By Sarah Marshak
North Broward Prep
Posted January 19, 2007
The national tour of Monty Python's Spamalot is just as witty and irreverent as one imagines it would be. "Lovingly ripped off from" Monty Python and the Holy Grail (and with various bits from Life of Brian and other Python skits), Spamalot is filled with lots of inside jokes for loyal Python fans yet remains wholly accessible -- and hilarious -- for those who have yet to be exposed to Monty Python's insane humor. Eric Idle's hilarious songs and script bring Monty Python's humor to an entirely new level, and this production's fantastic cast does wonders with the material.
Michael Siberry's King Arthur retains all the charm of Tim Curry's originating performance without the self-assured mugging, and he handles the material in a brilliantly understated manner. Pia Glenn's vocal acrobatics are absolutely stunning, and her spectacular soprano is showcased beautifully as the Lady of the Lake.
Also worthy of mention are Robert Petkoff, who, as Sir Robin, gets one of the best songs in the entire show with You Won't Succeed on Broadway, and Anthony Holds, whose The Song That Goes Like This lampoons Andrew Lloyd Webber in a savagely brilliant way. Jeff Dumas is a serviceable Patsy, while Christopher Sutton's Prince Herbert is simply hysterical.
The main problem with Spamalot lies not with the production itself, but rather in the audience. At one performance, far too many audience members disregarded the fact that they were at a professional theater production, singing along with songs and spoiling jokes before scenes even began. Just because both productions originally starred Tim Curry does not mean that Spamalot is akin to The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Save your sing-alongs for your in-home viewings of Holy Grail; the rest of the audience paid to hear professionals perform, not their fellow audience members.
The energy of this production never falters and actually hits fever-pitch in the second act, and there are no true flaws with the casting or the play itself. Spamalot is definitely not just for Python fans, and it even contains a lot of inside jokes for theatergoers, hilariously satirizing shows like The Phantom of the Opera and Les Misérables. If you expect Sondheim-level artistry, this probably isn't the show for you, but if you accept Spamalot for what it proudly is -- two hours of deranged fun -- you won't be disappointed.
