The Actor’s Charitable Theatre will be performing its production of Monty Python’s “Spamalot” Friday, March 22, at the Bama Theatre.
Founded in 2008, The ACT is a non-profit organization whose mission is to provide an educational quality of theatre to the Tuscaloosa community. The Actor’s Charitable Theatre donates all revenue acquired from their performances to different charitable organizations.
“We started off as a theater group that donated a portion back to charity,” Joey Lays, the artistic director of “Spamalot” as well as the founder of The ACT, said. “Our eventual goal would be to make our own home with an educational outreach section to our theater and then just producing new and fresh works of theater.”
“Spamalot” is a musical comedy whose slogan states that it is, “lovingly ripped off from the motion picture ‘Monty Python and the Holy Grail.’” The musical retells the quest that King Author and his Knights of the Round Table embark on to find the Holy Grail. The original Broadway production of “Spamalot” won three Tony Awards in 2005, including the award for Best Musical of the 2004-2005 season.
The ACT chose the comedic show because it carries a large fan base composed of people who are familiar with the Monty Python film as well as the stage production.
“’Spamalot’ is just sort of an actor’s show,” Johnathon Lyons, the director and musical director of the production, said. “It’s going to be something that is very recognizable to people that are in the theater scene, and it has a cult following with the movie, ‘Monty Python and the Holy Grail.’”
The production is well known for its characters’ comedic timing as well as the ludicrous situations that King Author and his Knights of the Round Table are subjected to throughout the various scenes of the musical. The main goal of “Spamalot” is to entertain the audience by engaging them in the constant humor of the show.
“It’s just to entertain in the base need of entertainment,” Lyons said. “Some people say that they have trouble getting the humor of the show. I tell those people that have that trouble that there’s no point at all except to make people laugh.”
The actors of the show have been rehearsing since the end of January and have made it a goal to stay true to some of the original elements from the movie while still putting some of their own personalities into their characters. The actors strive to positively affect the audience in a way that they will feel changed by the musical once they leave the theater.
“This is the kind of show that I don’t care how bad of a mood you may be in or how bad things may be in your life, if you come and you see this show, you are going to enjoy yourself,” Danny Salter, who plays King Arthur in the show, said. “You are going to laugh, not just a little. You are going to hurt yourself laughing. The music is so beautiful; you can’t help but leave the theater in a much better mood and having a better outlook on life afterwards.”
The play will be showing Friday, March 22, through Monday, March 25. Tickets can be purchased online at theactonline.com or at the Bama Theatre.
Leading in today’s Crimson White:
Alabama fields multiple adaptive sports teams
Researcher compiles survey of Alabama fossil record
Under threat of local lawsuit by chain, local restaurant changes name
