Monty Python’s SPAMALOT at North Shore Music Theatre (Beverly, MA)

The cast of North Shore Music Theatre's production of Monty Python's SPAMALOT. Photo © Paul Lyden.

Based on the outlandish humor of Monty Python and affectionately ripped off from the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail, this 2005 Tony Award winner for Best Musical is the story of King Arthur, his Knights of the Round Table, and their quest for the Holy Grail. The book and lyrics were written by Eric Idle, who was also one of the original writers of the film’s screenplay.  The memorable music was written by Eric Idle and John Du Prez.

This production was cleverly directed and choreographed by Billy Sprague Jr. to suit North Shore’s in-the-round theatre.  It features bright and functional, yet realistic costumes from Mark Nagle that shine against the simplistic set design from Michael M. Harvey. I particularly liked that the stage was painted to look like stone and easily took on the appearance of the round table mentioned in the show. In addition, projector screens were used for animated clips at various times throughout the show. Music director Jesse Warkentin conducted the ten person orchestra while often actively participating in the humor with a number of bits that are unique to this production.  

In his curtain speech, owner and producer Bill Hanney told the audience to “prepare to sprain your funny bone” and while I thought this was a bold statement to make, it turned out to be quite true for many audience members; especially those familiar with Monty Python’s farcical comedy style. While the audience enjoyed most numbers, there were a few that received uproarious laughter and/or applause. The first was “I’m Not Dead Yet” lead by Not Dead Fred, played by Sean Bell, whose portrayal was hilarious. Bell also played the Historian, French Guard, Minstrel and Prince Herbert, each with unique characterizations and vocal variation, but all with supreme comedic timing and talent. He was easily an audience favorite.

Al Bundonis (King Arthur) and Brad Bradley (Patsy).Photo © Paul Lyden.

Another was Brad Bradley, as King Arthur’s sidekick Patsy. Last seen as Bert in NSMT’s production of Mary Poppins, I was thrilled to see him back for this production in a role that he was understudy for in the original Broadway production.  As Patsy, his characterization and vocals were perfection and he fantastically led “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life”. His interactions with King Arthur, remarkably played by Al Bundonis, were delightful to watch as they were both amusing and heartwarming. The Knights were wonderfully portrayed by James Beaman as Sir Robin, Jonathan Gregg as Sir Lancelot, and J.D. Daw as Sir Dennis Galahad. All three each played two additional roles with similar gusto. 

The Lady of the Lake was stunningly played by Haley Swindal. Though her vocals in “Knights of the Round Table”, at times, lacked support and control, she handled the vocal Olympics rather well, especially considering it is one of the most complex and challenging songs in the show; particularly for the Lady of the Lake part. Minutes later however, in “Find Your Grail” and again in “The Diva’s Lament”, her powerhouse vocals reigned supreme and the audience was enrapt by not only her voice, but her charismatic characterization of the iconic Lady of the Lake. Swindal is certainly a force to be reckoned with and it is easy to see why she was cast in this role.

The large, talented cast was bursting with energy and enthusiasm throughout; dancing up a storm and singing their hearts out. Most played multiple roles changing costumes every few minutes. It was clear from start to finish that they enjoy performing this production and bringing lighthearted joy and laughter to the audience.

While being familiar with Monty Python is not necessary to enjoy this production, it certainly helps you fully appreciate the humor. © SPAMALOT runs about 2 hours and 30 minutes including intermission and plays Tuesdays-Sundays through October 9^th. Tickets range from $54-$79 with group rates available for groups 10 or more. The show contains adult humor and profanity; it may not be suitable for all audiences. For tickets or more information visit www.nsmt.org , call 978-232-7200 or visit the box office in person at 62 Dunham Rd. Beverly, MA.

