By Mary Ann Bourbeau
RED BANK – The Knights of the Round Table will be charging into Red Bank this week as productions of both “Camelot” and its spoof, “Spamalot,” come to town.
Performed by an eight-actor ensemble with an eight-piece orchestra, “Camelot” will run from Nov. 15 to Dec. 14 at the Two River Theater. The production already has been extended due to a high demand for tickets, artistic director John Dias said.
“The audience seems to be as excited about ‘Camelot’ as I am,” he said.
The show tells the tale of a love triangle between England’s King Arthur, Queen Guinevere and Sir Lancelot, as King Arthur establishes the perfect kingdom of “Camelot” and the best knights in the world at the Round Table.
“The show is kind of coming back into the zeitgeist for people,” Dias said. “It’s one of the great scores of musical theater and it’s a story worth hearing again.”
The current version has a slightly more modern take with a younger, sexier approach, Dias said. David Lee, a producer, director and writer known for his work on the television shows “Wings,” “Frasier” and “Cheers,” will direct the production. Lee has won nine Emmy Awards for his work in television.
“David has quite an impressive resume,” Dias said. “He attracts a certain caliber of actors because people really want to work with him.”
Lee directed Noel Coward’s “Present Laughter” at the Two River Theater several years ago and it became the second highest grossing show in the theater’s history.
“He fell in love with the theater and with Red Bank, and he was eager to come back and work with us again. He pitched us the idea for Camelot.”
As for those slightly sillier knights performing just a few blocks away, Dias considers the accidental timing of the two shows a happy coincidence.
“They are two very different takes on the legend of King Arthur,” he said. “Of course, the Monty Python version is a bit more tongue in cheek. I think some King Arthur fanatics love every possible iteration of the story and would probably love to see whatever form it is in. I imagine we’ll have a lot of crossover in our audiences.”
The knights of the other round table will be performing “Spamalot” at the Count Basie Theatre from Nov. 14 – 23. “Spamalot,” a Tony-Award-winning musical that ran on Broadway for five years, is described as “lovingly ripped off from the motion picture ‘Monty Python and the Holy Grail.’ ” It is a parody not only of King Arthur and Camelot, but of life in general and Broadway musicals in particular.
“The show is hilariously funny,” said Tom Martini, one of the founders of Phoenix Productions, the nonprofit community theater organization in Red Bank that is staging the show. “I’ve directed ‘Camelot’ twice. It’s a serious piece, but it’s a bit pompous. ‘Spamalot’ is a spoof. I’d love to do them back-to-back sometime.”
This time around, Gary Shaffer will be directing “Spamalot.” The Point Pleasant resident teaches communications at Ocean County College and has been involved in community theater for 30 years.
“I’m a huge Monty Python fan,” he said. “As a youth, I was an usher in a movie theater when ‘Monty Python and the Holy Grail’ came out. I’m not lying when I say I’ve watched that movie a few hundred times. Even if you’ve never seen Monty Python or you’re not a fan, you’ll still love it. It’s an old-fashioned Broadway musical with great songs, good dancing and funny lines.”
Michael Chartier of South River, a compliance engineer by day, will star as King Arthur, a role he also played in “Camelot” when Phoenix Productions staged the show at the Count Basie in 1995.
“The two roles are like apples and oranges,” he said. “King Arthur in ‘Camelot’ knows how to put the Knights of the Round Table together and what chivalry means. In ‘Spamalot,’ he’s pretty much a befuddled person thrust in a surrealist situation of which he has no control. The film and the play are different. The show is an even greater extension of the silliness.”
“Camelot” tickets range from $37 to $65, with discounts available for seniors, groups, military personnel and their families. A limited number of $20 tickets are available for every performance. For more information, call 732-345-1400 or visit www.tworivertheater.org.
“Spamalot” tickets range from $22 to $32. For more information, call 732-842-9000 or visit www.countbasietheatre.org.
Vibe writer Mary Ann Bourbeau can be reached at mbourbeau@tworivertimes.com.
