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| Kirk Krekeler as King Arthur (in gold) and his knights warm themselves by the fire. PHOTO by Jim Kelly |
Monty Python’s brand of humor is known for
taking a silly concept to its absurd extreme. The Pythons also have a healthy disrespect for authority and
they love taking authority figures down a notch or two. So it comes as no surprise that King
Arthur, the protagonist in Monty Python’s
Spamalot, is the ultimate straight man. Even though he is king, his constituents are able to run
logic circles around him when discussing politics or the air-speed velocity of
swallows. Poor Arthur is easily
flummoxed and is not very good at mathematics, or even counting to three.
In the Farmington Players production of Spamalot, Kirk Krekeler plays King
Arthur. As Kirk explains, “King
Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table encounter insane people in his quest
to find the Holy Grail. Of course, the fact that Arthur rides an invisible
horse doesn’t make him exactly normal.”
Kirk models his character after the late Graham Chapman, who played a
befuddled Arthur in the film Monty Python
and the Holy Grail, on which Spamalot
is based. Kirk says, “I’ve seen the movie a million times and liked the way
Graham Chapman played it. I think one of the reasons the movie is so good is
that Graham Chapman is convincing as Arthur, so the film has an ‘anchor’ that
makes the humor happening around him even funnier.”
As a huge Python fan, Kirk enjoys that “I get
to be part of just about every famous scene from the movie on which the musical
is based. One of the challenges I have as King Arthur is not laughing when the
Knights and I meet up with different characters,” such as the French Taunter, the
Knights of Ni, and Tim the Enchanter … all played by Jason Dilly, a master of
outrageous accents. Kirk knows that not only will Python fans appreciate the
sheer silliness, including “the references to the TV show and to the film, but Spamalot also adds a new dimension with
its satire on musical theater, which Broadway fans will love.”
This is Kirk’s first show with Farmington
Players and he is “very impressed with the talent of my fellow actors and
directorial team.” Kirk lives in
Livonia with his wife Sue and dog Daisy. He works as an Instructional Designer
with the automotive companies. He and his wife have been in many shows together
over the past 30 years and have played opposite each other in Music Man (Harold Hill, Marian the
Librarian), The King and I (King of
Siam, Anna), and Little Shop of Horrors
(Seymour, Audrey).
Monty Python’s SPAMALOT has 12
performances at Farmington Players Barn Theater from April 28 – May 21. The show is proudly sponsored by TruVista
Wealth Management. Tickets are
available online at farmingtonplayers.org or by emailing
boxoffice@farmingtonplayers.org or calling the Barn box office at 248-553-2955.
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