SPAMALOT, Starring Richard Kline and Mariand Torres, Begins 4/21 at CRT

Connecticut Repertory Theatre (CRT) will stage Monty Python's Spamalot, the Tony Award winning musical comedy with book and lyrics by Eric Idle, music by John Du Prez and Eric Idle as the final show of its 2015-2016 season. The show is directed by Richard Ruiz. Performances will be held in the Harriet S. Jorgenson Theatre from April 21 - May 1, 2016. For tickets and information please visit crt.uconn.edu or call (860) 486-2113.

Richard Kline will lead the cast in the role of King Arthur. Kline, best known from television's Three's Company, was last scene at CRT in Neil Simon's The Sunshine Boys, alongside Ruiz. Prior to that he played the Wizard in the National Tour of Wicked, where he performed alongside Mariand Torres as Elphaba. Torres makes her CRT debut as the Lady of the Lake. Torres recently returned from Japan and the world premiere of Prince of Broadway, directed by legendary director Harold Prince and co-directed and choreographed by Susan Stroman.

Monty Python's Spamalot, the musical comedy sensation lovingly ripped off from the film classic Monty Python and The Holy Grail, arrives to spread laughter and cheer throughout the kingdom. As gleefully silly yet wickedly smart as Monty Python, the beloved British comedy troupe that inspired it, Spamalot tells the tale of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table as they embark on their quest for the Holy Grail. You'll enjoy some mostly handsome Knights, a bevy of beautiful show girls, not to mention cows, killer rabbits, and French people, before the familiar sound of clomping coconut shells brings down the curtain on the season's goofiest if satirically dead-on comic delights.

Director Richie Ruiz, who is also an alum of UConn MFA Acting program says, "I have spent most of my acting career in musical theatre. From regional theater to National tours, my exposure and love for the American musical as a form of story telling started with my first musicals for the Connecticut Repertory Theate as a student. Spamalot is a love letter in musical form adapted with a very faithful eye from the 1975 film Monty Python and The Holy Grail. The musical draws from the styles and zany sensibilities of Monty Python's Flying Circus, a BBC show from the 70s that pushed the boundaries of television sketch comedy. With Spamalot, the broad style of vaudeville and early British Panto combine to lovingly send up the format of the traditional American musical."

Artistic Director Vincent Cardinal says, "We are very lucky to have Richard Kline, a comedy icon, and Mariand Torres, one of American Musical Theatre's fastest rising stars, join us this heartfelt and joyous musical comedy."

Richard Kline last appeared in Connecticut at the Westport Country Playhouse in And a Nightingale Sang and at CT Rep in The Sunshine Boys with Jerry Adler. Prior to that he was seen as the Wizard in the National Tour of Wicked . Broadway debut: City of Angels. Film debut: Barry Levinson's Liberty Heights. TV debut: The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Richard has appeared in many musicals including It Shoulda Been You (with Tyne Daly), The Rothschilds, Titanic, Hello Again, They're Playing Our Song, Do I Hear A Waltz, and Andrew Lloyd Weber's By Jeeves as Jeeves directed by Sir Alan Ayckbourn. Tv: Currenty recurring in The Americans and over 70 shows: Three's Company, Bluebloods, That 70's Show, Gilmore Girls, Judging Amy, NYPD Blue, LA Law, St. Elsewhere. Richard holds a Masters Degree in Theater from Northwestern University.

Mariand Torres was last seen in Tokyo and Osaka, Japan, as a principal in the world premiere of Prince of Broadway under the direction of Harold Prince and Susan Stroman, with musical supervision and arrangements by Jason Robert Brown. Selected credits include: Wicked (Elphaba Standby), School of Rock (off-Broadway world premiere, Gramercy Theatre), Natasha, Pierre and The Great Comet of 1812 (original Off-Broadway cast, Cast recording), Michael John LaChiusa's Giant (World premiere- Signature Theatre), Murder Ballad (Actors' Playhouse- Carbonell Award, Best Supporting Actress in a Musical). Mariand has workshopped shows with LAByrinth Theatre Company, Sundance Theatre Lab, Yale Repertory Theatre, New York Stage and Film, Arden Theatre Company, among others. Training: BM, Musical Theatre, University of Miami.

Photo by Matt Pugliese

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