Spamalot

Mid Cheshire Musical Theatre Company opened their 2019 season this week with a brilliant production of Spamalot.  Set traditionally with a fantastic set, this production was the best that I’ve ever seen from this society.  Visually it was stunning, vocally it was excellent and as a piece of entertainment – it was fabulous!

Directed and choreographed by Joanna Millborne, it’s clear to see why Joanna has been nominated and won many NODA awards.  Joanna has many creative ideas which really come to fruition and adds to the overall effect.  An eye for finer detail, Joanna’s creativity really shone through during this performance.  This production had brilliant pace, excellent storytelling and lavish visuals which made it all the more engaging.  I loved the brick work gobo effects that was projected onto the walls of the theatre which brought the audience into the action.  I also loved the fantastic choreography which was well showcased by this brilliant cast.  This show is a brilliant showcase that incorporates many styles from different countries and locations.  Joanna was able to find many comedic moments throughout this show with her choreography.  All of the action, choreography, costumes, lighting, props and set was sewn nicely together to create an outstanding production.

Ian Sherwood took the helm as musical director.  The band sounded great throughout and were well directed by Ian.  The band are also part of the action at times which added to the overall humour.  The band have a lot to do in this show and they were obviously very well-rehearsed.  A special mention has to go to the band member who played the flute which sounded superb!

For me, the lighting was brilliant.  I loved the uplighters and the colours used, which reflected the colours on each of the Knight’s tunics.  I doubt many of the audience members noticed this, but it was muchly appreciated by me.  I also really liked the use of the LCD lights around the portcullis.  It added a great effect in the second half of the show.  As I mentioned before – the introduction of the brick work gobo that was projected onto the wall was a stroke of genius!

The only negative thing I can say about this production was the quality of the sound.  This venue is notoriously bad for acoustics and generally the sound quality is quite poor in this venue.  I struggled during the first 10 minutes of the show to hear dialogue as it took me a while to adjust to the acoustics.  Some of the levels during the opening number/section was a little too loud which impacted on the opening dialogue from the historian.  The second act was much better, and for me, there were no issues at all with the sound quality and levels from the actors and the band.

The costumes were excellent and used very well throughout.  It helped identify each character (there are a lot) which enabled the audience to focus more on the plot and dialogue.  There were a lot of quick costume changes for this small cast, but each was carried out perfectly.  Well done to the wardrobe team for their hard work!

The set, although was static – was used to great effect.  It was also visually brilliant.

The main protagonist in this production was King Arthur, brilliantly played by Benjamin Obeid-Findley.  Ben had a great gravitas to his voice and was commanding throughout.  He kept his status the whole way through and was very well cast in this role.  He also sang well and had some great characteristics.  I enjoyed his performance very much.

Catherine Baddeley played the Lady in the Lake.  Catherine was very funny in this role and very entertaining to watch.  There were times when I lost facial expressions when in profile, due to her wig.  There were also a few bum notes in there, but I didn’t mind in the slightest as this is a part where you can easily get away with it due to the diva-like nature of the role.  Catherine was brilliant and I loved her version of ‘the song that goes like this’. 

Patsy, King Arthur’s assistant was brilliantly played by Jack Hawkins.  Jack was excellent throughout and very believable and naturalistic in this role which is hard to do in a production as farcical as this.  Jack also has a stunning singing voice.  I loved some of the little subtleties and nuances that Jack brought to this role.  Some of his physicality was very good too, which added to the overall comedy.

The main Knights of the round table were played by Stuart Dutton (Sir Robin), James Radhi (Lancelot), Andy Jordan (Sir Dennis Galahad) and Evan Johnson (Sir Bedevere).  All of these actors were excellent in their roles and very well cast.  I loved the storytelling from Stuart Dutton, the comic timing from Andy Jordan, the comedic physicality from James Radhi and commitment to character from Evan Johnson.  Others joined the knights periodically throughout, such as Scott Heath, Michael Corteen and James Partington.  I must say, these men sounded excellent during their choral singing sections and were very strong in each of their roles.  I loved Scott Heath’s Prince Herbert – his song with James Radhi’s Lancelot was great fun!   This was a great showcase for each individual knight who were all given their chance to shine and boy they took that chance!

There are far too many other characters and cast for me to mention.  The dancers were very strong and very entertaining.  They added to the overall feel of each piece and were extremely well used throughout by the director and choreographer.  The singing was also brilliant.  For a small cast they created a great wall of sound.  Overall, this was an excellent piece of theatre.  If you didn’t see it – you missed out!  I loved the direction, the set, the costumes, the choreography, the commitment to character and the storytelling!  I thank Mid Cheshire for their kind hospitality, and I wish them all the very best for their 2019 season and their next production of Evita!

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