Patrick Andrae is a scientist in a lab by day and an actor on stage in the evening. He is playing the role of Sir Galahad in “Monty Python’s Spamalot” at Plays-in-the-Park. Performances run July 17 to 27, with no show on Sunday, July 21. All shows begin at 8:30 p.m.
The musical comedy, based on the film “Monty Python and the Holy Grail,” follows the misadventures of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. It is set in medieval England.
Andrae, a former Plainsboro resident, began singing, dancing, and acting at age 15 in Erie, Pennsylvania. He appeared at the Erie Playhouse in “Evita,” “The Boyfriend,” “Sweeney Todd,” “The Sound of Music,” and other productions. He came to New Jersey in 1990 and immediately resumed his theatrical pursuits as Tony in “West Side Story” at Kelsey Theater, Jasper in “The Mystery of Edwin Drood” at the Franklin Villagers, Hound in “The Real Inspector Hound,” and many other parts in just about every theater within an hour’s drive.
He sang in “Carmen” in Spoleto, Italy, at Il Festival dei Due Mondi. He also toured the U.S. with American Family Theater’s productions of “Dinosaur Mountain” and “Aladdin.” Most recently, he was seen as Jim in Tennessee Williams’ “Not About Nightingales” at the Villagers, and as Count Carl-Magnus in Chatham Players production of “A Little Night Music.”
Andrae has also played the title role in “Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street” at Kelsey in 2009, Tito Merelli in “Lend Me a Tenor,” and Cornelius Hackl in “Hello Dolly.”
A graduate of Allegheny College, he is an experienced synthetic chemist. Andrae was a research scientist at Wyeth Research and has been the undergraduate lab coordinator at Princeton University for several years.
Spamalot, Plays-in-the-Park, Capestro Theater, Roosevelt Park, Route 1 South, Edison. July 17 through 27. 8:30 p.m. Musical. Bring a chair. $7. 732-548-2884 or www.playsinthepark.com.
