Tracey Benson, Thomas Gandy, Emma Hoit and James Wigdahl of Aspire Community Theatre’s new production of Spamalot came into the KPBX studio to talk about the Monty Python musical, which opens this week.
[NB: Technical issues led to the introductions being muted during the live interview. This has been corrected insofar as possible in this on-demand audio.]
Based heavily—but not exclusively—on the 1975 film Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Spamalot is a stage musical that draws material from the Monty Python catalogue as well as pop culture and the entire history of musical theater.
Benson, a veteran of Lake City Playhouse and Coeur d'Alene Summer Theatre, is directing this production, her first for Aspire. Like Gandy (who plays King Arthur) and Wigdahl (who plays Arthur's sidekick Patsy), she's a longtime "Pythonista," as Wigdahl also described himself.
Hoit plays the Lady of the Lake, a character that was created for Spamalot and is key to its stage-adapted plot. Hoit talked about the Lady of the Lake's "diva" qualities, and Gandy and Wigdahl described their iconic characters and how they've made the transition to the stage.
Along with the show's music director, Scott Michaelsen, Hoit opened the interview with a live performance of her song "Whatever Happened to My Part?,” which illustrates some ofSpamalot's frequent breaking of the fourth wall.
Gandy and Wigdahl closed with "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life," accompanied once again by Michaelsen in the SPR performance space.
Spamalot opens this Thursday (Feb. 8) at the Salvation Army Kroc Center in Coeur d’Alene and runs there until February 18. Tickets and more information are available at Aspire Community Theatre's website or by calling their box office on (208) 696-4228.
