Recently, a friend of mine asked me how I do “fill back up” — meaning how I recover after working hard and living hard — and not burn out. I thought carefully about that question nd didn’t have an immediate answer. At some point, I thought of my answer. I love being a fan, collecting, meeting new people, networking, in-person events, mingling, making jokes, and getting new points of view.
My friend curated an evening that filled me back up. They invited me to an event with the Revels community and a discussion with Gregory Maguire, author of Matchless: A Christmas Story and Wicked. You know, Wicked. The movement.
Gregory told stories, engaged with the moderator, signed books, and answered questions: he entertained us thoroughly. Everyone there had a story of Gregory. I met someone who recalls Gregory visiting their school before he gained Wicked fame, and even remembers him sitting on the front table, wearing purple Converse shoes. Gregory touched many people through his writing.
Gregory’s story, which he wrote for NPR’s All Things Considered Spirit of the Season series, has turned out to be the inspiration for a new Revels show for this midwinter season.
Have you been to a Revels show?
Revels brings together people of all ages and backgrounds through musical and theatrical celebrations of our world’s cultural and seasonal traditions. They believe that songs and stories passed down through the generations embody a collected wisdom that illuminates the past and informs the future.
This year’s show is a blend of music, storytelling, song, and dance, bringing to life the radiant story of Matchless. Woven together with festive Scandinavian song and dance performed by virtuoso musicians, actors, and an intergenerational chorus, the story tells the tale of a young boy finding warmth and light in the darkest days. Matchless and the new Revels show takes inspiration from The Little Match Girl by Hans Christian Anderson. Wait, did they invite me because my name is Hans?
“In selecting this tale for revisiting – illumination, perhaps – I hope to honor the original by finding a way to return to the story a sense of the transcendent.”
Gregory Maguire
The evening was a wicked good time… do you see what I did there? Thank you, my friend, that was plenty.