Published in the Weekly Volcano, Nov. 23, 2016
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| the “not dead yet” scene, taken from the Standing Room Only Facebook page with permission. |
I must confess that I
did not have high hopes when I went to The Triad Theater in Yelm to see
Standing Room Only’s production of Monty
Python’s Spamalot, since my previous experience with small town community
theater has never been as disastrous as Waiting
for Guffman, it had generally not been on a par with Tacoma and Olympia
theaters. But the Standing Room Only players surprised me; they put on a first-class
show.
Visiting The Triad
Theater is quite an experience. For starters, I tried to enter via the backstage
entrance and was told to go to what they called the front of the building, a
barely lighted doorway on a side street. Inside was joyful bedlam. They were
serving drinks and snacks. The auditorium was almost full half an hour before
show time. The stadium-style seating was interspersed with comfortable looking old
couches. Onstage some kind of game of chance was going on involving a catapult,
and someone was circulating through the audience handing out snacks, which I
took to be Spam and cheese on crackers. It was loud. I got the impression
everyone knew each other.
The set looked inexpensive
and shabby, which is perfectly Pythonesque. The costumes by Renee Cottriel were
excellent. Some of the outlandish costumes such as those of the Knights Who Say
Ni, were hilarious, and many of the women’s costumes, especially those worn by
The Lady of the Lake (Earl Dawn) and the women in the ensemble were lovely.
For those not in the
know, Spamalot, written by Monty
Python’s Eric Idle, is loosely based the movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail, or as the program declares,
“lovingly ripped off” from the film, with a few comic bits and the song “Look
on the Bright Side of Life” taken from Python’s Life of Brian.
The show is excellently
directed by Daniel Wyman and choreographed by Fred Loertscher with additional
choreography by Marcela Martinez and Deanna Waldo, both of whom also perform in
the ensemble cast.
There is only one cast
member I recognized, Richard Frias, who has a cameo as God, and who has
extensive stage experience in the South Sound area. The rest, as well as I can
tell from reading the program biographies have experience on in Standing Room
Only show and school productions, which means this cast is the epitome of
amateur theater — but I surely couldn’t tell it from watching them. Every one
of them from King Arthur (Dave Champagne) to unnamed members of the ensemble
threw themselves wholeheartedly into their roles and showed professional
quality acting chops. Kudos to one and all. Especially outstanding for their
expressiveness and physical comedy are Will Champagne as Patsy, the
coconut-clapping sidekick, and Kevin McManus as Sir Robin.
From the monster rabbit
to the man who’s not dead yet to Sir Lancelot’s gay wedding, this musical farce
is filled with all the craziness that made the movie and the Broadway show the
hits they were, plus there are a few local bits thrown in like the “Don’t P*ss
Off the Stage Manger” skit and bringing up a member of the audience (who might
or might not be a plant) for a selfie with the cast.
Driving to Yelm is not
a difficult commute from either Tacoma or Olympia, and I guarantee you this
show is worth the drive.
Spamalot, 7:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday
and 2 p.m., Sunday through Nov. 27, $xx, The Triad Theater, 102 Yelm Ave E, Yelm.
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