Spamalot

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Spamalot
Window card for original Broadway production
Music John Du Prez
Eric Idle
Lyrics Eric Idle
Book Eric Idle
Based upon 1975 film Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Productions 2004 Chicago premiere
2005 Broadway production
2006 West End production
2006 North American tour
2007 Las Vegas production
Awards 2005 Tony Award Best Musical

Monty Python's Spamalot is a comedic musical "lovingly ripped off from" the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975). Like the film, it is a highly irreverent parody of Arthurian Legend, but it differs from the film in many other ways, especially its parodies of Broadway theatre. Eric Idle, a member of the Monty Python team, wrote the musical's book and lyrics, and collaborated with John Du Prez on the music. Running since March 17, 2005, it was directed by Mike Nichols, and won the Tony Award for Best Musical of the 2004–2005 season.

Spamalot's plot follows King Arthur as he journeys to find the Holy Grail. Arthur, travelling with his servant Patsy, recruits several knights to accompany him on his quest, including Sir Bedevere, Sir Robin, Sir Lancelot and Sir Galahad. Along the way, they meet the Lady of the Lake and a host of other odd characters, including Prince Herbert, The French Taunter, Tim the Enchanter, Not Dead Fred, the Black Knight and the Knights who say Ni.

Contents

[edit] Cast

The original Broadway cast included Tim Curry as King Arthur, Michael McGrath as Patsy, David Hyde Pierce as Sir Robin, Hank Azaria as Sir Lancelot and other roles (e.g., the French Taunter, Knight of Ni, and Tim the Enchanter), Christopher Sieber as Sir Galahad and other roles (e.g. the Black Knight and Prince Herbert's Father), and Sara Ramirez as the Lady of the Lake. It also included Christian Borle as Prince Herbert and other roles (e.g. Historian and Not Dead Fred), Steve Rosen as Sir Bedevere and other roles (e.g., Concorde and Dennis' Mother) and John Cleese as the (recorded) Voice of God.

Azaria's roles were taken over by Alan Tudyk starting June 7, 2005; Azaria returned to the cast on December 2, 2005 after working on a new season of Huff. Ramirez left on December 18, to be replaced by Lauren Kennedy, and Simon Russell Beale took over Curry's role as the king on December 20. On April 4, 2006, Azaria and Pierce were replaced by Steve Kazee and Martin Moran, respectively. Beale was replaced by Harry Groener on April 26. Borle was replaced by Tom Deckman, late of the touring cast of Spamalot, on November 28.

On October 31, Harry Groener was replaced by Jonathan Hadary and Lauren Kennedy by Marin Mazzie.

Original actors Michael McGrath and Steve Rosen are still currently on stage on Broadway.

The US touring cast includes Michael Siberry as Arthur, Jeff Dumas as Patsy, David Turner as Robin, Rick Holmes as Lancelot, Bradley Dean as Galahad, Christopher Sutton (actor) as Herbert, Christopher Gurr as Sir Bedevere, and Pia Glenn as the Lady of the Lake.

[edit] Characters

[edit] The Court of Camelot

  • King Arthur: King of the Britons. Has trouble counting to three.
  • Sir Lancelot the Homicidally Brave: A near psychopathic knight "with a difference."
  • Sir Robin, the Not-Quite-So-Brave-as-Sir-Lancelot: A cowardly knight well versed in the world of musical theatre.
  • Sir Dennis Galahad, The Dashingly Handsome: Formerly Dennis Galahad, a politically active peasant.
  • Sir Bedevere, The Strangely Flatulent: A wise but smelly knight.
  • Patsy: King Arthur's trusty servant/steed and constant companion.
  • Concord: Lancelot's trusty servant/steed. Can survive an arrow to the chest.
  • Brother Maynard: Arthur's go-to guy for God.
  • Sir Bors: An Unlucky victim of the Killer Rabbit of Antioch
  • Sir Not-Appearing-in-this-show: That pretty much sums it up. Dressed as Don Quixote.

