

And Michelle has people in her circle more, which we can draw as well.

So, it's I think it's going to always be a customizable situation from show to show.

Yeah.

Raffles is also a national network.

And so we can pull on other cities, and their connections and network to, to get people where they need to be.

Do you ever look at other cities and go, oh, that would be awesome, let's do that.

And then it's a little more developed and you'll need these parts, these pieces and and maybe that year historically everything came from our, our main mothership in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

But over the years we've, we've started growing our own from where we come from.

But we often borrow things, things, people ideas, scripts, props, which makes everything from everywhere because a lot of the legwork has been done.

So and also just for the local artists.

And so I have this platform.

Rebels is really needed in the past five years has been in this, phase of like, not a phase.

It's a it's a transition, I guess, to open up, expand the stories that we're going to tell.

So for local artists out there of color, especially that love being on stage, love music, love theater, you know, get in touch with the with the website and watch what's going to happen over the next few years because the stories are going to expand.

So it's like you need you it's not just Western European Christmas.

That's right, that's right, that's right.

I wanted to talk to you too, Michel.

We've talked to you mostly as as the playwright.

But about the stage direction, too.

Again, it sounds like maybe ten, 11 months to pull this together.

So you have got to start building set pieces, start doing the blocking, start doing the scene changes.

I mean, who do you tap for resources?

Are there people in theater here who can help you with that or how does that fit?

Well, rebels has a team that that comes to you do that, do that.

Yeah.

Set designer.

Lights, costumes for your job then.

So my job is to write it.

So that just took a lot of okay.

And a lot of, just getting down to write this show in.

And I have a wonderful sort of format that's been passed down to me that I could use to write the show, and then to start to cast it and then stage it.

I mean, it's all a part of the process that I've been doing for years.

But yeah, starts early, though.

This program is going to air just before the show opens in the show's run, December 14th, 15, 17, and 18.

Amy, what can folks do to get involved to come see the show?

Are you typically sold out, or can they slide in if they want to talk to folks?

Well, we encourage people to get tickets early for this particular show, and the way to do that is to go to our website, which is Puget Sound rebels.org.

On the website you can buy tickets or you can reach out to our box office in the phone numbers on that website as well.

But I would also encourage people just to get to know Puget Sound revels.

We do things all year round.

And, on our website you'll see opportunities get involved.

Sign up for our newsletter.

So you know what's happening.

We have some exciting things that we do in the community, including a dragon parade.

So much for that.

What's the dragon parade?

Megan.

Yeah, in 2020, when we were unable to be flinging joy in person, we wanted to lift people's spirits in the dark of winter.

And so we commissioned our former potentate of prop, Steve Laborers, to build us a a dragon, a fire breathing dragon that we could take out to the neighborhoods.

And we started with a parade with this dragon and some people dressed with lights.

And I trumpet player in the back of a pickup truck, and we just showed up in people's neighborhoods, did a loop around, shout it out, played some music and hop back in and went to another neighbor.

And now it's a thing and now it's.

There are three of them coming up.

There's, Well, they're in November this time.

Sometimes they're in December, but we visit different neighborhoods and we've been working with the neighborhood councils, to kind of help pull that together.

And we're hoping to get more and more buy in from neighborhood groups and organizations and give us a feel for the rest of the calendar.

Of course, the the, the Christmas holiday slash, solstice, because you guys work off the agrarian calendar, from what I understand is, is is a known thing for the rebels.

What other things throughout the year are touch points in addition to Dragon Parade, but also we have something almost every month of the year, and they are seasonal celebrations.

And there are also just, other things that we do like, we do a panel discussion with Bipoc artists called Art truths.

That that is, is a way to kind of enlighten the community about those Bipoc artists, the local and what what they bring to our community.

So a real engagement piece along with that, the the actual production.

Oh, yes.

And then we do, Mayday in right park the maypole and dancing, singing and parading.

We do, the bridge sing come Glass bridge sing.

Okay.

Which is a procession across the bridge with with singing stops along the way make, pub sings rebels if you come to our river.

So be prepared to participate in whatever way that makes you happy.

But all of our seasonal celebrations and events that we do all include, participation, engagement.

You being a part of this celebration are our ideas that we're teaching cultures and neighborhoods and groups of people how to celebrate together and flinging joy, which I love.

Flinging joy.

Great, fomenting communal effervescence and flinging joy.

Great conversation.

I appreciate all of you coming to northwest now and helping us learn a little bit more about Puget Sound revels, and I'll say this break a leg.

Thank you.

I love the rebels motto.

We fling joy.

The bottom line we need some joy.

And anything that promotes it is worth your time.

I hope this program got you thinking and talking.

You can find this program at kbtc.org, streaming through the PBS app, or listen on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

That's going to do it for this edition of northwest.

Now, until next time, I'm Tom Layson.

Thanks for watching.

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