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Cox plans to do a February dinner every other year, and on the off years he will return to the traditional Christmas performance of the Madrigal Dinner. Because of the move to February, this year's participants were forced to make some adjustments.

Senior Lisa Haley entertains the choir as a jester during performance

One change called for an entirely new script. The committee of students that wrote the script could no longer use Christmas as their base theme. Instead, the students decided to have the dinner follow a Valentine's Day theme.

Seniors Jeff Ouper and Carolyn Kacner, chairs of the script committee, played the parts of Prince Geoffrey Wallshield and Die Prinzessin Sophia. They were at their own betrothal feast, but open the performance arguing. The King orders the jesters to repair the situation. They decide to put a love potion in Sophia's drink, which causes her to fall in love again with Prince Geoffrey.

A major concern for the time change was the preparation of new music. The traditional Madrigal Dinner would always include Christmas songs that were familiar to students that had participated in the past. To accommodate the February show, a completely new program of music had to be selected. Cox said that he was pleased to see that "the music and script committee went above and beyond for the new show."

According to senior Lisa Haley, the type of music in this dinner is the biggest change. Haley performs in the Madrigal Dinner performance as one of three court jesters, whose jobs are to serve as masters of ceremony and to get the audience involved with the show. Haley said that this year's musical selections are "springtime love music," which allows no opportunity for vocal solos, whereas the Christmas shows have featured many solos.

Cox was greatly concerned with learning the new material. According to Cox, the Choir had less time to learn the new songs because this year they prepared a full-length winter concert.

Choir Director Keith Cox prepares his students for the processional

To help learn the songs, Cox sent all of the music home with over winter break so that students could practice. In addition, they were drilled in class, worked in sectionals, wrote down their lyrics, and practiced their music outside of class.

Cox was dependent on some of his students to set a good example for the others. "Student leaders were very important in the learning process," said Cox.

Cox said that the dinner was moved to February for several reasons. One reason was to free up Christmas time to volunteers who had been busy with Madrigal Dinner for as long as eleven years. Many of their helpers had admitted to the difficulty of preparing for the presentation in the midst of the Christmas season, and they did not know if they could continue to do so every year.

Cox also wanted to perform masterworks for the holiday season that he hadn¹t been able to do for ten years. He indicated that he was pleased to perform a selection from Handel¹s "Messiah" with his choirs at the holiday concert last December.

Cox also said that he understood that December was a difficult time to keep up with dinner expectations for everyone involved, especially so close to the end of the grading period. "There's nothing going on now, so this is kind of neat," said Kacner.

According to Ouper, having a dinner at a time other than Christmas with its "seasonal chaos" allows students to focus more on the performance. The choir as a whole has improved starting and stopping their songs together, and their acting is better this year as well. This is "the best year that I¹ve had," said Ouper. "It feels like Christmas in February."

Senior Mike Nowak greets the audience and invites them to enter

However, some people involved with the dinner do not agree with all of Cox's reasons. Some students and adult volunteers agreed that they did not enjoy Christmas as much without a Madrigal Dinner in December. Others said they had more things to do in February that made the dinner more difficult to manage.

Michelle Watters, queen at this year¹s Madrigal Dinner, finds that the beginning of the new semester is busier for her than December. She also appreciated the December show because winter break was very close, while after a February show the students head "straight back to school."

Cox admits that although he had more time to enjoy Christmas this year, the move to February, "has been a little more insane heading into Swing Street and vocal contest." In addition, first semester grades were due in while preparing for the dinner and he was gone from school for two days while bringing three students to perform in the state choir hosted by the Illinois Music Educators Association.

Haley said that the choir put on an excellent show. The students were more prepared and had more time to perfect their acts because the dinner is almost two months later than usual.

However, Haley said, "I like the Christmas performance better." She indicated that after ten years the Madrigal Dinner should be in December for tradition's sake. She also found that it is more difficult to play a large part in the dinner while she also prepares for the winter play coming up on Feb. 22.

Haley also reported that more students could attend the dinner in December because they're home for winter break, and other people have taken time off from other obligations. According to Cox, every show has sold out quickly since 1991. This year, tickets for the Saturday afternoon and Sunday evening shows were more difficult to sell.

Ouper attributes that part of this problem is due to confusion caused by the dinner's move to February. But according to Watters, tickets did not sell as well as usual because people have other things to be doing. "People have more time [to come] at the Christmas season," said Watters.

A large part of the dinner is the people involved in the background to take care of food, lighting and to take care of any problem that arises. "People think that the food just appears and the lights go out at the right time," said technician Steve Keown, who has volunteered with the Madrigal Dinner for six years.

According to Keown, Madrigal Dinner would not have come together as well as it did without these people. Many members of the backstage crew started to confess that they might not be able to give away their Christmas every year to do a Madrigal Dinner. This was one major concern that caused the dinner to be moved to February.

Keown is often busy during a December dinner, with other obligations such as the fall play which ends just before Madrigal Dinner rehearsals begin, and providing support for concerts at ACHS the week after Madrigal Dinner is completed. He has other obligations in February as well, including preparation for the winter play.

Madrigal Dinner King and Queen, seniors Justin Wallshield and Michelle Waters discuss the dinner at head table

But Keown said that his ultimate preference is still a dinner in December, which provides a strong start to the Christmas season for many, which also makes it easier for students to get themselves involved with the performance.

Approximately one third of the people working in the kitchen had returned from previous dinners, said Keown, but the most critical people are chef Klaus Reulbach and his wife, Barbara, the head of the wait staff. "We have without a doubt the best meal at any high school presentation," said Cox. "It is the best presented [and] the best prepared."

Barbara Reulbach was happy to have more time during the holidays, but admits that she misses the Christmas songs, particularly "Silent Night," which has been the final number for the last ten Madrigal Dinners.

Klaus Reulbach, the chef, said that "basically, work in the kitchen is the same," but they both agreed that the Valentine's Day feast did not bring the same cheery atmosphere that had come with the Christmas dinner.

This year's Madrigal Dinner was an attempt at something new. "Until you do something different, you don't know if you're going to like it," said Barbara Reulbach. "If you like it, you stick with it. If you don't, you go back to what you did before."