Submitted by Puget Sound Revels.
Tacoma, WA – Puget Sound Revels is thrilled to premiere “Christmastime in Seneca Village” this holiday season at the historic Rialto Theater in downtown Tacoma, Washington. For the past 31 years, Puget Sound Revels has produced an annual holiday show, The Midwinter Revels®, each year celebrating a different culture from a different time period. The show features traditional songs, dances, and stories and invites audience participation through singing and dancing. Michelle Matlock, playwright and stage director for Puget Sound Revels, has written the show inspired by the history of Seneca Village.
This historic village was founded by formerly enslaved and free African Americans in 1825, and later attracted Irish and German immigrants who were also escaping racism and discrimination. The village thrived as a hub of cultural exchange that was unique for the time period. Community members bought and owned land, and they built homes, churches, schools, and gardens together.
Michelle believes in finding the joy in the stories of the cultures that Puget Sound Revels seek to represent. For the Seneca Village show, in Michelle’s words: “we will be centering African American cultures, and that’s going to be really fun, with gospel, folk music, and dancing. The Irish, German, African American community members went to school together, they were buried together, and they went to church together.”
All this changed in the 1850’s when the New York Parks Commision made the decision to create Central Park on and around the site of Seneca Village. In the mid-19th century, local newspapers defamed the Village, painting it as “squatters living in shanties”. The City Parks Commission took advantage of the rhetoric to pursue their goals of building Central Park. However, recent archeological digs have provided evidence that the Village had a sophisticated culture, refuting the local newspapers. Residents of the Village built two-story homes, possessed porcelain tea cups, and left behind evidence of a middle class community. Recently, a project entitled “Envisioning Seneca Village” built a 3-D model of what the village was like just prior to its destruction to build what is now Central Park. About | Envisioning Seneca Village
“We know what happens in the end, but we want to celebrate that this community existed. Let’s celebrate that it was such a diverse community.” – Michelle Matlock
While researching the history of the Village, Amy Wigstrom, Executive Director of Puget Sound Revels, came across a self-published family history book written by the descendents of Andrew Williams, founder of Seneca Village. Amy and Michelle were able to meet virtually with the descendents, Andrew Thomas Williams IV and his wife Mareia, to learn about their recent experiences researching their family legacy. Andrew and Mareia recently toured Central Park along the path that is marked now with signage honoring the village. The tour guide commented that, unfortunately, there were no known descendants of the village, which prompted Andrew and Mareia to speak up. Since then, they have connected with historians and researchers who continue to bring new evidence of this village forward. Their story was featured on Good Morning America. A look at Seneca Village, an African American settlement in Central Park. Puget Sound Revels will be flying the Williams family out to the opening night performance to honor their legacy and celebrate the incredible community that was Seneca Village.
Performances take place at the Rialto Theater in Tacoma, Washington
- Saturday, Dec. 14, 2:00pm & 7:30pm* (*ASL interpreted show)
- Sunday, Dec. 15, 2:00pm
- Tuesday, Dec. 17, 7:00pm
- Wednesday, Dec. 18, 7:00pm
Tickets can be purchased online: www.pugetsoundrevels.org
Or by phone Monday-Friday, 10am-6pm. Box office phone: (253) 242-3434
About Michelle Matlock, Puget Sound Revels Playwright and Stage Director
Michelle Matlock, Playwright and Stage Director, has been with Puget Sound Revels for four years as Assistant Stage Director. This production is her debut as the director and playwright. Michelle founded Circle Up Productions (CUP), a live entertainment and performing arts education company, serving the Pacific Northwest and beyond. She currently directs the Tacoma Light Trail and is also an adjunct faculty member at Dell’Arte International School of Physical Theater. Michelle has been in entertainment for over 25 years and was recently awarded an NEA Grant to revive her critically acclaimed solo show The Mammy Project, presented by Kansas City Fringe Presents in October 2023. She was the first African American Person to create a main character for Cirque du Soleil, and she toured the world with Cirque’s big top show OVO for close to 10 years. She continues to direct and teach across the nation.
Featured Artists
DeMarcello J. Funes, Andrew Williams
Originally from West Oakland, California, Cello is a versatile and dynamic stage performer. He has showcased his talents across the Bay Area and beyond, developing skills in juggling, clowning, hambone body percussion, African drumming, and African stilt dancing at the Prescott Circus Theatre. He later enhanced his abilities by joining Circus Bella. His background in stage acting, musical theater, and improv was cultivated through his drama studies at the Oakland School for the Arts, based in the Fox Theatre of Downtown Oakland. His diverse experiences have also led him to teach circus skills, clowning, and physical comedy at Circus Center SF, where he serves as an instructor and Community Engagement Associate of Performance. Currently, Cell works with Thrillride Mechanics at Zspace as a physical comic instructor and serves as the Lead Teaching Artist of West African Drumming and Stilt Dancing with Beautiful Beginnings Arts Collective in San Francisco.
Terence Mejos, Bishop Epiphany Davis
Terence Mejos is thrilled to return to the Puget Sound Revels. Born and raised in Washington state, Terence pursued vocal performance at Western Washington University and now resides in the city of Tacoma. He has had the pleasure of performing a broad spectrum of live theatre mediums. He has performed in the choruses of Tacoma Opera, Vashon Opera, Low Brow Opera Collective, and Kitsap Opera. He has also performed in both straight plays and musicals; recent roles include Roger (Rent) and Elliot Ortiz (The Happiest Song Plays Last) at the Tacoma Little Theatre.
