Sneak peek into sophomore Tate Champbell’s performance in Spamalot

Story by Lane Phifer, Multimedia Editor

“I started playing the piano in third grade and I wound up quitting it because I hated it. But then, last year before quarantine, I started going to the piano lab every day and then just started experimenting and kept going. Throughout quarantine, I kept playing and I love piano now. 

Last year, I had taken a music theory class and I was taking piano taking music theory at the same time. I got to experiment with how music works together and it was a constant repetition of going over this. I began reading music as much as possible, so that I could get my brain accustomed to it. I’ll wind up playing for hours and it’s been a great destressor for me. Which is weird because when you think about it, I stress myself out to play, but playing is just very calming. It has definitely helped with focus and beforehand, I had a hard time doing so. What I love most about playing the piano is that I can play piano for hours and stay focused.

I play Robin in Spamalot. He is a knight that came to join the Knights of Camelot to sing and dance and didn’t realize that they had to be an actual knight. I sing a song for about five minutes, which is a lot of time to sing and dance by myself. I also get to play on the piano for a couple seconds. I love that I was able to combine my love for theatre with piano. Also, come see Spamalot if you’re able!”