Click Clop, Click Clop…

Oh, hello people! I’m Michael and I’m playing ‘Patsy’ – King Arthur’s trusty servant and noble steed.

What were we up to last night? I hear you scream?! Well let me tell you… and no we weren’t just pissing around in Camelot.

Last night was our “Tech Rehearsal”. Which is ‘Stagey’ talk for making sure everything that is brought on and off stage has a tiny piece of tape in its place. Making sure transitions between scenes are as slick as possible, ensuring everyone knows where they enter and exit and… well, you catch my drift.

We are extremely fortunate that everyone involved in this production are incredibly professional and top notch at what they do. Because it couldn’t have gone smoother, which is lucky for the cast, as we managed to basically squeeze in an extra rehearsal!!

But I’m pleased to report that other than a couple of tweaks here and there, we have an absolutely incredible show on our hands – which the cast/production team are just gagging to blow you all away with.

Our Director, Paula Bland has created an absolute spectacle of a show. With Fay Kemal returning to the helm with those incredibly fabulous twinkle toes and Stuart Piddington-Wall whipping our vocals into shape and making us sound just fabulous!

You would be an absolute fool if you didn’t come and see this show, the set alone is simply stunning, Matt McManus is well… the man is quite simply A WIZARD!!

Be sure to book your tickets and join us all in CAMELOT!!

You can book your tickets here:

Hi everyone, and welcome to the latest instalment of the Spamalot blog! My name is Ellie and I’m playing one of the Laker Girls to our fabulous Lady of the Lake. As we get into show week the blog entries will be coming thick and fast, so I’m writing this at 11:40pm in my pyjamas fresh home from the Millfield.

Today’s blog is all about our favourite day, Get In, where we move all of our set into the theatre, hang our costumes in dressing rooms, work out where we all need to stand on stage and, most importantly, interrogate newbies about their personal lives over lots and lots of snacks.

Get In is always very exciting for lots of reasons, but for me started with the vexing task of ironing my many costumes. If you’ve ever tried to iron a lederhosen dress (which I assume is unlikely) then you’ll understand why this was such quite a confusing job for 9am on a Sunday morning. Speaking of 9am, that’s when a lot of our fabulous crew started their day at our theatre, constructing the incredible set built for us by Matt McManus.

We’re very lucky to have him on board and so grateful to all of those involved in constructing our set for the show, which is the best I’ve ever seen. Getting the first glimpse of the set as we arrived to sing through today made everything seem so much more real and exciting.

Most of the afternoon for the cast was spent singing and dancing through numbers with our MD extraordinaire Stuart Piddington-Wall, our fabulous choreographer Miss Fay and wonderful director Paula Bland. After running everything twice we’d really worked up an appetite, and decided to break from the Get In pizza tradition and get a silly amount of fried chicken delivered instead to inspire us in our questioning of our new members about their lives. One of those very lucky people/victims (sorry) was lovely Maroulla, who also happened to have a birthday today and brought in the most delicious cake for us all to enjoy post-KFC (excellent pre-show diets for those of us shimmying into leotards for the week!) Happy Birthday Maroulla!

When the crew were ready we got lots of time on stage to practice set pieces and a few routines, getting used to scenery, props, space limitations and each other! It’s always a special moment seeing things come to life and the show is in great shape.

I can’t wait to see how much better it will be tomorrow and Tuesday as we add full lighting, effects, costumes and sound. You really don’t want to miss this one, so grab a ticket while you still can! See you in Camelot

You can book your tickets here:

Hi everyone, and welcome to the latest instalment of the Spamalot blog! My name is Ellie and I’m playing one of the Laker Girls to our fabulous Lady of the Lake. As we get into show week the blog entries will be coming thick and fast, so I’m writing this at 11:40pm in my pyjamas fresh home from the Millfield.

Today’s blog is all about our favourite day, Get In, where we move all of our set into the theatre, hang our costumes in dressing rooms, work out where we all need to stand on stage and, most importantly, interrogate newbies about their personal lives over lots and lots of snacks.

