Gainesville High School alum Delaney Benson returns home in ‘Spamalot’ at the Fox 

Sitting in the St. James Theatre on Broadway watching Monty Python’s Spamalot in 2023, Delaney Benson had two prevailing thoughts. Number one: She thought it was the funniest show she had ever seen. And two: She would give anything to be in it.

In December, the Gainesville native joined the touring company of this same production and will soon return home to perform on the Fox Theatre stage.

“I saw my first Broadway national tour at the Fox, and now, 10 years later, I’m there,” she says. “So I’m really looking forward to it!”

Spamalot musicalizes the iconic movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail, promising a night full of laughter in a fast-paced musical comedy. Benson and her fellow ensemble members play a variety of roles in each performance, darting offstage to change costumes and sometimes even moving set pieces. 

“We’re tap dancing; we’re doing ballroom dance; and we’re doing a cheer number, so we come out with pom-poms,” she explains. “I would say that this is the busiest show I’ve ever been a part of.”

Benson understudies and has occasionally performed one of the leads, The Lady of the Lake, a role that looks almost nothing like her ensemble nights.

“When I’ve gone on for the lead, it’s a totally different type of beast,” the performer says. The role has very few scenes and 45 minutes of down time paired with powerhouse songs. “I have to stay warm vocally and physically with her track, whereas in my normal ensemble track, I never get to sit down in Act I.” 

Tours typically have a “put-in” — a dress rehearsal to give understudies a chance to perform their alternate roles on the set before adding an audience. But the first time Benson got the call to perform as The Lady of the Lake, there had been no put-in yet because it was so early in the run.

“I quickly Ubered to the theater, and they fit me in all my costumes to make sure everything was good to go,” she says. Her debut as a lead passed in a flash, and she was back in the ensemble hours later for the evening performance. 

“It’s kind of an out-of-body experience, going from one thing to another so quickly,” she admits. “But I’m up for any challenge, so when I get the call the day of, I’m like, ‘OK. Put me in! I’m ready!’”

Born to actors who have performed on Broadway and beyond, Benson’s dance training began in the kitchen with her father, Ray Benson. 

“He would teach me a tap combination from Singin’ in the Rain, like ‘Moses Supposes,’ [with] the original choreography that he did on Broadway,” she says.

The triple-threat performer’s childhood included ballet lessons at a dance studio and community theater productions at both Gainesville Theatre Alliance and Red Phoenix. 

“GTA was great! When I was growing up, I was like ‘This is Broadway! Everyone is so talented,’” she recalls. “Gainesville had a lot to offer. You didn’t really have to go into the major cities to get training, and it was kind of in my backyard.”

Though she would eventually study musical theater at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, Benson at one point exchanged tights for cleats.

“I literally told my parents, ‘I really hate wearing tights; I don’t wanna wear a bun; everything is itchy; and I’m really not loving it,’” she recalls. With their support, she switched to soccer for nine years. But when soccer practice conflicted with Gainesville High School theater rehearsal, she made the obvious choice. 

While Spamalot is a dream fulfillment already, Benson still has a few other theater dreams in mind.

“I would love to be Glinda [in Wicked],” she says — though she has heard that her height might prevent her from fitting into the character’s iconic bubble. “It would be pretty funny if they flew me in the bubble, and I had to crouch down because I was too tall!” 

Her other dream role is Polly Baker in Crazy for You, which she understudied soon after college graduation and which hits very close to home.

“My mom originated the role back in the ’90s, so I’ve seen bootleg [videos] of her doing it,” Benson says. Her mother, Jodi Benson, received a Tony Award nomination for the role. “I grew up listening to all the songs — It’s Gershwin, there’s tap dancing and I just love that Golden Age era.”

For now, Benson looks forward to finally making her professional debut in her hometown.

“I have not been able to do professional theater in Atlanta just because of how the cookie crumbles,” she says. “It’s kind of crazy that now I’ll be on the biggest stage in Atlanta, performing in an Equity national tour. So if that’s not a testament to ‘what will be will be,’ then I don’t know what is.”

When and Where 

Monty Python’s Spamalot is on stage at the Fox Theatre July 21 through July 26. Tickets start around $50 and depend on seating.
660 Peachtree St. NE.

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Sally Fuller is a theater nerd and journalist with a passion for telling people’s stories. Her work has appeared in Encore Atlanta, City Lifestyle magazine and The AJC, among others. When not writing, she works at her dream job of mothering her mini-me, alongside the best husband and father in the world.