[edit] Other characters

  • The Lady of the Lake: An aquatic diva.
  • Not-Dead Fred: He's not dead yet. He’s getting better.
  • Robin’s Lead Minstrel: Who never knows when to shut the bloody 'ell up.
  • The King of Swamp Castle (aka Herbert's Father) : A hardhearted, moneygrubbing king who hates music.
  • Prince Herbert: His son. Loves to sing, and is about as butch as Minnie Mouse.
  • French Taunter: A French soldier who enjoys taunting.
  • The Black Knight: A psychotic knight who will fight even after all his arms and legs have been cut off.
  • The Head Knight who says "Ni!": The huge leader of the most feared Cult in the land: The dreaded knights who say "Ni!". Enjoys shrubberies.
  • Tim the Enchanter: a pyromaniac
  • Dennis’s mother: A Pepperpot. A politically active peasant.
  • The Killer Rabbit of Antioch: A bloodthirsty bunny puppet with big nasty teeth.
  • Two Guards: One has trouble understanding simple concepts, one hiccups a lot.
  • Two Sentries: At an unspecified castle. They enjoy talking about swallows and coconuts.
  • A Historian: Our Narrator
  • The Mayor of Finland: A character who really shouldn’t be in this musical.
  • The Laker Girls: The Lady of the Lake's backup dancers/cheerleaders.
  • Knights of the Round Table: They dance when e'er they're able.
  • Robin’s Minstrels: His back-up group.
  • God: Who sounds a lot like John Cleese. By God it is!

[edit] Cast Doubling

In tribute to the film, where six actors played the majority of all male parts (and a few female ones), several actors play multiple roles; the only major characters not doubling are Arthur and the Lady of the Lake. In the Broadway production, the following Doubling was used:

  • Lancelot/2nd Sentry/The French Taunter/Knight of Ni/Tim the Enchanter
  • Robin/1st Sentry/1st Guard/Brother Maynard
  • Galahad/King of Swamp Castle/Black Knight
  • Patsy/Mayor of Finland/2nd Guard
  • Bedevere/Mrs. Galahad/Concord
  • The Historian/Herbert/Not Dead Fred/Lead Minstrel/The French Taunter's Best Friend

[edit] References to Popular Culture

  • The Toronto production of "Spamalot" opened days after the 2006 FIFA World Cup Final. During the French taunting, The French Taunter threatened to "head-butt [Arthur] in the chest," in reference to the French football player Zinedine Zidane's infamous act in the World Cup final.
  • The Pittsburgh production of "Spamalot" included references to local culture. These included a French taunter threatening to "Wave my Terrible Towel at you," and Sir Robin playing the tune of a local Steelers song on the piano.
  • The Washington, DC production of "Spamalot" included actors nonchalantly giving scores to the 2006 FIFA World Cup to each other, which was going on at the time.
  • Charlotte, NC production included references to Jake Delhomme and Jeff Gordon while speaking to an audience member who had been called on stage.

[edit] Production history

Spamalot at the Shubert Theatre
Enlarge
Spamalot at the Shubert Theatre

Previews of the show began in Chicago's Shubert Theatre (now the LaSalle Bank Theatre) on December 21, 2004; the show officially opened there on January 9, 2005 and was practically sold-out. It previewed on Broadway, at New York's Shubert Theatre, beginning February 14, 2005, and, after some changes, officially opened on March 17, 2005. The Broadway previews were practically sold-out, leaving only obstructed view tickets for sale. Two musical numbers were dropped from Act One while the production was still in Chicago. During the scene set in the "Witch Village," the song "Burn Her!" was originally performed by "Sir Bedevere, The Witch, Sir Robin, Lance and Villagers." At the French Castle, "The Cow Song," in a parody of a stereotypical film noir/cabaret style, was performed by "The Cow and French Citizens." Before the two songs were cut in Chicago, the lead vocals in both songs were sung by Sara Ramirez. This gave her a total of six songs in Act One, but no further appearances until scene five in Act Two, for "The Diva's Lament."

