Montana Actors' Theatre worth supporting

 

February 23, 2022

The Montana Actors' Theatre wrapped up its presentation of the musical "Spamalot" over Valentines weekend. My wife and I attended one of the last showings on a date and were blown away by the show they put on.

Spamalot is a musical adaptation of the film: "Monty Python and the Holy Grail." For those unfamiliar with the cult classic film, it follows the exploits of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table as they search for the Holy Grail. In true Monty Python style, it is very silly. The story in the original film isn't exactly coherent. It's more of an excuse to do a collection of medieval themed skits. The many disjointed scenes and tons of characters in the original makes the musical production uniquely challenging. Grant Olson, who directed the show, explained some of the challenges associated with the production: "It's a huge production. There's 18 cast members... I don't know the official count on costumes, but it's close to 200, for the amount of costumes that are there. The ensemble is switching costumes every two minutes and so are the main players. Everybody plays 3 or 4 roles, apart from Arthur, in true Monty Python style. So that's fun, and it's been a challenge." This is part of how the show truly distinguished itself. Despite the complexity of the show, actors flowed off stage and back repeatedly without hiccup. The sheer volume of costumes is hardly noticeable given the very high quality of costumes involved in the production. Grant spoke in depth of the work that went into creating the costumes for the show. This included 3-D printing and assembling helmets for knights, a crown for the king, and other pieces. This was a bit of a disappointment for me, as I was hoping to order one of the helmets worn by the Knights Who Say Ni, which were perfectly reproduced after those from the film. Beyond the technical work of manufacturing those pieces, the costume department created all of the other costumes worn by the cast, all 200 of them. Some of them, like the outfits worn by Sir Robin's minstrels, were elaborate and quite professional looking. Other noteworthy production value could be seen in the constantly moving set pieces, props, and custom animated film segments that were shown at different points in the musical. All of these things were done in house.

The production values for the show were top notch, but even more impressive was the work of the actors, all of whom were local talent. My wife and I recognized some actors from other Montana Actors' Theatre productions we had seen, but some new faces graced the stage. Having seen Seth Pomeroy, who played King Arthur, in another show we knew to expect good acting and great comedic timing. Other actors we hadn't encountered previously. Jake Palmer, who played Arther's squire Patsy, supplied a ton of laughs with his reactions and physical comedy presence throughout the show. These are just two of the nearly 2 dozen actors who brought real skill and professionalism to the stage. Perhaps the most impressive aspect of the cast's performance was Angela Pratt's vocals. Angela played the Lady of the Lake, who is called "the Diva" of the show in the dialogue and one of the songs. Her impressive voice was certainly worthy of the label and added to the professional quality of this musical production. That the actors performances were enjoyable is no small thing, considering they are playing roles already made famous in a cult favorite film, and that they faced some difficult rehearsal scheduling. Grant pointed out: "Trying to rehearse through Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years, it's kind of a tough time of year to get 20 people together. The cast has been amazing. The amount of work they put in has been really phenomenal. It's a huge show. Tap Dancing and singing and singing and dancing, sometimes at the same time."

The production values and acting prowess I am speaking of have been typical of my experience with shows from the Montana Actors' Theatre, which is amazing in this case considering how difficult a production this was. This seems to be, in part, due to the fact that this was a labor of love on the part of Grant and the actors: "I've wanted to do Holy Grail for forever, but of course there were no theatrical rights until Spamalot came out. This was one that Matt Springer and I, who played Sir Robin, after we did Jesus Christ Superstar about 5 years ago, we started talking about our mutual love of Monty Python. He had said 'If you do a Monty Python show, I'll be in it!' That kind of got it going." Grant explained the decision to put on Spamalot this year: "We were looking to do some comedies. We figured people would be kinda fatigued from the couple years of Covid, so we thought something fun and ridiculous would be the way to go."

It might seem a little odd to do a review of a stage production after its run has come to an end, but in this case, I am doing so because the quality of this show, as well as others I have seen from the Montana Actors' Theatre, are exceptional. Recognizing their work and supporting them through our patronage is part of ensuring that they continue to provide quality stage entertainment for years to come. Also, it has made for a relatively inexpensive and novel date night for my wife and me. I would heartily recommend checking them out.

 
 

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