{"id":111640,"date":"2016-04-21T10:04:28","date_gmt":"2016-04-21T14:04:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=111640"},"modified":"2016-04-25T12:10:57","modified_gmt":"2016-04-25T16:10:57","slug":"acting-alum-debuts-director-musical-comedy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2016\/04\/acting-alum-debuts-director-musical-comedy\/","title":{"rendered":"Acting Alum Debuts as Director of Musical Comedy"},"content":{"rendered":"

There comes a time when many actors think about moving from the spotlight onstage to behind the scenes to direct.<\/p>\n

\"UConn<\/a>
UConn alum and acclaimed actor Richard Ruiz ’94 MFA directs his first production, ‘Monty Python’s Spamalot.’<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For stage veteran Richard Ruiz \u201998 MFA, that time came when he returned to Storrs to play a familiar role as Sancho Panza in the Connecticut Repertory Theatre\u2019s 2012 Nutmeg Summer Series production of \u201cMan of La Mancha\u201d directed by his longtime mentor, Vincent Cardinal, chair of the dramatic arts department.<\/p>\n

\u201cVince had not directed it before. He would consult me often and ask if this would be a good way to direct a scene,\u201d says Ruiz, who had performed the role of Panza five times previously. \u201cI ended up kind of semi-directing some of those scenes from the wings. I enjoyed that collaborative process. It sparked thoughts about being a director. I pitched it to him that someday I\u2019d like to direct.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ruiz makes his directorial debut with this week\u2019s CRT production of \u201cMonty Python\u2019s Spamalot,\u201d the Tony Award-winning musical comedy based on the film \u201cMonty Python and the Holy Grail,\u201d the wacky British comedy troupe\u2019s send-up of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table and their quest to find the mystical object in Arthurian legend that would provide eternal youth, abundant food, and happiness. \u201cSpamalot\u201d stars Richard Kline as King Arthur and Mariand Torres as the Lady of the Lake in performances from April 21 to May 1 in the Harriet S. Jorgensen Theatre.<\/p>\n

Ruiz, who last appeared onstage at CRT in 2014 with Kline in Neil Simon\u2019s popular \u201cThe Sunshine Boys,\u201d says he imagined that his first directing experience would be a small play with two or four actors, not a full-scale musical.<\/p>\n

\"Mariand<\/a>
As experienced performers, Mariand Torres (The Lady of the Lake) and Richard Kline (King Arthur) have provided additional learning opportunities for students. (Gerry Goodstein for UConn)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI thought, I can\u2019t pass this opportunity up. I\u2019m going to jump in completely at the deep end and see what happens,\u201d Ruiz says. \u201cThe beauty of coming back to UConn is that it\u2019s a great safety net. I put in my director\u2019s note that this is me continuing my education. I have learned as much as the kids have learned in putting this together, and I told them that from day one.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kline, known for his role in television\u2019s \u201cThree\u2019s Company,\u201d and Torres, who returned from Japan following the world premiere of \u201cPrince of Broadway” directed by the legendary Harold Prince, previously collaborated as Elphaba and the Wizard during the national tour of the hit musical \u201cWicked.\u201d Ruiz says having students work closely with two experienced performers who have toured together provides additional learning opportunities, as they observe how the pair approach their craft.<\/p>\n

\u201cMariand has this solo where the whole cast surrounds her,\u201d he says. \u201cI can see on their faces, they\u2019re thinking: Wow, that\u2019s what we\u2019re trying to get to. Richard has gone to the graduate class, which is focusing on comedy, and done some master classes [with them]. The stuff he\u2019s contributed to the kids has been fantastic.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ruiz says one of the challenges he has had to work out is guiding Millennial students taking on stage roles based on a 1975 film and rooted in the surreal sketch comedy of the Monty Python players.<\/p>\n

\"Gavin<\/a>
Gavin McNicholl \u201917 (SFA) as Patsy and Richard Kline as King Arthur in ‘Monty Python\u2019s Spamalot.’ Students have had to adjust to a slower pace for the production. (Gerry Goodstein for UConn)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The pace of the film is slow and there are epic scenes simulating a long journey on horseback depicted by the actors skipping along with a hand pretending to hold horse reins, to the accompaniment of shells clapping to simulate the sounds of hooves. Memorable references from the storyline that are translated to the stage include the \u201cKiller Rabbit,\u201d Tim the Enchanter, and crossing \u201cThe Bridge of Death,\u201d which play in the tradition of the British Pantomime musical comedy that influenced the Python troupe\u2019s performances.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was tricky for the kids to wrap their heads around,\u201d Ruiz says. \u201cIt\u2019s definitely a different generation exposed to a different world. They think faster, move faster, and technology gives them access to everything very quickly. They\u2019re so raised on television and film, the style of this being so broad is hard for them. They\u2019re used to seeing movies with people being close together and talking in a whisper. They have to be louder, faster, and funnier. That style has been hard for them to embrace. It is emulating the energy and the style of the film and what the Python boys did with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the 16 years since Ruiz left Storrs, he has performed across the United States with many of the nation\u2019s leading repertory companies, and earned critical acclaim for his work. His aim in returning often to CRT to act, and now to direct, is to encourage young actors to keep moving to reach a higher level of performance. The role of director is growing on him, which he says is a bit of a surprise.<\/p>\n

\u201cI tend to be hard on myself, as most people do. I thought I might not be cut out to do this,\u201d Ruiz says. \u201cThen in the third week of rehearsals, I saw improvement in the kids. They were taking notes [on advice] I was giving. The show was coming together. I thought the actor in me would want to be out there. There has been none of that conflict. My actor ego doesn\u2019t get in the way. I want everyone to be fantastic, and I like being the guy who puts out the fires and helps the show to get where it needs to be. I\u2019m OK with being the director.\u201d<\/p>\n

The CRT production of \u201cSpamalot\u201d will be performed April 21 through May 1 at the Harriet S. Jorgensen Theatre in the Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts. For more information, go to the CRT website<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

‘Monty Python\u2019s Spamalot,’ based on the British comedy troupe\u2019s send-up of the King Arthur legend, is onstage at UConn April 21-May1.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":111783,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1711,1914,2225,2234],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[1918],"class_list":["post-111640","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-culture","category-sfa","category-uconn-storrs","category-university-life"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-23 00:45:42","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111640","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=111640"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111640\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":111899,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111640\/revisions\/111899"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/111783"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=111640"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=111640"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=111640"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=111640"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=111640"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}