MARQUETTE, Mich. (WJMN) – Northern Michigan University’s Theatre and Dance Department’s production of “SPAMALOT” opens Thursday night at the Forest Roberts Theatre.
Tony Award-winning “SPAMALOT” by Eric Idle is the musical comedy “lovingly ripped off” from the 1975 film, “Monty Python and the Holy Grail”. The musical follows King Arthur as he travels around England with his Knights of the Round Table as they search for the Holy Grail.
“Well, it’s incredibly silly. You’ll never see a musical this silly in your life,” said Director Jimmy Ludwig. “It is, I mean, every absurd joke that you can possibly imagine everything from the film that you love. People striding around pretending they’re on horses clapping coconuts together, and the Black Knight losing his arms, he might lose his arms, he might not you’ll have to come and see, and all of those crazy wonderful, silly moments. So, there’s just comedy coming out of every crack and crevice of the FRT, and I mean that literally because there’s more scenery out there than I have ever seen.”
Ludwig was a part of the original Broadway cast of “Monty Python’s SPAMALOT”, which opened in 2005. Ludwig says this is a full-circle moment for him.
“It’s a love letter. It’s a love letter to Marquette. It’s a love letter to comedy. It’s a chance to get the kind of laughs that we had on Broadway here in the Upper Peninsula. And it’s kind of the completion of a big circle for me that starts here, in Iron River, and ends in Marquette.”
NMU’s production of “SPAMALOT” has performances October 12-14 with shows starting at 7:30 p.m. at the Forest Roberts Theatre. There is a “Theatre for All” Matinee on Saturday, October 14 at 1:00 p.m. Performances pick back up next week October 19-21 with all shows at 7:30 p.m. Tickets can be purchased online at tickets.nmu.edu.