“45 Plays for 45 Presidents” at Merrimack Repertory Theatre (Lowell, MA)

Terrell Donnell Sledge starts off the show as George Washington. Photo by Meghan Moore

Opening up the 2016-2017 season on the Merrimack Repertory Theatre stage is a unique and very funny production of “45 Plays for 45 Presidents”. It has been written, rewritten and added to by Andy Bayiates, Sean Benjamin, Genevra Gallo-Bayiates, Chloe Johnston, and Karen Weinberg since it was first created as “43 Plays for 43 Presidents”. Each play is about 2 minutes long and each focuses on a different president. The show begins with George Washington and ends with a play about the next president: either Hilary Clinton or Donald Trump; as elected by the audience. Five fantastically versatile and wonderfully comedic actors play not only the presidents, but other historical figures during each time period. This show is a fast-paced look at the past leaders of our country, their presidency, what they’re remembered for and a few unknown facts about them.

The set featured square boxes with quotation marks, the word “quote” or a comic strip-like talking bubble. These boxes lit up red when an actual quote from one of the presidents was said. There was also a large oval picture frame at center stage where projections were seen throughout the show. On either side of the frame were pieces of a very large dollar bill. This very cool and unique scenic design was created by Michael B. Raiford with projections designed by Ido Levran. Throughout the production props and costume pieces are used to bring each president and their term(s) in office to life. One costume piece that was passed from president to president was a suit jacket with a sequined American flag on the back. Costumes were designed by A. Lee Viliesis and were simple, yet able to transcend time. The lighting was designed by Brian J. Lilienthal and the sound was designed by Stowe Nelson.

North (Celina Dean) and South (Veronika Duerr) collect states as the nation grows and tensions increase. Also pictured Nael Nacer. Photo by Meghan Moore

Imaginatively directed by Sean Daniels, this cast features Celina Dean, Veronika Duerr, Aaron Muñoz, Nael Nacer and Terrell Donnell Sledge. In just over two hours they use dozens of props, costume pieces, and many story-telling devices to show the audience our greatest and worst moments as a country. We learn new things about presidents that may not have been covered in our history classes. Ultimately, we further realize that the story of our country is written by us when we vote. It is a story that we can effect this November when we choose our 45^th president. 

A few highlights from act one include Aaron Muñoz as Benjamin Franklin “roasting” Thomas Jefferson, played by Veronika Duerr. Nael Nacer and Terrell Donnell Sledge got the majority of the audience chuckling during their interaction as Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren. Veronika Duerr was intense when stabbing red balloons with a knife as she portrayed William Henry Harrison and his killing Indians to take over their lands. Terrell Donnell Sledge, as Abraham Lincoln, led the group in a captivating song about one of the most well-known presidents.

Terrell Donnell Sledge, Aaron Munoz, Celina Dean, and Nael Nacer all portray Teddy Roosevelt as his daughter (Veronika Duerr) remembers him. Photo by Meghan Moore

Act two also featured a number of memorable plays including the group portraying Theodore Roosevelt, complete with mustaches, as Duerr, portraying his daughter, narrated.  Nael Nacer, as Woodrow Wilson, gave a short but informative lecture on the only president to have earned his PhD. The group, donned in sparkly flag vests, sang a song about Richard Nixon, led by Aaron Muñoz. Veronika Duerr was hilarious as Bill Clinton (when you see it you’ll see why). The election controversy between George W. Bush and Al Gore was hysterically done by Aaron Muñoz and Celina Dean. Terrell Donnell Sledge displayed some great jump rope skills as he portrayed current president Barack Obama. The last play, as chosen by the audience, was a nicely done rap by Celina Dean as Hilary Clinton. 

A splashy musical number for Richard Nixon. Terrell Donnell Sledge, Veronika Duerr, Aaron Munoz, Celina Dean, Nael Nacer. Photo by Meghan Moore

If you, like many others, need a break from the current political battle taking place, I suggest you check out this intelligent, non-partisan production. It may give you fresh perspective on our past, remind you of what we’ve accomplished, and recharge your American spirit to go out and urge those around you to vote this November. As we’ve learned from the past every vote counts, and as we look towards the future, this amusing, but thought-provoking production is just what we need to remind us that we are writing our history. © “45 Plays For 45 Presidents” is on stage at Merrimack Repertory Theatre until October 2^nd and tickets range from $70-$26. To purchase tickets or find more information visit www.mrt.org or call 978-654-4678.

