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London Review
London ReviewMonty Python’s Spamalot
I’m not dead! . . . Not Dead— Fred.
"Art constantly aspires towards the condition of the musical," as Walter Pater would have said if he’d seen Spamalot. This may not be the funniest show in town — I haven’t seen all of them to claim that — but it probably is. Perhaps the Pythons took a deep breath when Eric Idle floated the idea of turning The Holy Grail into a musical, but he and his team have done them — and us— proud. There is little to add to my learned friend’s review, except to say that Arthur is now played by Simon Russell Beale and Graham McDuff takes over as Sir Denis Galahad. Russell Beale – star Shakespearean and Stoppardian that he is - shows he can let his hair down to romp and hoof with the best of them. His Arthur whose genial, bemused uncle figure masks the formidable technique needed to anchor the lunacy swirling around the stage. He may not have the hint of bright-eyed dementia I suspect Tim Currie brought to the role and thus be too good-natured to stand in the way of the awesomely talented Hannah Waddingham’s bid for world supremacy. If she carries on at this rate she will be Queen of the Universe by Christmas and we’ll all have to bow down and worship her. There are worse fates… And Andrew Lloyd-Webber is a good sport to let himself be sent up so mercilessly in his own theatre. For more details see Lizzie Loveridge's review, which also has a link to the New York review. CURRENT PRODUCTION NOTES FOR MONTY PYTHON’S SPAMALOT Book and Lyrics by Eric Idle Music by John du Prez and Eric Idle Directed by Mike Nichols Starring: Simon Russell Beale, Hannah Waddingham, Graham MacDuff, David Birrell, Tom Goodman-Hill, Robert Hands, Darren Southworth, Tony Timberlake With: Krystal Archer, Karen Aspinall, Ben Clare, Brendan Cull, Ross Dawes, Stuart Dawes, Rachel Dempsey, Craig Els, Mark Evans, Amy Field, Rebecca Giacopazzi, Emma Green, Simon Greiff, Selina Hamilton, Amber Neale, Amy Ellen Richardson, Andrew Spillett, Gavin Staplehurst, Sebastian Sykes, Luzahnn Tayler, Nathan Taylor Design: Tim Hatley Lighting: Hugh Vanstone Sound: Acme Sound Partnerships Hair and Wig Design by David Brian Brown Musical Supervisor: Todd Ellison Orchestrations by Larry Hochman Musical Director: Michael England Projection Design by Elaine J McCarthy Choreography by Casey Nicholaw Running time: Two hours twenty minutes with one interval Box Office: 0870 895 5579 Booking at the Palace Theatre to 26th May 2007 Reviewed by Lizzie Loveridge based on 16th October 2006 performance at the Palace Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue, London W1 (Tube: Leicester Square) |
The Original London review by Lizzie Loveridge
(The Broadway review)
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We're knights of the round table
We dance when ere we're able We do routines and chorus scenes With footwork impecc-able We dine well here in Camelot We eat ham and jam and spam a lot. . ---- The Knights |
David Birrell as Patsy and Tim Curry as King Arthur
(Photo: Catherine Ashmore) |
Tim Curry opens as King Arthur (to be replaced in the role in January 2007 by Simon Russell Beale) and his jogging entrance on presumed horseback with coconut shells cannot fail to raise a smile. What we have here is a very expensive musical cutting corners on special effects, such as horses, as a very good joke. Curry is of course a trooper and has chosen to play his Arthur very low key and without any royal pomp and ceremony. It is unexpected and rather dotty. His big number "I’m All Alone" ignoring the ever present servant Patsy (David Birrell) is a comic delight, but it seems that King Arthur is driven by absent mindedness rather than arrogance. Hannah Waddingham plays the Lady of the Lake. She is very tall and has a huge voice to match which she puts to great effect in the "The Song That Goes Like This" that quintessential tune which every theatregoer can remember. In "The Diva’s Lament" (Waddingham’s Monopoly?) when our heroine feels that she has been offstage too long, she enforces her return to centre stage taking no prisoners. Ms Waddingham also can do comedy while reaching high notes and is well cast.
