Glenn takes tall role
as the Lady of the Lake

By Rita Charleston
For the Times

Well, the wait is finally over.
King Arthur, the Knights of the Round Table, and their quest for the Holy Grail are all set to bring their story, Monty Python’s Spamalot, to the Kimmel Center for a three-week engagement from March 20 to April 8.
Lovingly "ripped off" from the internationally famous comedy team’s most popular motion picture, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, this show is the winner of three 2005 Tony Awards, and the original cast recording was honored with the 2006 Grammy Award for Best Musical Show Album.
Telling the legendary tale, Monty Python’s Spamalot features a chorus line of dancing divas and knights, flatulent Frenchmen, killer rabbits and one legless knight — with a stop in the dazzling Spam-filled land of Camelot.
It also features a dazzling Pia Glenn as the Lady of the Lake, the character quite prominent in the Arthurian legend and just as prominent in this show. It’s a "big" role, although perhaps not as big as many of the others.
But given her Amazonian proportions — Glenn is 6 feet tall — she’s a standout!
A native of New York, she said she wanted to be a performer from as far back as she can remember.
"My mom was a music teacher, and my dad’s a music lover," she said, so perhaps it was all in the cards.
Attending the Performing Arts High School on Long Island, Glenn said she considers herself very fortunate.
"I was the first person in my school to get an agent, went on auditions and then off to work," she said.
Considering herself an actress who sings, she’s been seen on Broadway in the female lead in Kat and The Kings and The Frogs as Virilla the Amazon. She said her favorite role is Aldonza in Man of LaMancha.
Glenn has also appeared with the Royal Shakespeare Company and in Hair, toured with the ballroom dance show Burn The Floor, guest-starred on Ally McBeal, Girls Club, Strong Medicine and others, and appeared is a few music videos as well.
So when the call came from Mike Nichols for this production, how could she refuse?
"I started out doing opera, but that was so boring to me because I prefer to tell a story," she recalled.
Now Glenn’s got her wish — although a very strange story especially coming from the book penned by Python regular Eric Idle — but a story nonetheless.
"As the Lady of the Lake, I’m there to inspire King Arthur in his quest for the Holy Grail," Glenn explained. "And I’m having a wonderful time. For me, the best part of being in this show is connecting with the audience in real time, in the moment. A lot of people don’t really see individual audience members, but I always do. I look out and see them to try to figure out if they’re getting whatever it is I’m trying to communicate to them. For me, that’s the very best feeling.
"And connecting with the audience is very special in this show. My material is the least Python of the show. But being free to improvise more so than any other shows I’ve done is a great feeling," she added.
Although her height is probably an added benefit in this show, Glenn admitted that at times it’s a deterrent.
"But I never let it bother me," she explained. "When I audition, I just do the best I can. If I’m rejected for a role, I never take it as a personal rejection.
"Look, I’m six-feet tall, which is rare for a woman and very rare in my profession, so people either want me or they don’t. I can’t get shorter, and I probably won’t get taller. It is what it is, and that’s it." ••
For times and ticket information, call 215-731-1333.