A North American tour of the musical commenced on March 7, 2006, and ran through April 15 at the Colonial Theatre in Boston. The touring production then moved to the Cadillac Palace Theatre in Chicago (April 19, 2006–June 4, 2006), then moved to the National Theatre in Washington, DC (June 6, 2006–July 9, 2006), then to Toronto at the Canon Theatre (July 12, 2006-September 10, 2006), then to Pittsburgh, PA (September 12-October 1st 2006), then to Cincinnati, OH at the Aronoff Center (October 17, 2006-October 29, 2006). The show will play in St. Louis at the Fabulous Fox Theatre from October 31 through November 26.

Starting in Spring 2007, a production of the musical will reside for ten years at the Wynn Las Vegas Broadway theatre, which previously housed a production of Avenue Q. Announced on 20 January 2006, a London production has opened at the Palace Theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue, commencing 30 September 2006 (London premiere 2 October) with tickets on sale from 21 February 2006, booking to 30 March 2007. Curry reprises his Broadway role as King Arthur until December with Simon Russell Beale taking over from January. Christopher Siebre also reprises his role as Sir Galahad. Hannah Waddingham plays the Lady of the Lake, Tom Goodman-Hill plays Sir Lancelot, Robert Hands plays Sir Robin, David Birell plays Patsy, Tony Timberlake plays Sir Bedevere and Darren Southworth plays Prince Herbert.

A new Australian production is planned for 2007.

[edit] The Movie Musical

Eric Idle is currently adapting the Broadway Show for the Cinema. He said in an interview that the show would have to go under a lot of changes.

[edit] Critical reception and box-office

The original production has been both a financial and critical success. Variety reported advance ticket sales of $18 million, with ticket prices ranging from $36 to $101. The advance made Broadway box office history.

The show proved to be an early success when moving to London's West End. After high advance ticket sales the show's run was extended by four weeks — four months before the show's run commenced. [1] The play makes many references to the film and other material in the Python canon, including a line from "The Lumberjack Song", nods to "Ministry of Silly Walks," the Election Night Special and "Dead Parrot Sketch" routines, a rendition of the song "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" from the film Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979), and the "Fisch Schlapping Song" which is a reference to both "The Fish-Slapping Dance" and the song "Finland." Another reference is actually part of the Playbill of the show; there are several gag pages about a musical entitled "Dik Od Triaanenen Fol (Finns Ain't What They Used To Be)". This gag programme was written by Michael Palin. Broadway musical fans appreciate its visual and auditory references to other musicals and musical theatre in general, such as: "The Song That Goes Like This" (a spoof of Andrew Lloyd Webber productions and many other Broadway power ballads); the knights doing a dance reminiscent of Fiddler on the Roof, as well as a dance reminiscent of West Side Story (complete with music); Sir Lancelot's mimicking of Peter Allen in "His Name Is Lancelot"; the character of Sir Not Appearing in This Show being Don Quixote; a member of the French "army" dressed as Eponine from Les Misérables; and a line pulled from "Another Hundred People" from Stephen Sondheim's Company by the "damsel" Herbert. The song "You Won't Succeed (On Broadway)" also parodies The Producers and Yentl.

Among fellow Python members, the reviews are mixed. Terry Gilliam, in a recent audio interview, describes it as "Python-like". John Cleese, who is the recorded voice of God in the musical, is said to have liked it, though Michael Palin and Terry Jones have said that it doesn't hold up to Python's style. According to a New York Times article on the show published in 2005, Spamalot has somewhat contributed to the diversity of American musical theatre by bringing back the straight white male to audiences. It is not uncommon to see reunions of men's college fraternities and other groups that enjoyed watching Monty Python fare in college attending Spamalot on Broadway.

