Cape, Jackson students putting finishing touches to feast performances

Those popular Renaissance-era Christmas events are back at Cape Girardeau and Jackson high schools.

Students at both schools are putting the finishing touches on their acts this week in preparation for the annual madrigal feasts. The events feature a full-course dinner with song and dance by choir students.

For many participating students, the feasts aren't just about the food, even though they do get to eat. The cast members become like a family, said Elandra Decatoria, a junior at Cape Girardeau Central High School.

She thinks that the groups of students putting on the show really start to remember what the season is all about, which is giving to and loving each other, she said.

"It's definitely easier to work together at feast time," she said.

Feasts at the high school began in the 1970s and have become an annual tradition in the past 15 years, said Dinah Casey, the school's choir director. This year's event, known as the Yuletide Madrigal Feaste, will run a bit differently than years past because students are performing a full-length play with breaks for meal courses instead of the usual comedy skits in between, she said.

Guests are announced as they enter the event by a student playing a town crier. The menu will include wassail, bread, cheese, fruit and green salad for appetizers, pollo Florentine and potatoes for the main course and plum pudding for dessert.

Students have practiced several times a week for around six weeks. Tickets are going fast. Students will perform two shows, one each on Friday and Saturday nights. The Saturday show is already sold out, Casey said.

Reservations are suggested and can be made by calling 335-8228. Tickets are $20 per person. Shows both nights begin at 6:45 p.m.

Jackson's event will be at 5:30 p.m. today at Bavarian Halle in Fruitland. More information is available by calling the high school office at 243-9513.

eragan@semissourian.com

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