Chris Jenkins is currently in the West End production of Spamalot at the Playhouse Theatre. He performs in the ensemble whilst understudying Sir Galahad, Sir Bedevere and Sir Lancelot.
Lovingly ripped off from the 1975 film Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Spamalot follows King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table in their quest to find the Holy Grail. Spamalot originally ran in the West End at the Palace Theatre between 2006 and 2009. Following a UK Tour a new production of the musical opened at the West End’s Harold Pinter Theatre in July 2012 before transferring to the Playhouse Theatre from November 2012.
Chris’ theatre credits include: South Pacific (Barbican/UK Tour), The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (Gielgud Theatre), Jamie Wellerste in The Last 5 Years (Theatre Severn, Shrewsbury), Larry Foreman in The Cradle Will Rock (Arcola Theatre), Roméo et Juliette, Simon Boccanegra and Aida (Royal Opera House), Adraste in Moliere's The Sicilian (tour), John Milton in workshop of Devil's Advocate (Upstairs at the Gatehouse), Peter Pan (Liverpool Empire), Callum in Super Alice Smith (Trafalgar Studios), Bobby Duval in the World Premiere of new Big Band musical Come Fly With Me, Prince Tarrogan in Tickledom (Wales Millennium Centre) and Demetrius/Fight Director in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Welsh Tour).
I recently went backstage at the Playhouse Theatre and spoke to Chris about Spamalot’s success, dramatic understudy moments and what he looks for in a dream role…
You’ve been in Spamalot for just over a year now, are you still enjoying it?
Yes! It’s one of those shows where you can just sit back and chill out because the show does the work itself. Spamalot’s a show you can have a laugh with because it’s such great material. When you have an audience who are really going with you you’re literally riding on the wave of their laughs, and when you do less they seem to love it even more. That’s what is so great about it! This is the first big comedy I’ve ever done so it has been a really big learning curve. I’m still really enjoying it because the show changes all the time, we’ve had so many cast changes which always keeps it fresh.
And it’s great to see a show which genuinely is always fresh and doesn’t just look for carbon copies!
That’s what I really love about the show – it is flexible. Whenever someone new comes in it’s different and it’s so nice, as an understudy, to be able to do your own thing as well. Unlike other big blockbuster shows we don’t have to stand in a certain spot at a certain time or lift an arm on a certain word. My Galahad, Bedevere and Lancelot are completely different to what the other guys do so it’s so nice to have that freedom and that’s credit to the directing team! You can’t be funny doing other people's stuff, you have to find your own way of doing it.
Spamalot has such wide appeal, it’s not just for Monty Python fans. What do you think it is that makes Spamalot a show almost anybody will enjoy?
So often I tell friends that I’m in Spamalot and they don’t want to come and see it because they don’t really ‘get’ Monty Python, but I say “If you like musicals, you will like this show”. Spamalot has the Monty Python humour, which is silly, bonkers and ridiculous, and it’s a musical that makes fun of all musicals! There are so many Andrew Lloyd Webber nods, like ‘The Song That Goes Like This’ – there’s always a song in an ALW score which is added in so they can sell it as a single and ‘The Song That Goes Like This’ just makes fun of that. I think the Python’s humour also translates differently on stage than on TV. It reads differently.
What is life like backstage at the Playhouse Theatre?
There are no inter-cast relationships which is nice because there’s no drama! Everyone is so friendly; it’s such a comfortable, happy company which we’ve nicknamed ‘The Spamily’. We are very much like a family because we spend all our time together, these dressing rooms are underground and there are no windows so we have to get on. We’re very close knit; the other dressing rooms are only across the hall. It’s such a busy show so it’s lucky that we all get on! Kudos to the casting team for picking nice people to work with!
Have you ever had any dramatic understudy moments?
In this job I haven’t had to jump on last minute, but there have been a few hairy moments line-wise. There’s the guard scene between Galahad and Bedevere (Chris understudies both roles) which is very fast paced and the lines are very similar with only a few words changed. I have both sets of lines in my head and I was on as Galahad once and said my line, then when I went to say my next line I had no idea what to do – but we have freedom to go “that went wrong, shall we start that again?” So we started the scene again and as long as you bring the audience in on that and get through it, it works.