Last year, he joined the Revels family on the Silk Road as the lead merchant, and he is honored to return to Seneca Village as Bishop Davis.
Terence thanks his family and friends for their love and support. He also extends his gratitude to the original residents of Seneca Village and their descendants for their resilience and courage in preserving and sharing their stories.
Laurice Roberts, Aunt Mattie
Laurice Roberts is thrilled to take part in the return to live theater, especially in this show and with Revels. A veteran actress, she’s been recognized as a regional Performer of the Decade for work with Changing Scene, & originated roles in The Chinese Question and The Other Country, plays examining Tacoma’s history. Some recent roles include Miriam (Variations on Falling), Laurice/Jess (The Complete Works of Shakespeare Abr. Revised), and Lucy Taylor (Luck of the Irish). Laurice thanks those who have supported, loved, coached, & cared for her & her artistic endeavors throughout the years.
Benjamin Hunter, Tradition Bearer & Folk Music Leader
Benjamin Hunter, a Seattle-based polymath, is an award winning multi-instrumentalist, composer, creative & culture advocate, social entrepreneur, producer, and educator.
He is the founder of Community Arts Create, co-founder of the Hillman City Collaboratory, co-founder of Black & Tan Hall, and currently serves as the Artistic Director at NW Folklife. He served on the Seattle Music Commission from 2017-2021, and co-chairs the Columbia Hillman Arts & Culture District. Benjamin was the recipient of the 2015 Governor’s Arts & Heritage Award and the 2016 City Arts Magazine Future’s List Award. In 2016, his roots duo, Ben Hunter & Joe Seamons, took 1st place in the International Blues Challenge. Benjamin is a 2019 Gordon Ekvall Tracie Memorial Awardee, a 2020 Artist Trust Fellowship Awards recipient, and served as a 2020/2021 Artist-in-Residence at On The Boards.
For over a decade, Ben played in the internationally acclaimed roots duo, Ben Hunter & Joe Seamons. He also plays as a soloist, playing original and traditional roots music, and with his band, The Intraterrestrials, performing original works. In 2017, Benjamin composed music for the critically acclaimed dance piece, Black Bois, which was presented at On the Boards in 2017, and The Moore Theatre in 2020. In Spring 2023, Benjamin collaborated with Seattle and New York based artists to create Untitled, composing the music for a multi-disciplinary production with dance, visual, architectural, and storyteller artists. Summer of 2023, Benjamin collaborated with local artists to produce, Umamalengua Okan (Little Brown Language), to weave stories about land, language, memory and becoming. In the Fall of 2023, Benjamin composed original works for two dance performers for a two-week show at On The Boards, entitled, To Gather. Benjamin is releasing his first solo album of original works later this year. Connecting all his experiences in one musical language, Benjamin’s music scans the margins and the nucleus alike searching for the stories and intersections where everything converges.
In 2014, Benjamin presented a TEDx talk entitled, When Folk Music Speaks. Benjamin has spoken at colleges and universities across the country and is part of the 2022/2023 Washington Speaker’s Bureau. In 2022, he presented as the season capstone for the Chautauqua Lecture Series, entitled, The Renaissance of Folk.
Jarret Mason, Folk Musician, Bass
Originally from Sacramento, CA, bassist Jarrett Mason relocated to Seattle, WA with folk band BLVD Park in 2010. The band stopped performing in 2018 but Jarrett continues to be active in the folk, country, acoustic music, jazz, reggae, rock and pop communities as a performer, instructor and as a professional stagehand.
Sara Ghenbremichael, Folk Musician, Banjo
Supporting Artists
- Kenya Adams, Choreographer, Dancer, Singer
- Nyah Hart, Freedom Seeker & Featured Tap Dancer
- Camille Coleman, Featured Singer
- Desireé Wilkins Finch, Mary Albro
Production Team
- Music Director, Megan Oberfield
- Set Designer, Martin Christoffel
- Technical Director & Builder – Jon Schroeder
- Lighting Designer – Mark Thomason
- Costume Designer – Naarah McDonald
- Props Master – Gail Thomason
About Puget Sound Revels
Mission Statement
Puget Sound Revels builds and celebrates community through traditions of song, dance, and story drawn from many cultures. We seek to offer theater productions, seasonal celebrations, and educational opportunities for people of all ages, races, genders, and across the community.
Organization History
The Puget Sound Revels (PSR) was founded in 1992 and has been producing art since 1994. PSR is one of nine Revels organizations across the country carrying forward the vision of founder, John Langstaff, who believed in creating art that connects us. We offer community gatherings to share the human experience, make connections, and share the joy of artistic experience. We endeavor to create events that are participatory, welcoming, inclusive, and multi-generational. We inspire through a balance of traditional music and dance, as well as new material to invoke curiosity and offer a spirit of irreverence and humor.
Our anchor production is The Midwinter Revels® which is a fully staged, historically grounded production rooted each year in a different historical and cultural context. We perform five shows at the Rialto Theater in Tacoma with professional actors and musicians along with a local chorus and cast. We work with cultural consultants to honor the music and history of the varied cultures we are representing and bring in local experts and musicians to perform with us.
Beyond our annual ticketed Midwinter performances, we hold several seasonal celebrations free to the community. Examples of these include May Day with a Maypole experience at Wright Park, Tacoma Sings at the Chihuly Bridge of Glass, our Cultural Dance Exchange, Pub Sings, and the Summer Solstice celebration. We offer workshops for children, adults, and families to experience art, music, dance, and theater.
