Madrigal Dinner to bring a touch of the Renaissance to Sandwich High School stage Thursday, Friday

Sandwich High School is hosting the 14th annual Madrigal Dinner, a performance featuring Renaissance-themed music, theater and food.

The event will be at 7 p.m. Thursday and Friday, Dec. 9 and 10, at Sandwich High School, 515 Lions Road. The program is about two hours long.

The Madrigal Dinner is expected to return to full strength, after a year off because of COVID-19 and returning last year without the dinner portion of the program.

The event is organized by Taylor Marshall, high school choir director, and Justin Heinekamp, high school band director.

The teachers said the number of students participating has about doubled since last year, with about 60 in this year’s performance.

“The kids are super excited about it,” Heinekamp said. “The older kids are getting back to the way they remember running it when they were freshmen and sophomores.”

In addition to the main ensemble, there will be various smaller ensembles performing both nights, which Heinekamp said will be much larger than in recent years, as the entire Sandwich High School marching band is involved.

“It is basically back to how we ran it in the past before COVID-19,” Marshall said.

The play is different every year, but is always Renaissance-themed with Christmas holiday undertones.

High school students will perform and score the show, while grade school choir members and parent volunteers help with the food service and preparation.

Food will be provided by 5-B’s Catering Service of Waterman, which will serve chicken, vegetables, potatoes and cake. 5-B’s will continue the tradition of serving wassail, a spiced hot apple cider.

Marshall said that at last year’s event they had about 100 people in attendance each night. This year, they expect to reach their 128-guest capacity both nights.

Tickets cost $20 and are available for online at sandwicharts.ludus.com/index.php. Early buyers will be able to choose their seats while those who buy tickets at the door will not. Organizers said they already have sold more than 50 tickets for each night.

Marshall said the parent volunteers who help out in the kitchen are their “saving grace” on the event nights, and are very helpful in running a successful show.