David McClelland returns to review Spamalot
"Spamalot is an ambitious piece of theatre for any company to produce, but again the Loughborough Schools Foundation family pulled off the challenge with aplomb. "
We were delighted to welcome David McClelland (LGS 1995) back to campus as an invited guest to watch the recent drama production of Spamalot, with him happy to provide an expert review of the show.
He writes: ‘Speaking of Monty Python: I’ve a hunch Sally Bruton (LGS Head of Drama) has a soft spot for Eric Idle – as this is the second Idle-inspired show in three years, following the spectacular production of Seussical the Musical a couple of years ago.’
‘Spamalot is an ambitious piece of theatre for any company to produce, but again the Loughborough Schools Foundation family pulled off the challenge with aplomb. From the set-piece sketches and decades-old (if not centuries-old) obtuse humour to the constantly animating on-set projections and myriad quick-fire costume changes, the actors and backstage crew took this technically and artistically difficult show in their stride, delivering a raucous evening of entertainment even for those too young to remember the Monty Python troupe’s first or second incarnations.’
David was alongside LHS alumni who were ‘equally tickled’ by the evening’s entertainment but spent the interval in the Sixth-Form common room chatting and playing table football. He adds: ‘I was also chatting with a prospective LGS pupil and parent who had come along to the show to get a better feel for the School. How could they fail to have been impressed!’
David is no stranger to the stage or indeed being in front of the camera, with him recently appearing as the Tin Man in The Wizard of Oz. He says: ‘After leaving LGS (in the days before there was a drama studio or even drama on the curriculum) I trained as an actor at Guildford School of Acting and later went on to work in the West End, regional repertory, and various tours. I called time on acting in 2010 to pursue a career as a journalist, but each Christmas for a number of years afterwards, I was tempted out of retirement to appear in or direct professional pantomimes in theatres across the UK. Eventually, family commitments, work commitments and then the pandemic meant that my pantomime days appeared – well – behind me.’
David then received an ‘an out-of-the-blue’ call from a producer he’d first worked with more than a decade before with an invitation to play a part he’d never yet been cast as: Tin Man in The Wizard of Oz.
He says: ‘Accepting the role would mean living away from home again for much of December, but my family were excited for me, so I accepted. I very quickly began to worry whether, after several years away, I would be able to pick up dance routines still or keep my voice healthy during 12 shows each week – I needn’t have worried, everything very quickly came back to me during rehearsals and, by the end of an immensely enjoyable run, it was like I’d never been away.’