Get In is always very exciting for lots of reasons, but for me started with the vexing task of ironing my many costumes. If you’ve ever tried to iron a lederhosen dress (which I assume is unlikely) then you’ll understand why this was such quite a confusing job for 9am on a Sunday morning. Speaking of 9am, that’s when a lot of our fabulous crew started their day at our theatre, constructing the incredible set built for us by Matt McManus.

We’re very lucky to have him on board and so grateful to all of those involved in constructing our set for the show, which is the best I’ve ever seen. Getting the first glimpse of the set as we arrived to sing through today made everything seem so much more real and exciting.

Most of the afternoon for the cast was spent singing and dancing through numbers with our MD extraordinaire Stuart Piddington-Wall, our fabulous choreographer Miss Fay and wonderful director Paula Bland. After running everything twice we’d really worked up an appetite, and decided to break from the Get In pizza tradition and get a silly amount of fried chicken delivered instead to inspire us in our questioning of our new members about their lives. One of those very lucky people/victims (sorry) was lovely Maroulla, who also happened to have a birthday today and brought in the most delicious cake for us all to enjoy post-KFC (excellent pre-show diets for those of us shimmying into leotards for the week!) Happy Birthday Maroulla!

When the crew were ready we got lots of time on stage to practice set pieces and a few routines, getting used to scenery, props, space limitations and each other! It’s always a special moment seeing things come to life and the show is in great shape.

I can’t wait to see how much better it will be tomorrow and Tuesday as we add full lighting, effects, costumes and sound. You really don’t want to miss this one, so grab a ticket while you still can! See you in Camelot

You can book your tickets here:

So the last week of rehearsals has arrived and what a week it’s been…. Saturday a lot of us attended a picnic for little jasper ‘boy of joy!’ Mcwilliams to celebrate his 2nd birthday! Now I know that’s not Spamalot related but to a lot of us, myself included SMP is more than singing and dancing it’s a family and more often than not our social calender is busier than our rehearsal schedule.

So on with rehearsals on Sunday we had a full dress run and we realised just how fast some of our changes are! It’s a bit of organised chaos going on behind the well oiled seamless performance you will see from the audience.

Monday and Wednesday we also ran the whole show and it’s getting better and better each time. You guys are really in for a treat!

On Wednesday we had a sneaky preview of the black night costume and that scene is one of the funniest things in the show.

The songs are all sounding beautiful and the dancing is getting bigger by the second. We can’t wait to get this into the theatre on sunday and in front of an audience Wednesday!

You can book your tickets here:

Hi everyone! Connor here a.k.a The Minstrel a.k.a the only person in the entire show who gets to say the word “Penis”, and it’s my turn to keep you all up to date on this week’s rehearsals.

It was a beautiful day on Monday and we turned up at the Intimate ready to dance ourselves to exhaustion as usual, only to find a minor problem.  We seemed to be missing a very large chunk of the cast, giving the impression that the population of Finland had been ravaged by a terrible plague:

Now I know that the global population was a lot smaller in the middle ages, but it was very rare for any Nordic country to have a population in the single digits [citation needed]

Yes it turns out there were several other plays going on this week and our multi-talented cast had found themselves needed elsewhere.  I’m sure they gave some absolutely wonderful performances worthy of heaps of praise, but my job here is to flog tickets for Spamalot.  So you can go read about those somewhere else.

So while our rehearsals this week were a little less full of lavish dance numbers and rafter-raising harmonies (I guess if you want to see that stuff you’ll just have to buy a ticket) we DID get to focus on all the nitty-gritty nuts and bolts stuff that goes in to putting on a show.  We blocked some of the smaller scenes, ran some dialogue, and most exciting for me we got to practice the minstrel scene with props!

Obviously I’m going to be completely mature and professional whenever I’m handed a tambourine during rehearsals (it’s kind of lost in the text but I’m winking and crossing my fingers right now)

So with all those miscellaneous scenes sorted the show is in a really good place!  We’re just about ready to start doing full runs and polish everything to perfection.  Myself and other SMP newbies have commented to each other about how great it is to be part of a show where the production team are so well organised, and everyone in the cast is putting in so much effort.  Lines have been learnt, dances are being practiced.  I’ve even heard a rumour that Gethin has commited to full method acting for his role, and can be found on weekdays crouched on a shelf in the tinned goods section at Sainsbury’s.

