Geva's 43 Season Begins with Monty Python's Spamalot
Media Contact: Dawn Kellogg Communications Manager (585) 420-2059 [email protected]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
GEVA’S 43RD SEASON BEGINS WITH MONTY PYTHON’S SPAMALOT Broadway couple Hunter Foster and Jennifer Cody lead cast. Geva partners with WXXI and the Little Theatre for Monty Python Film Series.
Rochester, N.Y., August 18, 2015 – Audiences are in for an outrageously hilarious time as Geva Theatre Center presents the Tony Award-winning hit musical, Monty Python’s Spamalot by Eric Idle and John Du Prez and directed by Melissa Rain Anderson in the Elaine P. Wilson Stage from September 9 through October 11.
Lovingly ripped off from the classic comedy film Monty Python and the Holy Grail, this outrageous musical parody tells the legendary tale of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table. Embarking on their quest to find the Holy Grail, the Knights’ shenanigans include flying cows, beautiful show girls, killer rabbits, and flatulent Frenchmen – all while performing heart-stopping and hilarious musical numbers.
2015 marks the 40th Anniversary of the release of Monty Python and the Holy Grail. The film was a box office hit and was the highest grossing British film shown in the U.S. in 1975, surpassing films such as The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Tommy, The Man Who Would Be King and Return of the Pink Panther. In 2005, Spamalot, adapted from the film, premiered on Broadway following a Chicago preview run. Directed by Mike Nichols, Spamalot received 14 Tony Award nominations and won three, including the award for Best Musical. During its Broadway run, it was seen by over 2 million people and grossed over $175 million. Spamalot opened at the Palace Theatre in London’s West End in September 2006, where it ran until January 2009. Monty Python is adored the world over and subsequent productions of Spamalot were mounted in Australia, New Zealand, Spain, Germany, Hungary, Sweden, Belgium, the Czech Republic, France, Poland, Canada, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, the Netherlands, Japan, South Korea, Norway and Switzerland.
As previously announced, Tony Award Nominee Hunter Foster (Broadway’s King David, Les Misérables, Footloose, The Producers, Million Dollar Quartet, Hands on a Hardbody, Little Shop of Horrors and The Bridges of Madison County) will play the role of King Arthur, and his wife, Rochester-born Jennifer Cody (Broadway’s A Christmas Story; Shrek; The Pajama Game; Taboo; Urinetown the Musical; Seussical the Musical; Grease; Beauty and the Beast and Cats and Geva productions of The Odd Couple and Women in Jeopardy!), will play Arthur’s sidekick Patsy in this opening production of the theatre’s 43rd Season. Foster and Cody lead a cast of New York’s finest talent including Brandon Andrus (the recent Broadway revival of Side Show, national tours of Jersey Boys and Oklahoma!) as Sir Galahad; Mike DiSalvo (national tour of 12 Angry Men) as Lancelot, the Knight of Ni and Tim the Enchanter; Jacob Hoffman (Off-Broadway’s I’ll Be Damned) as the Historian, Not Dead Fred and Prince Herbert; Ashley Dawn Mortensen (Elphaba in the national tour of Wicked) as Lady of the Lake; Geva favourite Jim Poulos (Geva productions of A Christmas Carol, Clybourne Park, Urinetown, You Can’t Take it With You, Amadeus, Company and Broadway productions of Rent and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer) as Sir Robin; and Michael Warrell (Broadway production of All That Glitters, national tours of Spamalot, Fame and Grease) as Sir Bedevere. The ensemble features Jessica Azenberg, John Cummings, Nicole Eras, Andy Frank, Leah Hassett, Shannon Mullen, Adam Pellegrine, Frankie Paparone and Jacob Stewart.
Monty Python’s Spamalot is directed by Melissa Rain Anderson (Geva’s production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee) with musical direction by Nolan Bonvouloir and choreography by Lenny Daniel. The design team includes James Morgan (scenic design), Susan Branch Towne (costume design), Brian J. Lilienthal
(lighting design) and Ian Hildreth (sound design).
