The Friends Academy holiday show is performed on the two days prior to the start of winter break. But planning the elaborate spectacle starts way back in April.

The school’s “Revels 2015” performance celebrated the holiday through song, performance and readings. The show is loosely based around the national Revels show, originally founded by John Langstaff in the 1950s. The shows incorporate a variety of acts that are all appropriate to the season.

“We’ve been doing it for about 30 years,” said music teacher Jim Bean. “It originally started here because some of the staff took workshops with John Langstaff.”

Jacqueline Maillet, the middle school music teacher, said the biggest challenge is assembling a mix of songs and readings that revolve around a central theme.

“I started thinking about the message that our school sends,” said Maillet. “We do have a lot of service here. One of our service programs is advocacy and standing up for the underdog and working toward a cause.”

She drew from her own influences as well. As a teenager in the ‘80s, Maillet enjoyed the hit “We Are The World,” written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie.

When she was working on Revels, she found an updated version, which was created for Haiti following the earthquake that devastated the country in 2010. She added it to the show particularly because the rap section added at the end would likely appeal to a younger generation of singers.

A big part of the show is faculty involvement. Friends staffers filed on stage to perform several songs throughout the night, including one song composed by a student’s parent.

Pianist Deborah Franciose said that “Friends asked me to write a Christmas song without Christmas lyrics.”

Her song, “I Am Hope” explored themes of love and hope while showcasing Franciose’s talents as a composer and performer.

Toward the end of the Friends Academy holiday show, eighth grade student hoisted an intricately woven star into the air. The 12-point star was made from small wooden “swords” the students interlocked while walking together in a circle.

“The sword dance that the eighth graders so has been done every year,” said Bean. “It’s an old English tradition from Morris dancing, which in England is done usually around winter solstice or spring.”

Middle school science teacher Mary Pierce teaches the sword dance with some assistance from Bean.

“There’s this move where two people with the swords go under an arch that’s held up across from them. Then they create their own arch and bring it back over everybody else,” said Bean. “There is a children’s game that goes to the tune of ‘Shoo Fly’ that I do with the second graders that teaches them that move. There’s some building blocks.”

He said that many of the young students consider the challenging eighth grade “sword dance” performance as a rite of passage at Friends Academy.

The musical performances were broken up with various readings from famous works and even student works. Mallet said that, in the past, staffers were the ones who would read the works. This year, students took part.

“It’s another opportunity for them to do service for their school,” said Maillet.

One staffer, Head of School Steve Barker, read the final passage of the evening, called “A Message,” to help tie the whole show together.

“At this time we take nothing personally, least of all, ourselves. For the moment we do, our spiritual growth comes to a halt,” said Barker, reading from the poem. “The time of the lone wolf is over. Gather yourselves!”