Look how proud he is of his Spam Pants!  (Spamts?)

Among other exciting news this week, we got to meet Archie’s evil twin who’ll be playing the Beast of Caerbannog, the most adorable mass-murdering monster since that little girl from The Ring

We got our first glimpse at our animations, because it’s not Monty Python unless it contains more giant feet than Tarantino’s porn folder.

We learnt that not only do I have to tap dance, but I have to tap dance on top of this very small box.  I vote that instead of a raffle we have a sweepstake where you can place bets on which of us Knights will end the show with broken ankles.

And the costume department were busy affixing letters to the posteriors of our lovely Laker Girls:

“Excuse me ladies, mind if I take a photo of your arses?”
“Oh, for the show blog right?”

“Uhhhh…. Yeah.  Sure”

By now I’m sure you’re raving to see it.  How can you buy tickets you ask?   Well just look at how happy Warren is to show off our newest piece of advertising:

Unfortunately the publicity budget ran out before we could buy a pole to fix it to, so he has to stand like that on the side of the road for the next 2 weeks.  If you see him, please offer him a sandwich or something.  And follow the link to https://www.millfieldtheatre.co.uk/ to buy tickets!  Bring your friends!  Bring your Mum!  Bring your cat!  Bring the Spanish Inquisition!  It’s going to be Spamtastic!

You can book your tickets here:

5,6,7,8!!! Fay Kemal here, and I am choreographer and wardrobe mistress for the fabulous SMP’s production of SPAMALOT!!!!

The show is fast approaching and routines and costumes almost complete!!! I have enjoyed and laughed lots whilst setting the routines for this show.

The ladies as always are professional and hard working. The men have really stepped up their game adding tap dancing to their list of many talents!!!

I am so lucky to have such an enthusiastic cast, putting 100% into all they do!!!

This week saw the men lunging and thrusting their way through rehearsals. Hip twists and pouting in abundance with a dash of YMCA!!!

And on Wednesday our Director Paula went through some of the scenes polishing them and getting things show ready.

The show is gonna be AMAZING so please get your tickets before they all go!!! Bring your coconuts and join King Arthur on his quest for the Holy Grail!!!

You can book your tickets here:

Hello from the other side

“Sing. Sing. Sing!” It’s a common scream from musical directors, who having spent weeks, even months teaching intricate harmonies find themselves bemused by the fact that the chorus are all either singing the tune or not even singing at all while practising the latest four minute dance routine. It seems inexplicable that when everyone was sitting down in the comfort of a vocal re-cap evening everything just sounded perfect….

The trouble with most musical directors is that they just don’t realise just how much work and talent it takes for everything to come together. I suppose what is really needed is for the musical director to actually take himself away from his keyboard and try it out for himself.

As a musical director of around 50 SMP shows since joining the group in 1992 every so often I get the urge to cross the line onto the other side. What exactly possesses me I really don’t know.  As someone who really is an insult to left feet I perhaps forgot that I would need to be involved in a number of chorus numbers. Perhaps I thought I’d got away with it in this show when given the two choice parts of a brutal Yorkshireman and a Scottish Enchanter, neither of which require any singing or dancing.

Not so lucky, I’m afraid. The normally sensible choreographer, the very wonderful Fay Kemal, had other ideas and I find myself trying to keep up with everyone in a series of exciting and vibrant dance routines. I have tried to excuse myself by telling myself that I am the oldest member of the cast. But that actually isn’t the case. Steve Jones, another talented musical director, is actually older than me. I must admit that he makes a much better fist of our latest Riverdance routine than old clodhopper Mikey B.

Now that I am on the other side, I see things in a completely different light. I see amazing people who not only pick up dance routines but who also remember reams of words and harmonies. But that is what makes SMP so special. Over the years we have established a group of people dedicated to producing quality shows that makes all the hard work seem so worthwhile.

Well it’s now just a month to opening night and the show is beginning to take great shape. On Wednesday our exuberant Musical Director Stuart Piddington-Wall took us through recaps of many of the big chorus numbers. On our long Sunday rehearsal we worked on the finale and then did a run through of Act II.  We are now just beginning to work without scripts and you can visibly see the characters and scenes really taking shape. I think our talented director Paula Bland was actually quite pleased, especially as it was really clear that the vast majority of the cast were dancing beautifully and singing their hearts out. Of course there was one old git at the back stumbling his way through the routines and mumbling his way through the vocals.

