Spamalot
Honors 50 Years Of Monty Python
Spamalot
Newcastle Theatre Royal
Tuesday 28 May - Saturday 1 June 2019
Marking
50 years since the creation of Britain’s, silliest and most iconic comedy
series, Newcastle Musical Theatre Company (NMTC) are staging Monty Python’s
Spamalot at Newcastle Theatre Royal.
Adapted
by Monty Python from their film The Holy Grail, Spamalot follows King Arthur of
Camelot as he gathers together knights on his quest to find the Holy Grail.
The
side-splitting show, which is famous for its French taunters, killer rabbits
and a coconut, takes the audience on a magical journey of song and dance across
the kingdom to fight foe, throw insults, fall in love and run away, a lot.
NMTC
have performed at the renowned venue annually for more than 60 years, staging
shows such as Andrew Lloyd Webber’s CATS, West Side Story, Sister Act and
Grease, and the 30 strong cast is led by an award-winning musical theatre team
comprising Director Bea Atkinson, Choreographer Sandra Laidler and Musical
Director Malcolm Moffat.
Tackling
the role of the somewhat clueless King Arthur is Charles Doherty, whose professional
musical theatre career has included Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Really Useful Company
and Cameron Mackintosh International, and opposite him, the diva extraordinaire
Lady of the Lake is played by former Capital FM presenter and radio
personality, JoJo Hatfield.
Director
Bea Atkinson said: “A Monty Python fan since my youth, I am thrilled to be
directing Spamalot. I wanted to remain faithful to the iconic Python
characters yet give the audience our own interpretation and rehearsals have
been endlessly happy and vibrant, with gut busting laughter. The audience is
sure to go home feeling lighter and happily singing ‘Always look on the bright
side of life’!”
Choreographer
Sandra, who directed NMTC’s spectacular 2018 performance of CATS, has found
this year’s show has brought a very different challenge: “Spamalot is
very much a comedy and a ‘micky-take’, and therefore the dance moves can be
much more fun and not so technically challenging compared to my previous NMTC
shows. Like those shows however, it will still be drilled to perfection before
hitting the stage though!
The
most enjoyable moments are putting what I have prepared on paper onto the dance
floor. Sometimes it doesn’t quite work, but sometimes it’s better, and it’s
been particularly great to see it materialise amongst the men playing knights,
many of whom have a ‘unique’ style of dance!”
Musical
Director Malcolm has also had to take a different approach to the witty lyrics
and spirited score: “Timing and clarity is everything in a show like this or
the humour is lost. Spamalot has a riotously fun score, with that big, brassy
Broadway sound that just lifts and energises the comedy on stage. The
songs are catchy and there are lots of snippets of tunes that the audience will
recognise. The cast are working so hard to bring this music to life and we're
excited to bring it to the Theatre Royal with a fantastic orchestra."
Rehearsal photos: Joe Costigan
SPAM® is a registered trademark of
Hormel Foods LLC.
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Tickets:
Spamalot
runs at Newcastle’s Theatre Royal from Tuesday 28 May to Saturday 1 June, with
tickets priced from £13 and available at www.theatreroyal.co.uk.
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