Thursday – Saturday, March 16 – 18 & 23 – 25, 7:30 p.m., Orcas Center
— by Lin McNulty —
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In what promises to be an irreverent, extraordinarily funny production at Orcas Center, Monty Python’s Spamalot is nearing the last weeks of rehearsal before unfolding before an audience on opening night, Thursday, March 16.
Director Doug Bechtel, who has held the reins and pulled the strings on more than 100 stage plays following his retirement as OPALCO General Manager in 2001, began to contemplate a new challenge for himself in the fall of 2015, to direct a musical–the holy grail of stage productions. He looked for something contemporary and challenging. Despite cautions from Seattle-area directors, who told him Spamalot was “too big for a first project,” or perhaps because of that counsel, bringing Spamalot to an Orcas stage was exactly what he set out to do. He studied the script, he researched musical productions, and contacted Orcas Center regarding a possible date to mount this stage production.
Monty Python’s Spamalot is a musical comedy adapted from the 1975 film Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Like the film, it is a highly irreverent parody of the Arthurian Legend. The original 2005 Broadway production, directed by Mike Nichols, won three Tony Awards, including the Tony for Best Musical of the 2004–2005 season and received 14 Tony nominations.
With over 25 musical numbers, a 12-piece orchestra, 100 acting roles and costumes, a “tremendous amount of props and scenery pieces” (that may be onstage for only a few minutes each in this quick-moving performance), singers, dancers, and 40 creative, willing, and able behind-the-scenes people, the vision is becoming a highly-entertaining achievement.
Bechtel acknowledges that “the reality far exceeds the complexity going in.” Yet it’s apparent that he loves every moment of this process as this project has consumed countless hours of work for him in the last year and a half.
Bechtel employed the skills and talents of Jim Shaffer-Bauck as Musical Director and Suzy Fraser as Choreographer. They, then, each have been gathering separately to rehearse with their singers and/or dancers. As of last week, the cast and crew were awaiting the first time everyone would be together for a rehearsal. Bechtel’s competent, experienced Stage Manager is Lynda Sanders who has a great many productions, including musicals, under her belt.
Tickets for Monty Python’s Spamalot are $17, $13 for students, $2 off for Orcas Center members, and may be purchased now at www.orcascenter.org or by calling 376-2281 ext. 1 or visiting the Orcas Center Box Office open Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 12-2 pm. $5 subsidized tickets available at the Box Office. For more information about Orcas Center’s 2017 season visit www.orcascenter.org.
And as a further treat — the Orcas Center Board will be hosting a reception after the opening night performance! Come join us for Spam-based nibbles (“green eggs and Spam” anyone?!) paired with a beverage of your choice.