Yes, it’s a little different from the other side.

Fortunately there’s still plenty of time for me to catch up with everyone else. Even better news is that there’s still plenty of time to buy tickets….

You can book your tickets here:

And I return; fresh from the inexplicable snub that was SMP selecting a 2017 summer show without a featured role for a rabbit. “Why, oh why did you not choose a show that would feature your strongest asset – Archie the rabbit?” my adoring fans lamented as they exited from ‘The Pirates of Penzance’.

Thankfully, SMP came to their senses in their 2018 show choice of ‘Spamalot’ and have this year cast me in my most challenging role to date – ‘Killer Rabbit’. As my first role with SMP, my performance as ‘Little Sally’s Bunny’ in 2016’s ‘Urinetown’ garnered international acclaim for SMP throughout the entirety of Edmonton. I am overjoyed that through my talent I shall be able to continue to evangelise for the group by demonstrating my versatility as an actor.

In ‘Urinetown’ I played a sweet and innocent rabbit, and this year I shall be demonstrating the true fierceness that is Archibald D Rabbit. It will be hard to top my previous role which, as predicted, won me many awards including the famed EGOT. I would personally like to thank the Enfield Guild of Theatrics for their ongoing support. Playing the Killer Rabbit is a challenge that I am relishing, as it’s enabling me to explore a completely different side of myself. As a dedicated method actor, I am really throwing myself into preparations for this show, and to this end have been eating tinned meat in considerable quantities.

And so, on to a roundup of the events of this week. On Monday we conducted an ‘Intimidation Workshop’ in which I put my fellow actors through their paces in order to ensure that their reactions to the Killer Rabbit are suitable, and meet the expectations of the discerning theatre-goer. We have 5 weeks until curtain-up, and I am sure my comrades will make progress by this date.

On Wednesday, I ran through my solo number with Musical Director, Stuart. In the script there is not a song for the Killer Rabbit, however Stuart was so overcome with joy upon hearing my vocal prowess at the audition stage that he felt compelled to pen a new number.

I also spent some time with our director Paula, discussing the motivation of my character. We are really getting beneath the surface of the Killer Rabbit, and I am thrilled that I will be able to bring a completely new and fresh interpretation to the role.

“Goosebumps. Literal goosebumps. Never before have I witnessed such artistry. Archie is truly a master of his craft, and I am so grateful he agreed to be a part of this production. SMP put on good shows, but having Archie involved just takes us to the next level.” Paula Bland, Director.

I would urge you to book your tickets to see SMP’s ‘Spamalot’ as soon as possible. News of my talent spread like wildfire following ‘Urinetown’ and this is the first opportunity that my devotees will have to see me perform since then, so I would imagine that tickets will disappear very quickly.

Click on the picture below to ensure you do not miss out.

You can book your tickets here:

Hi Spammers, my name is Lewis and I’m lucky enough to be part of SMPs cast of Spamalot in the Ensemble (And as Sir-Not-Appearing-in-this-blog, but enough on that).

Fresh from our first costume rehearsal on Sunday, Monday saw Fay teaching us the Act 1 finale: Run Away.

This song sees the wretched Arthur King and his snivelling English kniggghts seen off by le French Magnifique.

We also got to remind ourselves of all the numbers that we’ve set so far – a real workout there, for the memory and for the legs!

There was also a technical element to the rehearsal since we got to see our very own Knight of Nii learning to stilt walk.

On Wednesday, our MD Stuart took us through some new bits, as well as tackling bits and bobs flagged up from the Sunday. Particularly difficult (but so fun) was Hymn 101: Get your hand off my knees you dirty old bastard.

Sadly we also said goodbye to Alex Cobavie, whose piano skills have allowed us to blunder through this show so far (and Pirates last year), this meant cake all round however so it wasn’t all sad.

It’s really shaping up to be an incredible show so please, please come along!

There’s still a few hours left to use your SPAM10 code to get 10% off!

