Carol is a 40+ veteran of community theater and a retired chemist and retired from being a middle manager at DuPont.
Delaware All-State Theater (DAST) has done it again, with a raucous and hysterical romp through Monty Python with Spamalot, now playing at Tatnall’s gorgeous Laird Theater. Like All-State Choir, All-State Band, etc, DAST draws on the best talent from any and all area high schools. And boy, does it show!
Every young person on stage – whether lead, featured role or ensemble – is more than up to the task of this challenging show. This is most notable with King Arthur (Jameson May), his squire Patsy (Will Rotsch) and his merry band of knights (Keelin Reilly, Duncan Smith, Julian Manjerico and Benjamin von Duyke). It would be difficult for any single high school or community theater to pull together such a group of guys like these six. Each is a “triple threat.”
I expected good singing and acting. Their dancing was a delightful revelation. When I noticed they were wearing tap shoes my heart fluttered, and when they broke out in a time step, I nearly embarrassed myself. The show has only one female lead, the Lady of the Lake. Seeing Lyndie Moe’s performance, I’m not surprised she won the role. Vocal chops, check. The trick is to diva it up without becoming annoying. Well done, m’lady!
Spamalot also has some terrific featured roles, including Fred (Christopher Cooke), Minstrel (Jacob Tracey), Herbert (James Christopher). Every featured performer shone in his (yes, they’re all male roles) moment in the spotlight. And contributed to the fabulous ensemble.
Choreography by Shauna Goodman was exciting and well executed. Costumes by Tim Cannon were perfect – OMG “Come out, French People!” was hysterical. The live orchestra under Clint Williams’ direction and with many student players was spot, spot on. Cute cell phone bit, too.
But overall, I have to commend Jeff Santoro for guiding his young actors well. Spamalot demands that the actors go to the edge, but not past it. It’s a knife edge. At one extreme, young performers often shy away from the comedy and pull their punches. I didn’t expect that to be an issue with these seasoned actors, and it wasn’t. On the other hand, there’s a risk of taking the comedy past the point where it serves the story and tries to serve actor instead (for example, by punching a joke too hard) which breaks the connection with the audience.
I half expected that – but for the most part every character served the story and not themselves. If it were a drama, I would call this nuanced performance. But, with Spamalot, uh, “nuance” is not a word that springs to mind. Rather, I would say…craft. Well done!
See dastonline.org.
