A welcome from the Artistic Director. A roomy, yet very intimate
little theater space. Not a bad seat in the house. Very cozy.
Clever animations, a la Terry Gilliam...
...featuring likenesses of the actual cast members. Clever idea!
House lights dimming, overture playing. Great sound system.
Curtain up! Our adventurers, preparing for their quest to recover the Holy Grail:
Sir
Bedevere, Sir Robin, King Arthur, servant Patsy, Sir Lancelot, Sir Galahad.
(Cowardly Sir Robin is played by Marsha's sister's occasional next door neighbor.)
The Knights Who Say "NI!" demand the party bring them a (suitable) shrubbery.
Arthur and The Lady Of The Lake (a watery tart who distributes blades...)
She bestowed kingship upon him by giving him Excalibur, his royal sword.
This actress had one of the most impressive voices I've ever heard onstage.
Helluva set of pipes. She's also a vocal coach and speech therapist. Superb!
"Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life!"
Patsy and Arthur refuse to be discouraged.
Tim The Enchanter. Also The Lady Of The Lake--
most of the cast played double or triple roles.
Tim warns the party that Death is coming for them-- with big, nasty, pointy teeth!
The Rabbit of Caerbannog. Deceptively cute, aye-- but right deadly!
After a lengthy reading of the rules governing the proper use of
the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch, the evil bunny is dispatched.
A suitable shrubbery is secured. (Note the presence of coconuts on the potted palm.)
Sad Herbert is terribly lonely. His father wants to marry him off-- without song.
Lancelot kills a number of people and rescues Herbert.
Turns out they're both gay, and romance is instantaneous...
...which sparks this hysterical, Village People-like celebration.
They get married-- as do Arthur and The Lady Of The Lake.
The Grail is discovered beneath the seat of an audience member named Joe.
He's called to the stage and presented with an "Arthur" award for the meritorious
audience service he's provided, in having safeguarded the precious and holy relic.
This bit of business happens in every show, it seems, and the crowd LOVES it.
Grail found, couples happily joined, deadly rabbit snuffed, shrubbery presented,
rude Frenchmen snubbed, and everybody's happy. Finale, and the cast takes a bow.
This actress --one of the ensemble-- had few lines, but stole every scene
she was part of, merely through her facial expressions. She was a hoot!
Probably my favorite ensemble member was this young gal. She had only a handful of lines, and sang with the chorus for some of the musical numbers, but her sheer exuberance and obvious delight in being onstage were impossible to overlook. She caught my eye in every scene she was part of by her sheer joy. Reminds me somewhat of my niece, Caitlin. Quite lovely! |
We enjoyed the show far more than I'd anticipated-- despite knowing nearly all the jokes. I've seen MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL several times, so was prepared and familiar with most of the content.
SPAMALOT added material to the source film, though, and borrowed from other of their films, and their old routines-- as well as having new content which was created solely for the stage musical. "YOU WON'T SUCCEED ON BROADWAY" for instance, the hysterically funny number about needing Jews in your cast and crew if you hoped for any chance of putting on a successful show, was completely new to me, as was the Village People dance number. Plenty of good laughs.
A highly amusing evening. A fine show, uniformly good performances from the cast, high energy, plenty of zany exuberance, and some really standout turns from the Arthur, Lancelot, Patsy, Lady Of The Lake, Robin and Herbert characters. |
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