You can book your tickets here:

I’ve sold 25 tickets so far, whoop, whoop. If you want to get 10% off your tickets then you’ve got a week to do so. Just use code SPAM10 when ordering. You can book your tickets here:

Pic 1. Smell my foot.

‘Ello my British chums! Beinvenue to week 9 of Spamalot rehearsals. Another week means another blog, this time in the (in)capable hands of me, Gethin “Sacre Bleu” Segel (French Taunter Deux).

I’m a long term SMP chum but first time performer and I am loving working with such a lovely bunch of very talented people. Quite frankly, they all put me to shame. When you see the show, if you can tear your eyes away from the amazing action front of stage, look out for the tubby mal-coordinated bloke at the back, which will be me!

Pic 2. Bowman, born to do it.

Monday’s rehearsal saw the whole ensemble in dance action under the watchful eye of our ever patient choreographer, Fay. First up a recap of some key routines including “Look on the bright side of life”, complete with twirling umbrellas. The rest of the evening saw us attempting the fiendish Vegas show style routine for “Knights of the Round Table”. The whole cast gets to show off their twinkle toes and I have a rather meaty cameo which I’m sure the whole cast will agree I was born to play. The rehearsal was exhausting but looking back at the videos it was worth it.

Pic 3. Please note actual cameo may vary from picture.

Pic 4. Do you come here often?

Pic 5. Bend over. Let me see you shake your tail feather.

Wednesday saw the ladies getting a well-deserved rest as the gentlemen performed a complete sing-through, with our lovely MD, Stuart, and rehearsal pianist, Alex. We were treated to a playback of a couple of our performances and they really are sounding good. Even my pitch imperfect seems to blend in somehow!

Thursday saw my friend Andy Pryor and I knuckle down to some serious animation work. Because, as if, performing isn’t enough, I’m also involved with making a series of short Terry Gilliam style animations to be shown throughout the show. However, a full day of labour (with some, ahem, refreshment) and we are well on the way. Unfortunately, I had hoped to give you a sneak peek but due to a wee technical snaffoo that will have to wait for another week. Watch this space!

I want to take a moment to echo Steve’s comments from his great blog last week; 1.SMP people practice between rehearsals and 2. The level of planning and effort being put into every aspect is jaw dropping. Spamalot sounds amazing, makes me guffaw with laughter and is going to look stunning. This is a humbling experience but so much fun.

Pic 6. Two sugars. Got any biscuits.

Big up, or words to that effect, to Enfield Presents for their write up of Spamalot in the Summer 2018 edition, hitting doormats and leaflet racks now. Check it out, mes amis.

Pic 7. Word!

Keep pushing those tickets everyone, it’s going to be a great show and yet another feather in SMP’s already very feathery cap. Get your tickets now from the link below!  ** Use code – SPAM10 for 10% off all tickets booked before 1st May **

Hallo England this is Finland calling.

I am the mayor as you say and my people and I bring you good fisch slapp, yah?

This week Spamalot welcomed back an old face, Debbie Wall’s – who steps in for Emma.

The costume department is where all the action took place and the boys had a gay o’ time slipping into something a little more comfortable.

Many thanks to Fay, Ellie, Debbie S and Jean for providing wonderful costumes for the show including the knights helmets, no, the other helmets!!!

Monday was the Easter bank holiday so rehearsals were kindly rescheduled to another day so we could all finish off our chocolate eggs, bunnies and hot cross buns. Wednesday was a recap and blocking night which included French taunting, “Fetchez la vache”, a giant wooden rabbit and some miming!

All the cast and production team are having a great time so far and rehearsals are going great – another week and another blog mean show week is getting ever closer.

Make sure you get your tickets as soon as possible.

Get your tickets now from the link below!  ** Use code – SPAM10 for 10% off all tickets booked before 1st May **

It’s Steve (Brother Maynard) with this week’s Spamalot Blog and, just like Emma who did last week’s, I too am doing my first show with SMP and writing my first ever blog. Mike B noted a few weeks ago that I’ve taken his award of being the oldest person involved in the show! Thanks Mike, another first for me, and it makes me feel suicidal really great!