Bonnie Langford and the cast of Spamalot
Do you get the chance to see much theatre?
I wish I could see more but we’re lucky because our matinees have been moved to Fridays so I can sometimes see things on Wednesday or Thursday afternoons, when we’re not in rehearsals. The Color Purple was great because Cynthia [Erivo] is brilliant. We worked together in The Umbrellas of Cherbourg and she’s just ridiculous! Bow down – phenomenal voice! What else have I seen recently? The Pride at Trafalgar Studios! I was just bowled over by the set, sound, direction, staging and actors – Al Weaver was just phenomenal. I really want to see Urinetown too because I think Jamie Lloyd is great and it looks like a really good cast! I love all the posters, the design looks FIT.
Any dream roles?
There are so many roles I would love to do but know I could never play! I like it when people do those cabarets of songs they will never be able to sing…
OK, so what roles would you love to do but know you’ll never be able to play?
I would love to do Miss Trunchbull in Matilda…
You could do that when you’re older!
I know, I hope it’s still around! Hmmm… Chris in Miss Saigon but I wouldn’t be able to sustain it and I would love to, but couldn’t, play Leo Frank in Parade… because I’m not Jewish [laughs]! In terms of dream roles, I connect with things which are very emotionally driven; I think that’s what any actor looks for. Something you can really grab onto and dig into emotionally – that’s my dream thing in a part! I found that in a show I was cast in, The Cradle Will Rock, at the Arcola (in 2010) which I didn’t know about before I got the part. It was about fighting unions and I was one of the union guys. It was set back in the 1920s and I really connected to the part. It was the time of the student riots when the Tories and Lib Dems were going back on their promises about the Uni fees and it was the perfect time to do the show. I really connected with it, a bit too much because I ended up shouting at people on the tube because – well you know when people don’t let you off the tube? The door had opened and they put their suitcases on the train and I was like “Well either I’m going to take your suitcases to the next stop or you’re going to move them so I can get off and then you can get on.” I got so angry but that was kind of a gift of the part because I could connect to it! I think that’s what I mean by a dream role, am I making any sense?
Imagine this… you have to go to a desert island and can only take three musical theatre songs with you. Which three do you take?
Oh my god! Ok, the first one would be ‘We Do Not Belong Together’ from Sunday In The Park With George. I think… I think I would just take that song!
That is not allowed! You have to take two more!
No I can’t! It is the ultimate song!
It can be your ultimate song but you have to take two more…
Fine, ok – I would take ‘I Just Wanna F****** Dance from Jerry Springer: The Opera’… and… (very long pause) I can’t think of a third! Let me see what songs I have on my phone… (Several minutes later) do Disney films count? Oh no, wait – maybe something from Lord Of The Rings? Or Next To Normal? I am going to go with ‘Lothlórien’ from Lord Of The Rings – I saw it four times, it was just incredible [laughs]!
Finally, what’s it like having so much support behind you from theatre fans?
It’s so nice to have a lot of people who love Spamalot and support it! They must spend so much money on tickets! In a way it’s therapy or escapism, there’s obviously a reason why people connect to a certain show and go to see it over and over again. It’s very humbling to have people come and see the show again and appreciate your work. People buy presents for the cast or send us all a box of chocolates to say thank you and you kind of just want to go “well thank YOU for coming to watch the show because we appreciate your loyalty.” There’s one guy, Tony, who turned 90 recently and he’s seen the show over 200 times here at the Playhouse (since it opened in November 2012). He watches around 5/6 performances a week. He always sits in the same seat and has actually got a dressing room named after him and we can always hear him laughing, it’s hilarious! He’s great, he’s such a nice guy. But yes - it’s so nice to have fans of the show! A lot of people don’t get to do what they enjoy and always dreamed of doing for a living, so I’m very lucky to be sat here doing what I want to be doing.
Interviewed by Andrew Tomlins (Editor)
Spamalot is currently booking at the Playhouse Theatre to 12th April 2014.
Click here to book tickets (OFFER - top price seats reduced to £32.50).
Read our interviews with current and former Spamalot cast members Carley Stenson, Bonnie Langford & Joe Pasquale, Sarah Earnshaw, Stephen Tompkinson and Anna-Jane Casey.
Photo Credit 2: Manuel Harlan
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