 | 18 July 2009 Accessibility help Text only |
|
|
| BBC Homepage | | |
| |||
| Contact Us Like this page? Send it to a friend! | | |
ReviewsYou are in: London > Entertainment > Theatre > Reviews > First night: Monty Python's Spamalot  Tim Curry heads the Spamalot cast First night: Monty Python's SpamalotPalace Theatre Our critic Mark Shenton re-visits the court of King Arthur in search of a musical Holy Grail... Though the story of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table has already produced one legendary (but frankly dull) Broadway musical, Camelot, this version fortunately isn't. Instead, "lovingly ripped off" from Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Spamalot is a current Broadway hit now making a welcome and uproarious return trip home, in the swiftest transfer for any New York show in years.
But though set in 932 AD, this is very much a big, irreverent spectacle, equal parts adult comic panto and Vegas-style floorshow musical. It filters the quintessentially silly English humour of the Pythons through the self-referential lens of the Broadway musical itself, which it seeks to skewer with equal delight and abandon as it recreates scenes from the film with skilled, comic fidelity. The most obvious influence is a desire to emulate the success of the 2001 Broadway transposition of another legendary comic film, The Producers. And just as that show gloriously re-established the credentials of musical comedy, so Spamalot's intentions are to crudely - and sometimes rudely - make you laugh. scene-stealerIf some of the satire of the all-singing, all-dancing pastiche lacks punch and subtlety, there's no doubting the polish with which it is put across. Tim Curry, the original Frank 'n' Furter from The Rocky Horror Show, makes a rare return to the London stage to recreate his Broadway turn as King Arthur, and even if he's so laid back that his hooded eyes look virtually asleep, he leads a stellar ensemble that includes Tom Goodman-Hill as Sir Lancelot, who discovers his inner gay, and Christopher Sieber as Sir Dennis Galahad.  Python stars came to the first night And Hannah Waddingham, in the underwritten but generously well-upholstered role of the Lady in the Lake (whose virtual disappearance from the second act is well referenced in her Diva's Lament on her perfunctory return), is a scene-stealer every time she appears. The show also gives you an irrepressible, ultimately irresistible replay of all the favourite moments from the film. Bring out Your Dead and The Knights of Ni are included here, as are the killer rabbit and the inevitable coconut shells, pressed into double service both as horses hooves and a tap-dancing click track. Spamalot is at the Palace Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue W1. Tickets: £15 - £60. Box office: 0870 895 5579. Booking to 26 May 2007last updated: 02/05/2008 at 14:10 Have Your Say
John
Sarah
Pat
Helen
Gillian
julie ann
Louise
Sarah
Dan
Claudia Redmond You are in: London > Entertainment > Theatre > Reviews > First night: Monty Python's Spamalot 
|
| | About the BBC | Help | Terms of Use | Privacy & Cookies Policy |