The 2015-2016 Wilson Stage Series is sponsored by ESL Federal Credit Union. Monty Python’s Spamalot is produced with support from Lead Co-Producer St. John Fisher College; Associate Producers Bank of America and Woods Oviatt Gilman LLP and Media Sponsors 13WHAM TV and 98PXY.
For the third season in a row, Geva will partner with WXXI and the Little Theatre for a film series inspired by one of the season’s productions. “The Monty Python Film Series” begins on August 19 with a screening of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, followed by The Life of Brian (August 26), Meaning of Life (September 2) and “Not the Messiah” (September 9). For information and tickets visit: www.thelittle.org/python.
Monty Python’s Spamalot begins previews on September 9, opens September 12 and runs through October 11.
For further information, photographs or to arrange interviews, please contact: Dawn Kellogg, Communications Manager, (585) 420-2059.
PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE Previews: Wednesday, September 9 @ 7:30pm Thursday, September 10 @ 7:30pm (Community Night: Young Professionals Night) Friday, September 11 @ 8pm Saturday, September 12 @ 2pm (Open Captioned Performance*) Opening: Saturday, September 12 @ 8pm Performances: Sunday, September 13 @ 2pm and 7pm Tuesday, September 15 @ 7:30pm Wednesday, September 16 @ 7:30pm Thursday, September 17 @ 7:30pm (Community Night: Out at Geva) Friday, September 18 @ 8pm Saturday, September 19 @ 4pm and 8:30pm Sunday, September 20 @ 2pm (Sunday Salon) and 7pm Tuesday, September 22 @ 6pm Wednesday, September 23 @ 7:30pm Thursday, September 24 @ 7:30pm Friday, September 25 @ 8pm Saturday, September 26 @ 4pm and 8:30pm Sunday, September 27 @ 2pm (Audio Described performance) and 7pm Tuesday, September 29 @ 7:30pm Wednesday, September 30 @ 7:30pm Thursday, October 1 @ 7:30pm (ASL Interpreted Performance) Friday, October 2 @ 8pm Saturday, October 3 @ 4pm and 8:30pm Sunday, October 4 @ 2 pm (Sunday Salon) and 7pm Tuesday, October 6 @ 7:30pm Wednesday, October 7 @ 2pm and 7:30pm Thursday, October 8 @ 7:30pm Friday, October 9 @ 8pm Saturday, October 10 @ 4pm and 8:30pm Sunday, October 11 @ 2pm
Ticket Prices: Tickets start at $25.
Reservations: (585) 232-GEVA (4382), Website: www.gevatheatre.org
Location: Geva Theatre Center, 75 Woodbury Blvd, Rochester, NY 14607
* Partial support for open captioning provided by Theatre Development Fund.
GEVA THEATRE CENTER Founded in 1972, Geva Theatre Center is a not-for-profit, professional theatre company dedicated to creating and producing professional theatre productions, programs and services of a national standard. As Rochester’s leading professional theatre, Geva Theatre Center is the most attended regional theatre in New York State, and one of the 25 most subscribed in the country, serving up to 160,000 patrons annually, including more than 16,000 students.
The 526-seat Elaine P. Wilson Stage is home to a wide variety of performances, from musicals to American and world classics. The 180-seat Ron & Donna Fielding Stage is home to Geva’s own series of contemporary drama, comedy and musical theatre; Geva Comedy Improv; Geva’s New Play Reading Series and the Hornets’ Nest - an innovative play-reading series facilitating community-wide discussion on controversial topics. In addition, the Fielding Stage hosts visiting companies of both local and international renown.
Geva Theatre Center offers a wide variety of educational, outreach and literary programs, nurturing audiences and artists alike. Since 1995, the organization has been under the artistic direction of Mark Cuddy.