Cry ‘Havoc!’ at Peterborough Players (Peterborough, NH)

Cry ‘Havoc!’ is a captivating and powerful one-man show written and performed by Stephan Wolfert and directed by Eric Tucker. Stephan Wolfert served as an Infantry Officer and Medic in the US Army from 1986 to 1993. It was then, after seeing a production of Richard III that he left his military career and went to graduate school to pursue acting and the theatre. In Shakespeare’s plays he saw veterans. He related to their speeches and could see himself, his comrades and his friends in those scenes. In performing these characters he has found catharsis. He is now working with other veterans and using Shakespeare to help them deal with the effects of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and start to recover from it. As noted by Wolfert, havoc is alive and well in every war around the world. Even when veterans come home the havoc they’ve endured does not end.

Five bare, greyish white trees, on an otherwise empty stage, are lined up across upstage. This simple design choice by Gus Kaikkonen artistically represents our inner wiring. Until this production, Wolfert had been performing without a set; just him physically and emotionally taking the audience on a journey using an empty space. The brilliance of this design and how it connects to the core message of the play is absolutely incredible: the military is wired for war, but they are not unwired when war is over. Thus trauma haunts their lives and they often cannot escape it.  

Stephan Wolfert in Cry 'Havoc!'. Courtesy Peterborough Players.

 Those that serve in the military are recruited and then wired for war. Their humanity is taken away. They are taught to respond to orders without thought and to respond to a threat with violence just like the Berzerkers centuries before them. Berzerkers were warriors and fighters from ancient Norway who used huge swords and battle axes to take out their enemy. These fighters, like soldiers today, distanced themselves from humanity. Wolfert goes on to share stories about trench warfare, the roll of camaraderie in PTSD and Henry Lincoln Johnson, an African-American infantryman from World War I who, after suffering twenty-three gunshot and stab wounds, saved his comrade from torture and execution by the German enemy.  When they had recovered from their injuries they went back to the front lines and fought together once again for their country. Unfortunately, Johnson ended his life penniless and homeless; drinking himself to death.

Wolfert says when he was first leading his company of soldiers, he thought he would be the kind of leader that was part Rambo and part John Wayne, but when they got to the front lines and the bullets started flying he knew he had to be the kind of leader that did what he had to do to keep his men alive. Quoting Shakespeare’s Henry V he says, “Once more unto the breach dear friends” and “We few, we happy few, we band of brothers; / For he today that sheds his blood with me / Shall be my brother…”.

Henry V was not the only play of Shakespeare’s he gathered lines from to intersperse with his stories.  Wolfert disperses lines and monologues from many of Shakespeare’s plays including Julius Caesar, Richard III, Hamlet, Macbeth, Coriolanus, Henry IV, Henry V and more. The war stories he tells add astounding depth and more profound meaning when paired with these lines from Shakespeare.  He performs “Now is the winter of our discontent…” from Richard III, the play that inspired him to pursue theatre. From Macbeth he says, “So foul and fair a day I have not seen” when describing the night his vehicle took on friendly fire and his best friend was shot in the face. He shares how he held his friend’s head as he lay there barely breathing as they waited for medical assistance and a helicopter to come and pick him up. He gut-wrenchingly recalls details of the day, a week later, when he had the task of handing a folded flag to his friends’ wife and daughters at his funeral.

Wolfert shares how when soldiers leave the military they are not “decruited” and unwired from war. They are not given their humanity back and wired for life in civilian society. In using Hamlet’s famous “To be or not to be” speech, he describes the suicidal moments he has faced in his own life. Developing, rehearsing and performing this play has been therapy of sorts for Wolfert, who after years of alcoholism and PTSD, is using his talents as a writer and well-rounded performer to share not only his story, but the stories of other veterans spanning hundreds of years.

While much of this play is heavy with turmoil, Wolfert does add humor to break up the emotional roller coaster he is taking the audience on. These real-life stories of war and its aftereffects are vividly told, and with seemingly boundless energy, physically acted out by Wolfert in a way that no other actor could do with the same authenticity and passion. This play is unique, honest, compelling and poignantly relevant to today’s world.  

The production concluded with a robust, extensive, and very well deserved standing ovation. After every performance Stephan Wolfert does a talk-back with the audience to recognize the veterans there and give the audience a chance to share their thoughts on the production.

