Madrigal Dinner returns

AMERICUS — Southwest Georgians can soon get a taste of what it might have been like in Europe around the 1500s as the 21st annual Madrigal Dinner returns to the Windsor Hotel in Americus Friday and Saturday night.

The yearly event is akin to dinner theater, but hearkens back to the 16th century.

“It’s set in the Elizabethan period,” Georgia Southwest University associate professor of music Julie Megginson said in a recent telephone interview.

The evening consists of dinner and live entertainment featuring music of the period provided by the Georgia Southwest University Chamber Singers and Brass Ensemble.

“We use some of the same music every year,” Megginson said.

That includes the “Wassail Song,” or “Song of the Carols,” as well as English, French and German madrigals and 16th century dance presentations.

“We might also throw in a little contemporary music,” Megginson said.

She explained that the tone of the evening will resemble a feast hosted by an Elizabethan villager, with the lobby of the Windsor resembling the interior of a castle.

“It has the balconies in it,” Megginson said, adding that she and her fellow musicians are always seated at the head tables of the event. “We’re the lords and ladies hosting the feast. Also, one of the faculty from the college will serve as the lord of the manor.”

Although several standard Elizabethan songs are performed at each Madrigal Dinner, no two events are exactly alike from year to year.

“We offer something different every year,” Megginson said, explaining that some years include plays or sword fights.

The dinner portion of the event features a menu that includes roasted beef au jus with carrots and onions, stuffed turkey breast with cranberry relish, creamed potato soup, wild rice, bread and cheese, green-bean bundles, baked custard with walnut topping, wine and wassail.

As for the madrigal, what exactly is it?

“Madrigal is a secular form of music from the 16th century sung in a capella,” Megginson explained. “It contains love and nature and different kinds of themes.”

The madrigal, the music professor pointed out, is a complicated style of vocal music.

“Every part has its own importance,” Meggison said. “It’s a different style of music that people don’t often hear today.”

In keeping with the theme, performers and those serving at the dinner will be dressed in Elizabethan-era costumes. According to Megginson, patrons are invited to do so, too.

“But they don’t have to,” she said.

However, there is a motivation to don those period outfits.

“There’s a costume contest,” Megginson said.

The Madrigal Dinner has a longstanding history in Americus.

“They started it around 30 or so years ago,” Megginson said, explaining that the event was inspired by a growing nationwide interest in the Renaissance period. “Most of those Renaissance festivals were started then.”

In Americus, the Madrigal Dinner has taken place at a variety of locations over the years.

But not so long ago, the annual event was put on hold.

“There was a hiatus of five or six years,” Megginson said.

Soon after the music professor came to Georgia Southwestern in 1999, she was asked to bring the event back to life. She did so in 2002.

“The first time was a lot of preparation,” Megginson said. “It took a whole year of planning.”

These days, she has it down to a science, starting a mere three months in advance to get ready.

“The singers start preparing the first day of class in the fall,” Megginson said.

Since its revival, the Madrigal Dinner has boasted popularity.

“We have seats for 100 each night, and it frequently sells out,” Megginson said.

For more information about the Madrigal Dinner, call (229) 924-1555, ext. 136 or visit www.windsor-americus.com.