Stony Point Players announce cast of ‘Spamalot’

By James Grob, jgrob@charlescitypress.com

If you’re familiar with the storyline of “Monty Python’s Spamalot,” you know that in their quest to discover the Holy Grail, King Arthur and his brave men must endure a vicious French taunting, defeat the overly-determined Black Knight, prevail in a cerebral debate regarding the average wing velocity of migratory swallows, and overcome the strange and terrifying Knights of Ni.

Along the way, there’s a lot of singing, dancing and laughter.

That’ll all be up to Larry Michehl.

Michehl has been cast as the lead role of King Arthur in the upcoming production of Spamalot, to be presented by Charles City’s own Stony Point Players. Production dates will be June 27-30 at the North Grand Auditorium.

Auditions for the show were held last week, and director Janiece Bergland said the cast includes a wide range of ages, and a “diverse group of people from our community and the surrounding area.”

The cast includes about 40 actors, several playing multiple roles, most participating in multiple chorus numbers.

Along with Michehl in the lead role of King Arthur, the female lead of Lady of the Lake will be played by Jessica Hyde.

Other main roles will be Josh Vaske as Patsy, Luke Royer as Sir Robin, Steve Hanson as Sir Lancelot, Tanner Striegel as Sir Galahad, Griffin Franksain as Sir Bedevere, Michael Peterson as Not Dead Fred, Erik Gordon as the Historian and the French Taunter, and Mike Lembke as Tim the Enchanter.

Bergland will be assisted by musical director Derek Sturtevant, while the producer is Michelle Grob. Amy Wolfe will serve as choreographer, Stacey Olson as stage manager, Linda Hughes as costume designer, and Peterson as the student assistant. Bergland will be in charge of stage design.
The first rehearsal as a full cast will be Monday, May 6, when the actors will receive rehearsal calendars, scripts, and parent permission slips at that time. Bergland said the production is still looking for volunteers for crews

“There was an excellent turnout of talented performers,” Bergland said. “The cast is complete and will begin rehearsals next week.”

Spamalot, a musical comedy, is adapted from the Monty Python comedy troupe’s 1975 film, “Monty Python and the Holy Grail.” Like the motion picture, the stage version is a highly irreverent parody of the legend of King Arthur. The original Broadway production in 2005 received 14 Tony Award nominations and won in three categories, including best musical.

Bergland has said the show features ambitious and intricate song and dance numbers and “funny, funny dialogue” full of dark humor, slapstick comedy and British colloquialisms.

Unlike last summer’s Stony Point Players production of “The Wizard of Oz,” this year’s musical does not have children in the cast. Spamalot contains more adult-oriented humor, Bergland said. The cast is made up of actors high-school age and older.

The Stony Point production last summer was the first production by the Stony Point Players in more than five years. The local community theatre group first began giving performances in the 1960s. Named for Stony Point Road, the location of a barn where the group performed in 1968, the Stony Point Players performed in a small auditorium above First Security Bank before the 1968 tornado. For the better part of four decades, the players were an important facet of the community’s culture, and performed two or more shows a year at various venues throughout town.

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Stony Point Players Cast of “Spamalot”
(Listed in alphabetical order, by actor’s first name.)
Allison Hocking — Head Knight of NI, Women’s Chorus
Amy Wolfe — Laker Girl
Anders Haglund — Fish Slapper, Minstrel, Sir Bors
Anna Herbrechtsmeyer — Fish Slapper, Minstrel
Ashley White — Monk, Women’s Chorus
Ashlyn Bauer — Laker Girl, Women’s Chorus
Barb Wohlers — Minstrel, Women’s Chorus
Breyer Ellison — Fish Slapper, Dead Body
Bruce Bergland — Sir Not Appearing
Chris Baldus — Guard #2, Monk
Ella Morton — Fish Slapper, Women’s Chorus
Emily Usher — Fish Slapper, Women’s Chorus
Emily Woodard — Concord, Laker Girl, Women’s Chorus, Knight who says NI
Erik Gordon — Historian, French Taunter, Men’s Chorus
Griffin Franksain — Dead Body, Fish Slapper, Sir Bedevere, Men’s Chorus
Harper McInroy — Laker Girl, Women’s Chorus
James Severin — Guard #1, Dead Body, French Guard
Jessica Hyde — Lady of the Lake
Jodi Holschlag — Knight of NI, Women’s Chorus, Mayor
Josh Vaske — Patsy
Katie Cross — Brother Maynard’s Helper, Fish Slapper, Women’s Chorus
Larry Michehl — King Arthur
Linda Hughes — Women’s Chorus
Lisa Chatfield — Monk, Women’s Chorus, French Taunter #2
Luke Royer — Sir Robin
Madison Lincoln — Laker Girl, Women’s Chorus
McKenna Oleson — Laker Girl, Women’s Chorus
Michael Peterson — Not Dead Fred, Herbert, Brother Maynard
Michell Squier — Monk, Women’s Chorus
Mike Lembke — Dead Body, Herbert’s Father, Tim the Enchanter
Olivia Wolfe — Laker Girl, Women’s Chorus
Roxanne Johnson — Mother of Dennis, Women’s Chorus
Sincere Collins — Black Knight, Dead Body, Fish Slapper
Steve Hanson — Lancelot
Sydney Otto — Fish Slapper, Women’s Chorus
Tanner Striegel — Galahad
Teagan Prigge — Minstrel, Fish Slapper, Women’s Chorus
Tina Schmidt — Knight of NI, Women’s Chorus
Yvonne Kisch — Women’s Chorus, Monk