Cry ‘Havoc!’ is a must see! Whether you see it in Peterborough, NH in the next few days, or the next location Stephan Wolfert performs it, this is a powerfully raw and riveting production that needs to be witnessed. © This production is rated PG-13 due to strong language and adult situations. Cry ‘Havoc!’ is only being performed on the Peterborough Players stage, 55 Hadley Road, Peterborough, NH, until September 18^th. For tickets call the box office at 603-924-7585 or check out www.PeterboroughPlayers.org.

For additional information about the play and the organizations Stephan Wolfert is involved with visit: www.ShakespeareAndVeterans.org , www.govcpa.org , www.decruit.org , and www.theatrebedlam.org.

Lucky Stiff at Stoneham Theatre (Stoneham, MA)

Courtesy Stoneham Theatre

Opening their 17^th season, Stoneham Theatre presents the musical murder mystery farce Lucky Stiff. It is based on the book “The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo” by Michael Butterworth, with music by Stephen Flaherty and book and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens. It is the comical story of an unhappy shoe salesman who learns that he will inherit six million dollars from his recently deceased uncle, whom he never met, if he follows his uncle’s last wishes to the letter. Little does he realize that those last wishes include a trip to Monte Carlo with his embalmed uncle, whom he must pass off as alive for the duration of the trip in order to claim the inheritance. To complicate his task even further, if he does not follow these last requests the money will go to the Universal Dog Home of Brooklyn. Directed by Caitlin Lowans, choreographed by Ilyse Robbins and music directed and conducted by Bethany Aiken, this production features a fantastic ten person cast who, with energy and excitement, bring this outlandish story to life.

The scenic design by Jon Savage was creatively utilized throughout the production. It featured walls of boxes, which at the start, seemed to only make sense in the shoe store. But as the show progressed walls were moved, hidden compartments were revealed, trap doors popped up, doors swung open to reveal the band and a bed slid out from the bottom of the main wall. The set was truly a part of the show in a refreshing and intriguing way. The cast and crew seamlessly transformed it from one scene and location to the next with simple, yet effective alterations.

The cast features Andrew Barbato as shoe salesman Harry Witherspoon who must take the corpse of his uncle on vacation to Monte Carlo. Barbato was charming, amusing and delivered solid vocals throughout the production. The body he rolls around in a wheelchair was convincingly portrayed by John O’Neil who managed to stay frozen and lifeless. He never broke his dead character by smirking when he heard something funny, or reacting when someone lifted his arms or hands or moved his head. Rita LaPorta and her brother Vinnie DiRuzzio were incredibly played by Ceit M. Zweil and Mark Linehan. Their comedic timing was spot on, their sibling relationship was believable and very funny, and their vocals were top notch. Their duet in act one: “Rita’s Confession” was supremely well done and an instant audience favorite. Linehan’s “The Phone Call”, later in act one, was hilarious. As Rita, Zweil was the quintessential New Jersey housewife, with just the right amount of seductress and feistiness paired with powerhouse vocals that made her performance one of the highlights in this production.

Annabel Glick, a representative of the Universal Dog Home of Brooklyn, was sent to Monte Carlo to spy on Harry Witherspoon and to wait for him to make a mistake so her organization would get the inheritance.  As played by Lizzie Milanovich, she was quirky with a dash of sass that paired nicely with Barbato’s portrayal of Witherspoon. The cast was rounded out by Thomas Derrah as Luigi Gaudi, Bryan Miner as Emcee/Ensemble, Jade Wheeler as Dominique du Monaco/ Ensemble, Samantha Richert as Landlady/Ensemble, and Stewart Evan Smith Jr. as Solicitor/Ensemble. Both Miner and Wheeler showcased their vocals in the Club Continentale with their featured musical numbers “Monte Carlo” and “Speaking French”. The ensemble was wonderful in their many different roles; as they often added to the hilarity on stage which in turn increased the laughter coming from the audience. ©

This farce is a truly enjoyable two hour escape at the theatre. Lucky Stiff plays at the Stoneham Theatre through September 25^th. More information can be found at https://www.stonehamtheatre.org/lucky-stiff.html.