The quest for the Holy Grail is not yet dead for Grantsville High School theater.
The school’s Theatre and Music Departments will be coming together to present “Spamalot,” a musical adaptation of 1975’s iconic British comedy, “Monty Python and the Holy Grail.”
Theatre director Matt Price said choosing to take on the musical, written in 2004 and the winner of the Tony Award for best musical in 2005, was a no-brainer.
“I’m a huge Python fan, always have been, but most importantly, it’s kind of fresh and new,” he said.
The musical was released last fall for performance to schools and other theaters, Price said, and he jumped at the opportunity.
“I’ve been waiting for it to come out, and it finally did, and this group of kids is perfect, so we were totally fated to end up with this show this year,” Price said. “There are several of them that I feel like these roles were made specifically for these kids. There’s some amazing talent in this cast and they’re a perfect fit.”
“Spamalot,” like its source material, follows King Arthur and his knights of the round table as they embark on a search for the Holy Grail, encountering along the way a formidable Black Knight, taunting French guards, the fearsome Knights Who Say Ni, the Lady of the Lake and other trials and colorful characters.
In this rendition, Danny Keach will wear King Arthur’s crown, with Normandy Wanberg as Patsy, Clark Matthews as Sir Robin, Matt Waldren as Sir Bedivere, William Waldren as Sir Lancelot and Richard Jorgensen as Sir Galahad. Kylie Robinson also stars as the Lady of the Lake.
Price said although some of the words and songs had some cursing and other material that might not go down well for local audiences, the publishers allowed minor changes to be made.
“It really is a great show, and there’s a little fear of it being a little racy,” he said, “but the good news is the publishing company has several pages of author-approved edits that we’ve used, so there will be no cursing or anything like that. We’ve tidied it up.”
The action on-stage will be accompanied by a live orchestra comprised of GHS students and conducted by music director Brandon Larson. They have been rehearsing as much or more than the players on stage to be ready for the challenge, Price said.
“The kids have been working their tails off,” he added. “It’s not easy to play in a live pit and accompany singers and mistakes are made and everything’s different every night, but we have some amazingly talented kids in the pit. They’re producing a really great sound and they’re doing a great job at a job that was never intended for high school students.”
Price said this year’s offering is a complete turnaround from last year’s also-large but very serious “The Phantom of the Opera.” But he and the cast have relished the change in tone.
“I haven’t been this excited about a show in a long time,” he said. “I think we have some really talented kids in some really great roles and I just cannot wait for this to go up. I think the community is going to love this.”
“Spamalot” opens Thursday and runs through Tuesday, with the exception of Sunday. Tickets are $7 for adults, $6 for students and $5 for seniors and children. All shows start at 7 p.m.