Spamalot

The Spring Musical: Spamalot!!

by Haylie Grescheck

Spamalot, a play based on "Monty Python and the Holy Grail," written and composed by Eric Idle and John Du Prez, was recently brought to Ilion, NY, at the Burton T. Seymour Auditorium at Central Valley Academy from February 27th - March 1st. The play was directed by Mr. Bunce and the leading actors were Elijah Chandler (King Arthur), Christopher Joyce (Patsy), Anthony Joyce (Sir Robin), Ryan Clanton (Sir Lancelot), and Andrew Priola (Sir Galahad), with the lead actress being Carsen Boucher (Lady of the Lake). 

An interview with our director Mr. Bunce:

How much work went into the play?

Mr. Bunce chose the play in August and started to get rights for the musical around September. Auditions were in November and it took 6 hours to cast everyone who auditioned. Rehearsals started in December, and were 2 - 3 hours per day, and then progressed to 6 - 7 hours every day in February. In January set design and building began. Every Friday Glimmerglass would come in for 6 - 7 hours to start building and painting. During tech week some rehearsals were from 5 - 11 at night.  It didn’t help that the weather was awful and one of the rehearsals was canceled. Mr. Bunce came to school for lighting in a snowstorm for light cues. The light cues started at 9 a.m. and were not finished until 1 a.m. the next day! He also drove 4 hours to collect costumes and the dress rehearsal went past midnight. Once the musical was over the set teardown took about 4 hours. 

Which songs required the most work?

1. “Knights of the Round Table” ~ So much was happening during this song. It was the longest scene and included many different sections of choreography. This song also incorporated stage crew moving things while on stage!

2. “Showbiz” ~ Originally didn’t include any of the ensemble at all, and most of the choreography was made up on the spot to include everybody. 

3. “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life” ~ This song was one of the most difficult due to the umbrellas. Several of them malfunctioned and would not shut or open.

Biggest challenges?

The biggest challenge was that multiple people had multiple parts, meaning that some of the cast played multiple roles throughout the show! For a few cast members this was difficult due to quick changes in costume. The script for Spamalot was also very fast-paced and occasionally made it hard to keep up with. Another huge challenge was the projection. In order for it to work, the projection had to be visible to the audience while also not overlapping onto any of the scenes. An entire slideshow was also created and had to be lined up perfectly with each scene. 

Biggest successes? 

The entire show came together very well! Everyone, including both the crew and cast, worked together extremely well and the show was stronger every night. There was definitely a lot of energy from everyone performing. 

Anything to say to people who may want to audition next year?

There is always room for someone no matter what your strong suits are. Every single member of the musical is important, both cast, crew, technology, and orchestra. There will always be a spot for anyone.