Help Wanted: Knights to search for the Holy Grail

by Kenneth Gaffney

​2017 has begun, and we need some more Knights to help find the Holy Grail! 

Hello everyone, thank you in advance for reading. My name is Kenneth Kennington, and I am a Footlights Knight of the props table. Okay… That’s not actually my name – maybe I got your attention. 

After a fantastic collaboration with Supertonic, Footlights are back for 2017 and our next show will be Monty Python’s SPAMALOT! We are very excited to begin rehearsals, let out our inner silliness and put on this wonderfully silly show, sure to make you (the audience – if you book in time) and us (the cast, crew, and musicians) laugh enough to drown out 2016 (a lot of people remember the bad things, but some good things did happen!) 

I still remember Legally Blonde fondly, Bruiser barked like a wee champion, didn’t he? Before we smashed it again with Heathers. So let's kick off 2017 with a bang! 

​Spamalot won 3 Tony awards in 2005, so there you go – it comes certifiably ready for us to bring you a show that you’ll love! What excites me about this show is that it’s incredibly silly, like me! The show acknowledges its ridiculousness, it pokes fun at theatre, and musicals (a quick Wikipedia search will tell you all the details you need to know - just don’t read too much and spoil the show for yourself like I did with Game of Thrones…) 

I joined Footlights after I successfully screeched Chess’ Anthem, in my audition to join the company for Rent back in the ye’ olden year of 2015. I think I pleased the Lords of Footlights' round table because I got in! I originally wanted to join when I went to see Taking the Minnie. I was doing the good friend thing by going to see it and was crossing my fingers that I enjoyed the show. I freaking loved it - I saw people having fun, connecting with each other, and a family. 

Footlights is important to me because it allows me to work my creative muscle, escape my full-time job, and sing beautiful harmonies with some pretty cool friends. I will admit that a lot of the shows we do, I have no idea what half of the songs are, but by the end I am loving it as much as the diehard musical lovers of Footlights. I believe this will be one of the best shows we’ve ever done. Why? We are growing. Every year, every season, every rehearsal, we are growing. Footlights are a young society that is going some pretty exciting places. You can be part of that, and not just as an audience member. 

That brings me to my next point. We are having auditions for our 2017 intake! If you are reading this, and you are not one of the members of Footlights this is your opportunity to join our society (Family). You might think, “I’m not silly enough”, “I’m not a good singer”, “I’m not a good actor”, “I have all of the left feet”. Well, I have some advice for you. Try anyway! You might be the only one who thinks that. (I can’t dance to save myself, but they somehow let me in!)

There is a lot of love within Footlights, and you could be part of something special. Wouldn’t you rather try, rather than wonder what could have been?

To book an audition, email us at [email protected].