STAGE AND MUSIC REVIEWS : Christmas Is Coming : UCI Students Conjure Up Merry Holiday Visit to Henry VIII’s Lively Court

Because of--or perhaps in spite of--”A Christmas Carol,” the popular image of an Old English Christmas is tied to Victorian London. Joseph Huszti and his students in the music department at UC Irvine offer a re-creation of an older and merrier celebration from the court of Henry VIII in “Christmas Eve 1542,” their annual madrigal dinner at the campus Fine Arts Village Theater.

Huszti started the concert-pageant--a dinner with costumed performances by the UCI Concert Choir, UCI Chamber Singers, the California Chamber Singers and the Southern California Early Music Consort--10 years ago to raise money for vocal and choral scholarships. The program has become a local tradition.

The show is a visual--as well as a culinary--feast with handsomely detailed and carefully researched costumes. The cast appears to have walked out of a Holbein painting and into the theater (after a stop at the dry cleaners). The singer-actors take their roles just seriously enough to stay in character, and the overall effect is an exceptionally polite and well-dressed costume party.

Henry VIII beheaded his fifth wife, Katherine Howard, in February, 1542, and soon grew interested in Lady Lattimer ( nee Katherine Parr). Jack Maitre, who presided over the costumed court Saturday night, made a jovial and youthful King Henry: It was easier to imagine his marrying six wives than ordering two beheaded.

Huszti’s cast wisely refrains from the hard-sell, forced merriment that spoils many staged attempts to re-create the past. Instead of prodding the audience like cheerleaders, they allow the spectators to enjoy the sights and sounds at a more relaxed, natural level. And there’s plenty to enjoy.

The UCI Chamber Singers and Concert Choir sing pleasant arrangements of Christmas songs and traditional airs, including three written by Henry VIII--”O My Hart,” “Departure Is My Chief Pain” and “Green Groweth the Holly.” (A good Renaissance prince was expected to excel in the arts, as well as diplomacy.) A few of the selections, like Purcell’s “Come, Come Ye Sons of Art,” are anachronisms, but the overall effect is so enjoyable that quibbling would be churlish. The Early Music Consort provides stylish readings of instrumental pieces between the songs.

As the royal jester, Armando Lucero frequently stole the show from the assembled nobility with his deft mixture of sleight-of-hand conjuring and mimed antics. Switching roles from court lady to peddler, Laurel Boyd offered a lovely rendition of the street song, “Won’t You Buy My Sweet Blooming Lavender,” her sweet soprano echoing off the theater’s concrete walls.

The meal itself is about on a par with a standard fund-raising dinner: fruit, cheese and a peppery pate, followed by potato-leek soup, pot roast, chicken and vegetables. (Both the beef and the whole-wheat rolls would have been better hot.)

The mulled cider that replaces the noxious boiled ale of the traditional wassail bowl provides a cozy touch on a chilly autumn evening. Dessert is old-fashioned plum pudding. (English novelists make this sweet, heavy confection sound better than it tastes, but they didn’t have chocolate at the time of Henry VIII.)

At almost three hours, the show is a bit long and would benefit from some judicious trimming. The pace may be intended to reflect the more leisurely life of the 16th Century, but modern diners grow restless. No one at our table knew if the investiture ceremony for the Knights of Christmas was supposed to be a way of thanking benefactors of the program or just another diversion. In either case, it’s the least entertaining part of the show and should be shortened.

“Christmas Eve 1542” offers a pleasant, alternative holiday entertainment for anyone who’s been given the Dickens once too often.

The UCI Madrigal Dinner continues at the Fine Arts Village Theater, tonight and Sunday, and Dec. 11-16. Tickets: $25-$28. Information: (714) 856-6616.