Baden City Theater

Knight on coconuts with gasping for breath!

Musical star Uwe Kröger

(Bild: Bühne Baden/Moni Fellner)

Uwe Kröger plays King Arthur in the musical "Spamalot": premiere is on Friday, July 12, at the Stadttheater Baden. Quirky fun based on the cult film "The Knights of the Coconut" - we asked the musical star for an interview!

Things will be weird, funny and crazy in Baden near Vienna from Friday, when Monty Python's cult "Knights of the Coconut" will be coming to the Stadttheater.

Based on the 1975 feature film "Monty Python and the Holy Grail", the satirical musical "Spamalot" loosely follows the legend of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table on their quest for the Holy Grail.

Werner Sobotka directs, while Uwe Kröger, who specializes in dramatic musical roles, slips into the role of the melancholy King Arthur: "I've already done some funny things in Vienna, such as 'The Addams Family', because I love comedy," says Kröger in the "Krone" interview, "with 'Spamalot', the rehearsals alone are so much fun, but I must also say that they are very elaborate. Because Monty Phyton is very complex, nothing is random, every word, every sentence is emphasized differently. Everything is choreographed in a group dynamic. Every thing is made into a thing, it's really funny!"

The special challenge is that King and Knight Drew Sarich, Martin Berger, Niklas Doddo, Reinwald Kranner and Artur Ortens first had to come together in the first few days of rehearsals, "because," says Kröger, "this play is pure teamwork, because you always have to lay the chute for the punchline that the next person is going to throw out".

Weird musical "Spamalot"

"Spamalot" (a corruption of Camelot in the style of Monty Python's Spam sketch) is a multi-award-winning satirical musical that premiered on Broadway in New York in 2005. The four knights, whose characters are very different, are recruited by King Arthur and his ally, the diva-like Fairy of the Lake, using bizarre methods and travel through England, where they have to endure all kinds of adventures. Above all, the shallow Broadway business is ironized.

There is also dancing under Ramesh Nair's choreography, including to the hit "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" borrowed from "Life of Brian": "I didn't think I would have to dance so much," laughs Kröger, "and in this heat. We already have a huge dance number with the choir and ballet in the middle, after which we're all gasping for breath (laughs) - you'll see, it's great fun!"