Spamalot
Opening Night: November 16, 2023
Theater: St James Theatre
Website: spamalotthemusical.com
Spamalot, the musical comedy lovingly ripped off from the film classic, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, returns to Broadway for the first time ever, following a record-breaking sold-out run at The Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. Everything that makes a great knight in the theatre is here, from flying cows to killer rabbits, British royalty to French taunters, dancing girls, rubbery shrubbery, and of course, the Lady of the Lake.
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November 16, 2023
Throughout, Rhodes has encouraged the cast to personalize the material and, in many cases, enhance it. Taran Killam, expert as Lancelot and several of the quirkiest supporting characters, gives the French taunter not only the requisite outrageous accent but also a raspberry aria worthy of Mozart.
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November 17, 2023
In this new staging, director-choreographer Josh Rhodes squeezes every drop of talent out of his all-star cast of comedy heavy hitters.
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November 16, 2023
Spamalot opens on Broadway tonight, and it’s safe to say the Middle Ages haven’t been this funny since, well, the last time Spamlot opened on Broadway nearly 20 years ago. Perfectly cast and splendidly performed, with Josh Rhodes’ deceptively no-frills direction (and choreography) placing the irresistible goings-on front and center, the revival has lost none of the smart-dumb charm of either the original musical or its great source of inspiration – the beloved 1975 film Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
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November 16, 2023
Spamalot, first seen on Broadway in 2005, is back—and the good news is the really good silly bits of this parody of Arthurian legend are just as good-silly as they always were. But the bits that felt dated have only become more dated; one a song about Jews running Broadway at this moment sounds not just dated but also weird in this politically vexed moment (especially with a huge, glittering Star of David), the other is a rousing hymn to gay pride for Sir Lancelot (Taran Killam), which is discordantly beamed in from another era.
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November 16, 2023
My reaction to its new and updated—if still slightly dated—Broadway revival, directed and choreographed with flair by Josh Rhodes, is more affectionate.
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November 16, 2023
So I was curious to see if Monty Python’s Spamalot, a musical comedy that debuted on Broadway during the second Bush administration, based on a beloved movie released during the incidental reign of Gerald Ford, has a shelf life longer than its namesake canned pork product. The answer is yes, thanks largely to an excellent cast of consummate comedians and a script that derives its humor from the timelessly absurd. It’s still safe to eat, even if certain bites might taste a little off.
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November 16, 2023
So, fine, it’s not for me. The cast is clearly having a good time – though only Ethan Slater, swapping through multiple characters, as well as Kritzer, Walker, and especially Killam tap into the all-out comedy the work requires. And the audience? Well, their holy grail was promised and delivered, without much work to obtain it.
READ THE REVIEWNovember 16, 2023
But within just a few blissful minutes any reservations were vanquished. In fact the arrival of this production, blazing like a burst of summer sunshine as winter draws near, seems perfectly timed.
READ THE REVIEWNovember 16, 2023
Idle’s comic genius remains entirely evident here and he and Du Prez came up with the kind of brassy, swirling score that screamed Big Night Out On Broadway, even as it lampooned everything from scantily clad choruses to divas devolving in Act Two.
READ THE REVIEWNovember 16, 2023
The other strength of Spamalot is that it gives every one of its principal cast members a chance to shine. And shine they do.
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November 16, 2023
The mustiness now is downright allergy-inducing. One visual reference to “Man of La Mancha” delivered not a laugh at the preview I attended, but then, it has been a while since TCM aired the movie version.
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