paul's Broadway Watch - Spamalot

Monty PythonÂ’s Spamalot

Music by John DuPrez and Eric Idle
Book and Lyrics by Eric Idle
Directed by Mike Nicholls

Featuring: Tim Curry, Hank Azaria and David Hyde Pierce

Opened 17th March 2005


Extracts from various reviewers:

“What's that rumbling sound emanating from West 44th Street? Is it an audience going wild over the latest Main Stem hit? Is it two African swallows furiously beating their wings in an attempt to transport a coconut? Or is it the musical theatre art form being crushed under the unsupportable weight of an industry that doesn't care what it puts on? “
“The answer: all of the above.”
“…if your idea of a musical is nothing more than seeing scenes and jokes you already know by heart being acted out onstage, then you'll undoubtedly love Spamalot to the high heavens, and overlook the unnecessary and negligible ornamentations that Idle and Du Prez have provided.”
“But if you think a musical should be more than that, you're out of luck.”
“The more American humor plays better: The show's primary highlight is "You Won't Succeed on Broadway," sung when the knights learn they'll have to put on a musical to find the Grail (don't ask); it takes a series of amusing if predictable shots at Jewish contributions to the theatre, complete with klezmer music and a bottle dance with grails.”
“Of the performers, Christian Borle receives well-deserved laughs as an exposition-spewing historian, but practically everyone else walks through their roles… Also inexplicably lost is rising star Ramirez… Her big solo, the unfunny "The Diva's Lament" in the second act, finds her complaining that she has nothing good to do in the show. I share in that sorrow.”
“Of course, Monty Python fans will be in hysterics when they hear the words "Bring out your dead" accompanied by the sight of a truck stacked with presumed corpses. Lovers of Broadway musicals must be forgiven for not joining in their revelry; they're likely only to see their once cherished art form rotting on the cart.”
Talkin’ Broadway – Matthew Murray


“Having enjoyed Monty Python's Spamalot, I can say that I've seen the immediate future of musical comedy, and it's the past. This laff-a-minute show, which is really a series of sketches on a related theme, continues the trend that tuner purveyors have recently been following with determination: They're reinserting the word "comedy" in the phrase "musical comedy" and merrily regressing from there.”
“Skipping through the comically addled proceedings are top-billed (but not over-the-title) Tim Curry as a nonplused King Arthur, David Hyde Pierce as a timid knight, and Hank Azaria as a Lancelot with sexual-identity challenges. Billed below them but no less delighfully goofy are Christopher Sieber as a vain Galahad, Michael McGrath as Arthur's put-upon servant "Patsy," and Christian Borle as the effeminate son of a gruff laird. As an ensemble, most of them doubling with aplomb, they're as effective as the silly sextet that originally populated The Producers.”
“The storyline of the show isn't truly a storyline. Rather, it's an excuse for librettist-lyricist-composer Eric Idle (who is far from idle) to dispense routines ranging in subject matter from avian aerodynamics to flatulence. Working with co-composer John Du Prez, Idle spoofs aged-in-wood musical comedy conceits, just as the source material knocks certain film conventions.”
“Since Spamalot derives its drive from situation gags rather than dramatic thrust, its effectiveness relies on the tightness of each sequence. As a result, the show's second half -- highlighted by David Hyde Pierce's "You Won't Succeed on Broadway" -- flags… The slackening of the writing does begin to dampen the show, but not enough to let it be forgot that once there was a spot with many shining moments that was known as Spamalot.”
Theatermania – David Finkle


“The killer rabbit makes an appearance in Spamalot, along with the flatulent Frenchman and the head-banging monks. But something is missing from this frequently enjoyable, relentlessly on-message conflation of Monty Python shtick with Broadway razzmatazz.”
“The blend of star appeal, Python pedigree and a handful of decent gags might well be enough to make Spamalot a runaway hit… That alchemic combination of old material and new stagecraft, however, rarely takes place.”
“Much of the movie remains intact: From the Knights Who Say "Ni" to the holy hand grenade, the essential sketches are presented almost verbatim. A rudimentary romance between King Arthur (Tim Curry) and the Lady of the Lake (Sara Ramirez) has been added, though, and several of the knights have more material to work with. Spamalot also bothers to come up with an ending, unlike Holy Grail. (The two do share an unfortunate weakness for opening gags about Finland.)”
“Nichols has also been asked to stage several daunting visual effects from the movie, and he's particularly successful with the airborne cow and ferocious rabbit. (Hatley's sets and Hugh Vanstone's tantalizing lighting share the credit here.) The sequence involving a fearless and increasingly limbless knight also gets a thoughtful restaging. Nichols has less luck pushing choreographer Casey Nicholaw to go deeper than the show's Susan Stroman-lite dance sequences.”
“The capable chorus is responsible for much of the dancing, giving Curry, David Hyde Pierce and Hank Azaria a chance to rest before the next Python sketch. This blue-chip trio leads a hardy group of comic actors by goofy example: Curry's plummy baritone and Azaria's chameleonic mimicry are no surprise, but Pierce displays a nimble song-and-dance flair (including some solid piano skills) that make the most of the show's would-be Act II showstopper, "You Won't Succeed on Broadway."”
“But Spamalot is, to a surprising degree, an ensemble show. Christopher Sieber comes off best among the secondary leads, particularly as an increasingly exasperated father, and Christian Borle and Michael McGrath also have their moments… Ramirez, who plays all the female roles, has been hailed as a scene stealer since Day 1 of its out-of-town tryout, and while it's true that she dazzles throughout, the effort in doing so is transparent. The show all but demands that the audience adore her, and her abundant vocal and comedic gifts are compromised as a result.”
“The audience seems to divide into two camps: A good number begin tittering at the mere suggestion of a favorite Python skit and laugh equally loudly at all of the punch lines, even though some are executed very well and others haphazardly. (The same thing happens with children at Beauty and the Beast.)”
“The other faction grins politely through the Python material and perks up for the West Side Story and Fiddler parodies. The two groups find equal satisfaction once in a rare while, as when a dance break makes witty use of the clip-clopping coconuts from Holy Grail. But for the most part, the "Spam Song" fans and the "Camelot" fans only find genuine synthesis in the show's title.”
“Spamalot generates an awful lot of smiles and a decent number of giggles. And that's more than a lot of musicals can say. But Nichols, Idle, Pierce and Azaria are capable of laughs--big, satisfying, infectious belly laughs--and those are few and far between. As the Pythons famously reminded us in song, it's important to always look on the bright side of life, no matter what. It's just a bit surprising that Spamalot, with its advance hype and dreamy cast, would require anyone to do any looking.”
Broadway.Com – Eric Grode


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