'' is a comedic
Musical based on the film ''
Monty Python And The Holy Grail '' (1975). Like the film, it is a highly irreverent and very silly mockery 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 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, the
Black Knight and the
Knights Of Ni .
The original cast includes
Tim Curry as King Arthur,
Michael McGrath as Patsy,
David Hyde Pierce as Sir Robin,
Hank Azaria as Sir Lancelot and other roles (including the French Taunter and Tim the Enchanter),
Christopher Sieber as Sir Galahad (and two other roles heavily concealed), and
Sara Ramirez as the Lady of the Lake. It also includes
Christian Borle as Prince Herbert 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.
Azaria and Pierce are contractually committed to the show until April 2006.
Previews of the show began in
Chicago's Shubert Theatre on
December 21 , 2004; the show officially opened there on
January 9 , 2005 and was practically sold-out. It previewed on
Broadway , also at the 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 national tour of the musical commenced on March 7, 2006, running through April 15 at the
Colonial Theater in
Boston .
The touring production then moves to the
Cadillac Palace Theatre in
Chicago (April 19, 2006 - June 4, 2006) and then to the
National Theater in
Washington, DC (June/July 2006). 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 failed production of ''
Avenue Q ''.
Announced on 20 January 2006, a London production will open at the
Palace Theatre on
Shaftesbury Avenue , commencing 2 October 2006 (London premiere 16 October) with tickets on sale from 21 February 2006, booking to 30 March 2007. Tim Curry will reprise his Broadway role as King Arthur until December with
Simon Russell Beale taking over from January. Hannah Waddingham will play the Lady of the Lake and Tim Goodman-Hill will play Lancelot, with further casting to be announced.
The original production has been both a financial and critical success. ''
Variety '' reported advanced tickets sales of $18 million, with ticket prices ranging from $36 to $101. The advance broke Broadway box office history.
Monty Python fans appreciate its many references to the film and other material in the Python
Canon , including a line from "
The Lumberjack Song ", nods to the
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 "Fish 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)".
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 '', the Laker Girls doing a dance reminiscent of
West Side Story (complete with music), Azaria'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 Sondheim's ''
Company '' by the "damsel" Herbert. The song "You Won't Succeed (On Broadway)" also parodies ''
The Producers '', ''
Yentl '', and other Jewish-related shows.
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 original Broadway production received fourteen
Tony Award nominations, more than any other show in the 2004-2005 season. It won three of them:
- Best Musical
- Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical (Sara Ramirez)
- Best Direction of a Musical (Mike Nichols)
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 rewards/I've no Tony Awards" became "My Tony Awards/won't keep me out of
Betty Ford's ." When Kennedy took over for Ramirez, it became "I've no Grammy, no rewards/Where's Tony Award."
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.’
On 22 March 2006, to mark the one year anniversary of the official Broadway opening of the show, the "World's Largest Coconut Orchestra" (consisting of 1,789 people clapping together two halves of a coconut shell) performed in Shubert Alley, outside the theatre. The claim was officially recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records.
The Musical", also a spoof of
The Lion King .
Hank Azaria (Sir Lancelot, Tim the Enchanter, etc.) coincidently is a regular cast member of
The Simpsons , primarily as
Moe Szyslak , the
Bartender .
#"Fisch Schlapping Song"
#"King Arthur's Song"
#"I Am Not Dead Yet"
#"Come With Me"
#"Laker Girls Cheer"
#"The Song That Goes Like This"
#"All For One"
#"Knights of the Round Table"
#"Song That Goes Like This (Reprise)"
#"Find Your Grail"
#"Run Away!"
#"Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life"
#"Brave Sir Robin"
#"You Won't Succeed On Broadway"
#"The Diva's Lament"
#"Where Are You?"
#"Here Are You"
#"His Name Is Lancelot"
#"I'm All Alone"
#"The Song That Goes Like This (Reprise)"
#"The Holy Grail"
#"Find Your Grail Finale - Medley"
#"Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life (Sing Along Reprise/Cast Bow)"
