SPAMALOT—THE MUSICAL
By Gary ‘Ni’ Murray
Starring Steve McCoy, Glen Giron, Martin Glyer, Adam Grabau, Jacob L. Smith and Caroline Bowman
Book and lyrics by Eric Idle
Music by John Du Prez and Eric Idle
Directed by Mike Nichols
It is hard to believe that Monty Python is pushing toward fifty. The original shows still hold together rather well and the movies still generate chuckles. Though the members of the troop are elder statesmen of comedy, they are also cherished individuals. With the death of Graham Chapman, the guys will never grace the stage as a collective.
But, Monty Python still lives.
Eric Idle has taken their most famous work Monty Python and the Holy Grail and turned it into Spamalot. The play has all the fun of those British masters of mirth but without the cast members.
The play opens with a historian (Thomas DeMarcus) explaining the back story of both Arthur and England at the time. But, in the first number is a bunch of Finnish singers and dancers singing the “Fisch Schlapping Song”. It is an ensemble piece with flashy costumes and well, fish slapping. Then our historian says, “I said England, not Finland.” And so the play begins.
King Arthur and his faithful servant Patsy ride into stage, cocoanuts clapping (just like in the movie). We get the same opening as the film, with a discussion of how Arthur got the cocoanuts.
At the beginning of the play Arthur (Steve McCoy) just didn’t seem on his A game. His voice didn’t project and he looked a little lost on stage. As the play went on, he dominated as the male voice in the show. His savior was Glen Giron who played Patsy. Not only was he a perfect comic foil, he brought an energy to the proceedings seldom matched by the rest of the cast.
They go to a village and the first show stopper “I’m Not Dead Yet” The lead dead guy (John Garry) is a manic dancer and explosive stage performance. He just swiped every moment he was on the boards.
We get to The Mud Village and the big production numbers of “Come with Me” and “The Song that Goes Like This”. Caroline Bowman who plays the Lady of the Lake has one of the most powerful voices one will ever experience. There are not enough words in my superlative thesaurus to describe how she captures the audience with her performance. If Caroline Bowman isn’t a huge Broadway star in the next few years, there is something wrong in NYC.
Another expansive bit of Act One is the “Knights of the Round Table” tune that turns Camelot onto Vegas. It has sexy girls and wild colors building up to a reprise of “The Song That Goes Like This” now turned into a lounge act with the Lady of the Lake giving a super diva performance in a sparkled gown.
The second half of the lay takes place in ‘A Very Expensive Forest’ and a major turn away from the film. Patsy and Arthur sing “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life” a song from Life of Brian. It is arguably the most known Python song and fits perfectly into the madness.
The biggest moment from Act II is Arthur singing “I’m All Alone” with Patsy by his side. This turns into a touching ballad with just enough silliness to drive us to the end and the “Find Your Grail Finale”.
All of the famous movie scenes (except Castle Anthrax, the Witch/Duck Logic and The Old Man at the Bridge) are in the play, though some not in the places they are in the movie and some rewritten for the hard boards. It is not a complaint, just an observation that it is not a literal translation of the movie. And we get an ending that makes sense (finally). The stage has all the whistles and bells of a big time Broadway extravaganza.
The last time this musical came to town, I claimed that is was the funniest thing ever to hit the Great White Way. That opinion has not changed. Borrow money from a loan shark, sell a kidney or roll a senior citizen in the park to get the money to see this show. It should not be missed at all.