Monday’s rehearsal saw the men tripping the light fantastic like never before in Fay’s glitzy setting of “Bright Side of Life”. Much twirling of umbrellas, soft shoe shuffle and muted tap were in evidence, Gene Kelly eat your heart out. It also saw the return of Luke and Michael after their skiing holiday, thankfully with limbs still intact. Also revision of the dances we’ve done so far, which, judging by Fay’s reaction, are coming along nicely….

Wednesday was a revelation. A complete sing-through, with our lovely MD and rehearsal pianist, of everything we’ve covered so far. Stuart and Alex’s faces were a picture as the whole cast belted out one number after another in almost perfect and then, after a few minor tweaks and corrections, absolutely perfect harmony. Stuart, by his own admission, was moved to “emotional moistness” on more than one occasion and, once she’d asked for more emphasis on diction, Paula could even understand the words!

At half time some of the girls tried on a costume or two and put a watering can on their heads (something to do with watering a shrubbery, maybe?)

It’s plain to see and hear that in SMP people actually OPEN AND LOOK AT THEIR SCRIPTS BETWEEN ONE REHEARSAL AND THE NEXT!!!! This is a habit that other companies (not naming any names in order to protect the innocent) must be really jealous of!

Seasoned SMP members are probably so used to the following sort of comment from newcomers that they’ll stifle a cynical yawn, but….the rehearsals really are jaw-droppingly well-planned and organised. I’ve been telling my friends and family that Spamalot is shaping up really well, sounding amazing and, judging by the costumes that I’ve seen so far, will look stunning.

I’m ever so humble to be involved with the talented, friendly bunch of lovely people that are SMP and, despite my physical age (which is apparent when I wake up on a Tuesday morning), this experience is actually making me feel like a teenager again!

Keep pushing those tickets everyone, it’s going to be a great show and yet another feather in SMP’s already very feathery cap.

Get your tickets now from the link below!  ** Use code – SPAM10 for 10% off all tickets booked before 1st May **

Hi everyone!

My name is Emma and I will be playing one of the Laker girls in SMP’s production of Spamalot. This is my first ever blog… eek! And my first show with SMP…even bigger eek!

I have seen many SMP shows in the past and have found myself beaming from ear to ear throughout so I thought why not take part. As a newbie I had no idea what to expect but rehearsals so far have been super fun with lots of giggles along the way and the cast have been extremely welcoming, they really are one big ‘SPAM‘ fam!

Monday’s rehearsal saw us briefly recapping our tricky ‘ah’ harmonies with our talented pianist Alex before we learnt another fantastic routine to ‘Find your grail’ (or in this rehearsal find your umbrella or wooden stick) choreographed by the wonderful Fay.

There’s a lot going on in this number and the knights were busy shaking their thing while Haydn filled in for our lovely lady of the lake as you can see below: But it all came together nicely and the number looks great as you can see: And we all left rehearsal just as happy as Sir Bedevere (David Bowman) being lifted in the air by Sir Lancelot (Warren).

On Wednesday we had another singing rehearsal with our fabulous MD Stuart where we learnt ‘Knights of the round table’ and ‘All for one’.

And also sang a lot about Jam!

Some of our Knights also got their hands on their hands on their helmets which fitted to varying degrees!

I’m very lucky to have joined such a lovely company for such a fab show. With songs that’ll make you want to get up and dance or howl with laughter it’s a show not to be missed!

We can’t wait so don’t miss out!

Get those tickets booked and we’ll see you on the Bright Side of Life folks!

Get your tickets now from the link below!  ** Use code – SPAM10 for 10% off all tickets booked before 1st May **

Ever wondered what’s going on in SMP land?

What crazy shenanigans could the cast of Saint Monica’s Players be getting up to in preparation for their hotly anticipated production of Monty Python’s Spamalot?

Laker Girls leap into the air as Choreographer Mrs Fay Kemal whips them through their cheer routine – boy can these ladies jump!

It’s all too much for some, courage friends, just 12 weeks to go, we need you for the show!

Not content to be left behind the men were busy strutting their funky stuff too – sure looks like they’re having fun!

Time for a quick huddle, go team!

And what’s this!?

Director Paula Bland, looks imperiously on, flanked by our very own Sir Brave Robin Chis O’Shea, what grand scheme could these two be concocting to enrich our show? Crazy? Brilliant? Perhaps a bit of both!

