Executive Director

Revels, Inc., a nationally recognized nonprofit performing arts organization based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is seeking a dynamic Executive Director.  Best known for its annual production of The Christmas Revels, Revels engages today’s audiences in theatrical and musical experiences that bring the world’s cultural traditions and celebrations to life.  Please visit our website at www.revels.org.

The Organization

The birth of Revels dates to 1957, when founder John Langstaff created a Christmas Revels production for New York City’s Town Hall. The show was an exciting new form of celebration-performance that wove together the music, dance and storytelling of communities and cultures from around the world and across the centuries. Ten years later, NBC engaged Langstaff to create a similar production for a nationally televised Christmas special that ran for two years. In 1971, two performances of the Christmas Revels – A Celebration of the Winter Solstice were staged at Harvard University’s Sanders Theatre.

Today Revels has grown to sell out eighteen performances every December and produces seasonal celebrations and collaborative performances throughout the year. In addition, we provide a variety of education programs and creates recordings and songbooks of traditional music.  As we prepare to celebrate the 50^th anniversary of Revels, Inc. in 2021, we are also planning the organization’s next 50 years.

As in the very first year, all Christmas Revels productions include traditional and ritual dances, processionals, carols and drama.  Certain touchstone elements remain the same from year to year while the setting, place and time change annually.  Originally celebrating the traditions of the British Isles, productions encompass an ever-growing range of cultures from Victorian England, Renaissance Italy, Armenia and Georgia to a Mexican village and the Underground Railroad of 19^th-century America. Revels continues to bring together auditioned, amateur choral singers – both adults and children – with professional actors, singers, instrumentalists, dancers and storytellers. At the heart of this magical experience is audience participation, drawing everyone into the life of the show in moving and powerful ways.

• We practice the art of participation. We welcome and guide new and old friends on a journey of discovery and fun.We believe all people can sing, dance, and be part of the Revels experience together.
• We foster cultural exploration. We bring together different cultures and genres in fresh and unexpected ways with respect and curiosity in our search for diverse cultural expressions from around the world.
• We create connection.  By weaving personal connections between people, we build a shared sense of community.  By connecting common strands of diverse cultures, we build understanding.  By celebrating the differences that make people and cultures unique and interesting, we help create a society that values harmony.
• We are stewards of tradition. The music, dances and stories passed down embody a collected wisdom that can illuminate the past and inform the future, grounding us in what it means to be human.
• We fulfill the human need for celebration. The annual progression of the calendar provides a springboard to spread joy in every season.  We turn music, dance and folktales from around the world into magical experiences brimming with spirit, optimism, irreverence, fellowship, and revelry.

Revels, Inc. has a ten-member Board of Directors, an Advisory Council of seven members, hundreds of volunteers, and a talented staff of eleven. Annual revenue totals approximately $1.6 million from performance and program revenue and contributions. Revels, Inc. of Cambridge has grown to include eight other Revels companies nationwide (in Boulder, CO; Hanover, NH; Houston, TX; Oakland, CA; Portland, OR; Santa Barbara, CA; Washington DC; and Tacoma, WA).  Over two million tickets to The Christmas Revels have been sold nationally since the first performance.  Revels, while successfully promoting the traditional arts and the value of ritual to society, has become an important tradition itself for audiences nationwide.