Jeff Dumas - Chicago Actor

Chicago actor Jeff Dumas has landed a featured role in the National Touring company of "Spamalot."  Dumas will play Patsy in the Tony Award-winning musical, which is "lovingly ripped off from the movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail."  Chicago audiences saw the pre-Broadway tryout of "Spamalot" in December, 2004.  The original cast, including Tim Curry, Hank Azaria and David Hyde Pierce, opened the show to some of the most lavish accolades and ticket demand since "The Producers".  The National Company, which debuts March 7 at Boston's Colonial Theatre, makes its return to Chicago April 19-June 4 at the Cadillac Palace Theatre. 
 
Jeff Dumas, who recently appeared in the Chicago company of "Wicked," has been promoted from munchkin to medieval knight.  His Chicago credits include "Winesburg, Ohio" at About Face Theatre, Stephen Sondheim's "Bounce" and "The House of Martin Guerre" at the Goodman, "Pacific Overtures" at Chicago Shakespeare, and numerous musicals at Drury Lane Oakbrook.  Dumas joins a cast that also includes Michael Siberry, Bradley Dean, Tom Deckman, Pia C. Glenn, Christopher Gurr, Richard Holmes and David Turner. 
 
Siberry, who stars as King Arthur, has been seen on Broadway in The Royal Shakespeare Company's "The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby" and the revival of "The Sound of Music."  Dean (Sir Galahad) was recently seen in Chicago as Che in the Hal Prince tour of "Evita" at the Auditorium Theatre.  He has also appeared in "Man of LaMancha" and "Jane Eyre."  Deckman, who plays the Historian, appeared in "Good Vibrations" and will be seen in a PBS telecast of "South Pacific" with Reba McEntire and Brian Stokes Mitchell.  Glenn, who sings the role of the Lady of the Lake, made her Broadway debut in Stephen Sondheim's "The Frogs" at Lincoln Center Theatre.
 
Broadway in Chicago's 2005 series also includes Harold Gould (replacing Hal Linden) in "Tuesdays with Morrie" February 28-March 12, "Dame Edna: Back With a Vengeance!" March 14-19, "Stomp" April 4-16, and "Annie" April 25-May 7.  "Morrie" and "Dame Edna" will play the 2,500-seat Cadillac Palace Theatre, as the more intimate LaSalle Bank Theatre (formerly Shubert) is still in the renovation process.  Valerie Harper's one-woman show, "Golda's Balcony" has been postponed until June, and the troubled tour of "Doctor Dolittle," now directed by and starring Tony Award winner Tommy Tune, will play the Palace July 18-30.  The award-winning musica spoof of Christian boy bands, "Altar Boyz" is planned for fall 2006.  Off-season specials in the Broadway in Chicago lineup include Matthew Bourne's "Swan Lake" February 21-26 and "Rent" April 5-15.

 
Joe Stead
Theatre In Chicago News Contributor Joe Stead has spent over 20 years as a critic, director, designer and performer. His reviews currently appear online at www.steadstylechicago.com.