Here we see Wednesday night at Cannon House, St Monica’s Parish Centre, home to the fantastic folk of SMP for over 50 years!

Maestro Stuart Piddigton-Wall puts us though are paces as the cast sing out loud and proud!

And look here it’s regular SMP MD and band member Mike ‘Keys of Steel’ Benyon, he’s trying out the desk for size, that’s not your place this time Mr B! This is a rare chance to see the man himself on stage with us, and boy does he deliver! Not to be missed!

Meanwhile next door the technical team are locked in discussions, all experts in their fields, with so much talent at one table you can be sure what their planning will be spectacular indeed! This truly is the room where it happens!

So that’s one week in the wonderful world of SMP!

Tickets for Spamalot are on sale now, so don’t delay, book today!

Get your tickets now from the link below!

Hi all, Luke here and I shall be playing King Arthur.

The show is already coming together nicely and I am loving riding around on my trusty steed (some say it’s less of a steed and more like a couple of coconuts being banged together) in search of the Holy Grail!

Having blocked through the dialogue in the past few weeks, this week we started getting cracking on some more of the songs and dances.

Monday we set the cheerleader number which looks fantastic as you can see from this snippet below:

On Wednesday we sung through a few songs including the cheerleaders cheer

and what may be my favourite song in the show, the amazing “Find Your Grail”. By the end of the evening it was sounding amazing and I left the rehearsal beaming from ear to ear.

There are some tricky “Ah ah” harmonies but our gloriously tanned MD has faith in us as you can see here:

We were excited to start looking at our costumes too as Fay, Ellie and Debbie are already hard at work pulling together the eclectic mix of costumes and tabards needed for the show.

We’re looking forwards to more fun at rehearsals this week and already I’m sure this show is going to be absolutely epic. Make sure to get your tickets as soon as you can, you don’t want to miss out!!

Get your tickets now from the link below!

So it’s my turn to do the blog!

Hey everyone. My names Chris and I will be playing Sir Robin (who throughout the show tends to soil himself on many occasions.)

I originally saw Spamalot at the Palace Theatre in the West End in 2007 – where I fell in love with the hilarity of the show. From then on I knew it was a show that I wanted to be part of. Eleven years later – and here I am, rehearsing with SMP, who are not just a group, but an extended family.

We are extremely lucky to have a wonderful and talented production team – Fay, Stuart and Paula who have magical visions of the show. On Monday it was another dance rehearsal with Fay and of course our brilliant pianist Alex. Yet again, Fay pulls off another great comedic routine (which this show is full of).

The title says it all – ‘He Is Not Dead Yet’ – where Haydn (the man who is not dead yet) has the opportunity to dance his absolute socks off just before Warren (the homicidal brave Sir Lancelot) decides to knock him out with an umbrella (should be a shovel). Not to be missed.

Unfortunately, due to the weather, Wednesday’s rehearsal was cancelled. Paula did set us homework. Snowball fights (looking at song words was also somewhere in there I think).

You don’t want to miss this ‘SPAM’ of a show. Book your tickets, tell your friends, invite family, bring people and some more people. It will be ‘Spamazing’.

Book your tickets on the web before the Knight’s of Ni get them all. So when you’re feeling in the dumps, don’t be silly chumps, just book your tickets and whistle that’s the thing! Always look on the bright…. (gets knocked out by shovel).

BOOK BOOK BOOK!

Get your tickets now from the link below!

It’s Carl here, part of the ensemble of SMP’s Spamalot.

You may remember me from last year’s show Pirates of Penzance, when I had my hand and arm chopped off; or possibly from Urinetown, when I was thrown off a building or from West Side Story when I was stabbed to death.

Well, there seems to be a theme in the parts that I have played and in Spamalot the theme continues. Only this time it happens twice and in quite bizarre ways (what would you expect from the Monty Python team). So, come and see this show cos I’m a dab hand at dying now!

I had my first dance rehearsal with the amazing choreography of Fay Kemal. For those of you unfamiliar with Spamalot, naturally, the opening number is a song about fish. To find out more you really must come and see us. It is simply marvellous in a mad way – just how SMP like it.