The West End version has opened to two rave reviews so far. "It’s a wonderful night, and I fart in the general direction of anyone who says otherwise" said Charles Spencer in The Daily Telegraph [2], "it leaves you that high and weak with laughter, thanks not just to the Python provenance of the basic material but to the phenomenal speed, wit, cheek and showbiz knowingness of the direction, which is by the great veteran, Mike Nichols" said Paul Taylor in The Independent [3]. Michael Billington in The Guardian was less enthusiastic though, stating "while I'm happy to see musicals spoofed, the show's New York origins are clearly exposed in a would-be outre number which announces "we won't succeed in show business if we don't have any Jews": a Broadway in-joke that has little purchase this side of the Atlantic.....With hand on heart, I'd much rather watch Lerner and Loewe's Camelot than Eric Idle's smart-arsed Spamalot." [4]

[edit] Awards

A sign at the Shubert Theatre advertising the show's Best Musical award.
Enlarge
A sign at the Shubert Theatre advertising the show's Best Musical award.

The original Broadway production received fourteen Tony Award nominations, more than any other show in the 2004–2005 season. It won three of them:

The production's eleven other nominations were:

The show's Tony Awards led to a minor change to the song "The Diva's Lament." Initially, the line "I've no Grammy, no reward/I've no Tony Award" became "My Tony Award/won't keep me out of Betty Ford's." When Kennedy took over for Ramirez, it became "All our Tony Awards/won't keep me out of Betty Ford's." In the touring production, Glenn sings "All our goddamn awards/won't keep me out of Betty Ford's."

The touring production has thus far garnered Boston's Elliot Norton Award for Outstanding Visiting Production.

[edit] Origin of the title

Idle explained the title in a February 2004 press release about the musical:

I like the title SPAMALOT a lot. We tested it with audiences on my recent US tour and they liked it as much as I did, which is gratifying. After all, they are the ones who will be paying Broadway prices to see the show. It comes from a line in the movie which goes: ‘we eat ham, and jam and Spam a lot.’

[edit] Publicity

On March 22, 2006, to mark the first anniversary of the official Broadway opening of the show, the "World's Largest Coconut Orchestra" (consisting of 1,789 people clapping together half coconut shells) performed in Shubert Alley, outside the theatre. The claim was officially recognised by the Guinness Book of World Records.

The April 30, 2006 episode of The Simpsons, Girls Just Want to Have Sums, featured a reference to Spamalot, as the family attended "Stab-A-Lot: The Itchy and Scratchy Musical", which was, in the main, a spoof of The Lion King. Hank Azaria (Sir Lancelot, Tim the Enchanter, etc.) is a cast member of The Simpsons.

[edit] Spamalot in other media

Portions of the Spamalot Original Cast Recording were featured (with accompanying Flash animation) as an extra in the 2006 HD-DVD release of Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

[edit] Songs

[edit] Act I

  1. "Overture"
  2. "Historian’s Introduction to Act I"
  3. "Finland / Fisch Schlapping Dance"
  4. "Monk’s Chant / He’s Not Yet Dead"
  5. "King Arthur's Song"
  6. "Come With Me"
  7. "Laker Girls Cheer"
  8. "The Song That Goes Like This"
  9. "He’s Not Yet Dead - Play Off"
  10. "All For One"
  11. "Knights of the Round Table / The Song That Goes Like This (Reprise)"
  12. "Find Your Grail"
  13. "Run Away!"
  14. "The Intermission"

[edit] Act II

  1. "Historian’s Introduction to Act II"
  2. "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life"
  3. "Brave Sir Robin"
  4. "You Won't Succeed On Broadway"
  5. "The Diva's Lament (Whatever Happened To My Part)"
  6. "Where Are You?"
  7. "His Name Is Lancelot"
  8. "I'm All Alone"
  9. "Twice In Every Show"
  10. "Act II Finale"
  11. "Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life (Company Bow)"


[edit] External links

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