It was astounding to me to find an actual professional theater in this tiny Middle Tennessee city. And a theater with a fairly robust schedule at that! The Roxy Regional Theater is a small former movie theater in downtown Clarksville that has been providing professional theater for twenty years. We had the joy of seeing their recent production of Spamalot.
The quirkiness of the show was apparent before we even entered the theater. While we walked towards the door, a knight offered samples of Spam from a silver platter. As soon as the show began, the quirk just continued from silly bios in the program to songs like "He is Not Dead Yet" and "The Song that Goes Like This." Being a fan of Monty Python's Holy Grail, I was delighted by the familiar jokes. Seeing the familiar plot mapped out in song was a joy.
The cast was strong overall although some members' voices did not carry as well as others. The production did not use live music and instead had recorded instrumental. This is not as nice as having live music, but for such a small company, I can see why they have to make this choice. In fact, I think it is probably more difficult to act/sing along with a recording since there is no conductor making up for singer mistakes.
While there are downsides to a small production, the upside is the intimate viewing experience provided by a small space. I look forward to seeing some of the Roxy's other 2013-2014 productions.
The quirkiness of the show was apparent before we even entered the theater. While we walked towards the door, a knight offered samples of Spam from a silver platter. As soon as the show began, the quirk just continued from silly bios in the program to songs like "He is Not Dead Yet" and "The Song that Goes Like This." Being a fan of Monty Python's Holy Grail, I was delighted by the familiar jokes. Seeing the familiar plot mapped out in song was a joy.
The cast was strong overall although some members' voices did not carry as well as others. The production did not use live music and instead had recorded instrumental. This is not as nice as having live music, but for such a small company, I can see why they have to make this choice. In fact, I think it is probably more difficult to act/sing along with a recording since there is no conductor making up for singer mistakes.
While there are downsides to a small production, the upside is the intimate viewing experience provided by a small space. I look forward to seeing some of the Roxy's other 2013-2014 productions.