I liked too Robert Hands as the delicate, effeminate, shrinking violet Prince Robin. Robert Hands has years of acting experience, some of it with Edward Hall’s Propeller, before we realised he could sing in the relaunch of Mamma Mia!. He is a naturally comic actor and very well cast in a silly, silly part and I predict may receive some nominations in the awards early in 2007. His slow descent into crestfallen as he faces up to the various terrible fates awaiting him is masterly and affecting. Tom Goodman-Hill doubles as gay Sir Lancelot and the French taunter and is obviously enjoying his roles. Christopher Sieber, reprising his Broadway role, as the unlikely named Sir Dennis Galahad has the show’s best switch from peasant zero to long haired shampoo advert hero.
The jokes are cheesy, groanworthy puns in scenes like the dismembered upper limbs being collected by one crying "Alms for the poor!". Some original Monty Pythonese survives, peasants versed in the rhetoric of Marxist dialectics and the merciless lambasting of the hated French with schoolboy insults, and of course the ridiculous "Trojan Rabbit, a harbinger of the Killer Rabbit. "You Won’t Succeed if You Don’t Have Any Jews is taking that humour and applying it to the New York market which almost embarrassed Londoners. Who could fail to identify with the poor peasant, Not Dead Fred (Darren Southworth) bundled on the plague cart and who sings I’m Not Dead Yet.
The tunes may not be sparklingly original but they are all pleasantly derivative rip offs, jaunty and easy on the ear, but I have a feeling that its music is not the primary reason why audiences will want to see Spamalot. The audience turn the familiar "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" into a show stopping singalong while Tim Curry delivers it as deeply ironic. Waddingham’s range is amazing as she drops octaves the way other actresses drop their . . . . accents. The sets have that tackiness that reminds one of the original Python shows, the giant foot animation squelch routine with the voice of the now deified John Cleese. The castle lights up in neon rainbow, day glo changing colours like the most florid Disney castle.
For a review of the original production in New York, which I entirely endorse, and with a full list of song titles, go here review.
The origin of the word Spamalot was in trying to find a rhyme for Camelot. We are told that Spam is sold in 41 countries and that the largest consumers after the United States are the United Kingdom and South Korea. While one is fun, I do hope that Spamalot doesn’t spawn legions of imitators. A quick count up of the West End reveals that musicals are currently outstripping plays at twenty-three productions to sixteen.
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MONTY PYTHON’S SPAMALOT
Book and Lyrics by Eric Idle Music by John du Prez and Eric Idle Directed by Mike Nichols Starring: Tim Curry, Hannah Waddingham, Christopher Sieber, David Birrell, Tom Goodman-Hill, Robert Hands, Darren Southworth, Tony Timberlake With: Krystal Archer, Ben Clare, Brendan Cull, Ross Dawes, Stuart Dawes, Rachel Dempsey, Craig Els, Mark Evans, Amy Field, Rebecca Giacopazzi, Emma Green, Simon Greiff, Selina Hamilton, Amber Neale, Amy Ellen Richardson, Andrew Spillett, Gavin Staplehurst, Sebastian Sykes, Luzahn Tayler, Nathan Taylor Design: Tim Hatley Lighting: Hugh Vanstone Sound: Acme Sound Partnerships Hair and Wig Design by David Brian Brown Musical Supervisor: Todd Ellison Orchestrations by Larry Hochman Musical Director: Michael England Projection Design by Elaine J McCarthy Choreography by Casey Nicholaw Running time: Two hours twenty minutes with one interval Box Office: 0870 895 5579 Booking at the Palace Theatre to 26th May 2007 Reviewed by Lizzie Loveridge based on 16th October 2006 performance at the Palace Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue, London W1 (Tube: Leicester Square) |
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