In our the next rehearsal, I’m not sure how but under the intelligent direction from our director, Paula Bland, we managed to get through all of Act 2.

Obviously, we will run our lines again and again but I felt this was a great sign of the hard work the production team and cast are putting into this show.

I am super excited about this show, not only cos I get to die on stage but I also get another chance to work with Stuart Piddington-Wall as musical director. We would have had a singing rehearsal last week but we was selfishly on his honeymoon.

Get your tickets now from the link below!

Hello, my name’s Warren and I’m lucky enough to be playing Sir Lancelot, the French Taunter and The Knight who says Ni in SMP’s production of Spamalot.

It’s been a couple of years since I’ve been part of the cast for SMP so it was great to get down to business this week with rehearsals. Once again new faces have joined the SMP family, familiar faces have opted to tread the boards for the first time and old faces have returned. The result is a talented bunch of people who are guaranteed to give you a great show.

Monday saw us singing the opening number, the fisch slapping song, Not dead yet and making a start on the offstage vocals for our Diva, the lady of the lake. We welcomed back our wonderful rehearsal pianist Alex as she ably aided our fabulous MD Stuart. With a good strong cast and a healthy dose of male voices we’re sounding good already. I love a rehearsal where it’s appropriate to bring a fish and so I particularly enjoyed Monday.

Elsewhere Paula and the wardrobe department had a meeting, with lots of costumes in this show both specific and random they have their work cut out. Us Knights of the Round Table were measured up so that our costumes could be started on. Personally I can’t wait to get my hands on my chainmail and I don’t think I’m alone in that feeling.

On Wednesday we went about blocking Act 1, Paula took us through the whole of the first half and we had the chance to start run some of the classic scenes we’ve been itching to sink our teeth into. One thing we noticed is just how much music is in this show, the songs come thick and fast with no huge sections of dialogue, handy as it means we don’t have tons of lines to learn!

Spamalot is a wonderful show and as a big Monty Python fan it’s such fun to be playing parts that I’ve been quoting since I was old enough to watch the films. Don’t fear if you’re not much of a Monty Python fan though, the musical still has lots to offer you, the songs have a wide range of styles and are topical and witty so you’ll still find plenty to enjoy. There’s lots of dancing too so all in all it’ll be a real spectacle.

That’s all for this week!

Tickets are already selling and you can buy them in advance by clicking the link below. Look forward to seeing you at the show!

Hi there, My name’s Paula and as Director I get the fabulous job of starting off the Spamalot blog. A weekly dip into what’s going on behind the scenes of the fab show you will need to book tickets for, as I think this one will be a sell out.

We started off with a great turnout for the information evening and read through, the laughter in the room as we read the hilarious script was contagious. Audition parts were discussed and sign up sheets were filling up quickly as everyone realised this was going to be fun.

I am super excited to be directing this show alongside a fab team, with Fay McWilliams choreographing and Stuart Piddington-Wall as MD.

Stuart guided the auditionees through the audition songs at our next evening and the excitement and nerves started to kick in as auditions were only a few days away.

Audition day came and the team and lovely helpers are eager to go. Alas we had no key to the chair cupboard and with only 1 chair available Stuart was allocated that as he had to play the keyboard? A talented man as Stuart could’ve stood but then I remembered I had my pitch side chair in the car, so I let him have the chair.

Poor Lisa and Fay were left standing and squatting. But hey, I am the director. We got the key and things we’re looking up, we were off.

Auditions were of a very high standard and we were thrilled with each and every one, which made our decision making very difficult. After a lot of discussion we had our cast and wow what a cast it is. The phone calls were made, the flow of emails started as the planning and meetings are full steam ahead.

I eagerly wait for news of the Facebook cast page so I can (as director you know) welcome the cast and give important information out. Apparently the page was up and running but I was not added, I repeat I……. the director……..was not added? We won’t go on about that, I’m over it now.

Anyway, Our first rehearsal was a great start in welcoming new members to SMP and we found out lots of interesting facts about all of our cast members. Invisible horse riding was practised, script was read (more laughter) schedules were given out and I’m looking forward to the first singing rehearsal on Monday. Stay tuned for more weekly insights from the spamalot cast.

Paula – the director – I thank you

You can book you tickets by clicking below