Spamalot Theatre Tickets
Palace Theatre Shaftesbury Avenue, London, UK W1D 5AY
Palace Theatre Shaftesbury Avenue, London, UK W1D 5AY
Spamalot a new musical lovingly ripped off from the motion picture Monty Python and the Holy Grail, starring Broadway cast member Tim Curry (The Rocky Horror Picture Show).
Lovingly ripped off from the classic film comedy Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Spamalot is the new musical directed by Oscar Winning Mike Nichols, with a book by the third tallest Python, Eric Idle, and an almost but not entirely new score by Eric Idle (no relation) and John du Prez.
| Venue: | Palace Theatre |
| Address: | Shaftesbury Avenue, London, UK W1D 5AY |
| Seating Plan: | View Seating Plan |
| Location Map: | View Location Map |
| Opened: | 02-Oct-2006 |
| Booking until: | 27-Sep-2008 |
| Performance Times: | Matinees: Friday 5:15pm and Saturday 3pm Evenings: Monday-Thursday, Saturday 8pm and Friday 8:30pm |
| Running Time: | 2hrs 20mins |
| Music: | Eric Idle and John Du Prez |
| Lyrics: | Eric Idle |
| Book: | Eric Idle |
| Director: | Mike Nichols |
| Lighting: | Hugh Vanstone |
| Sound: | Acme Sound Partners |
| Casts: | Tim Curry (Simon Russell Beale from Jan 2007), Hannah Waddingham, David Birrell, Tom Goodman-Hill, Robert Hands |
| Genre: | Musical |
"Lovingly
ripped off" from Monty Python And The Holy
Grail, Spamalot retells the story of King
Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table (one
of whom has to push the pram a lot). The classic
tale of a heroic hunt for the Holy Grail is
augmented with catapulted cows, bloodthirsty
rabbits, insulting French people and
gratuitously under-dressed showgirls.
Tim Curry, who starred as King Arthur when
Spamalot opened on Broadway, recreates his
role in this production. Curry is replaced from
January 2007 by Simon Russell Beale, who is
currently starring in the production on
Broadway.
Spamalot, which features book, lyrics
and music by the third tallest Python Eric Idle,
won the 2005 Tony Award for Best Musical and won
a Grammy Award for Best Musical Show Album.
"Spamalot''s infectious, irrepressible
energy is contagious!" Newsweek
Directed by Mike Nichols,
Eric Idle’s Spamalot was a runaway hit before the first performance even
began. The musical, based on the movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail,
is a souped-up, big budget musical packed with extensive production values and several
new songs. It is most successful, however, when it is faithful to the
original source material.
The story revolves around the legend of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round
Table. Tim Curry plays the hapless Arthur, who goes in search of the Holy Grail
and along the way finds disdainful Frenchmen, killer bunny rabbits, knights who
say “Ni" and other such wackiness. The
movie has been supplemented with some added bits and a bizarre storyline in
which the characters have been mandated to find Broadway, where the Holy Grail
now awaits. The second half of the show is spent in pursuit of the elusive
Broadway – in a yet undiscovered continent and several hundred years into the
future.
The added material doesn’t always work. The Camelot as Vegas bit (“What happens
in Camelot, stays in Camelot") is good for a few laughs, but the creation of a
long production number drains the scene of its initial hilarity. Conversely, the
funniest routine of the night features the gifted Christopher Sieber as a
frustrated father imprisoning his son with the help of two incompetent guards.
This classic “Who’s on First" skit actually gets funnier the longer it goes
on…and on...and on. Better that the
creators had stuck to the original sketches as Spamalot works best during
these vintage Python routines.
As Arthur, Curry is perfectly cast – he has a strong presence, a beautiful
baritone and manages to seem kingly and clueless at once. The Knights include an
uncharacteristically subdued Hank Azaria, as the outed Lancelot, and the
appealing David Hyde Pierce, making a successful Broadway debut as the cowardly
Sir Robin. The latter is particularly effective in “You Won’t Succeed on
Broadway," a soft-shoe number that shows off the TV actor’s theatrical chops.
But it is Sara Ramirez, as the Lady of the
While the show is uneven—some jokes do fall flat and some bits go completely
over the audience’s head—it ultimately doesn’t matter. The gags keep coming, one
after the other, and the ones that do hit their target are priceless. Armed with
a strong cast, brisk and dynamic direction by Nichols, and general outlandish
silliness, Spamalot will delight both devotees of Monty Python and
regular theatergoers in search of a much-needed escape into a madcap world where
they can always “look on the bright side of life."
Theatre Reviews
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