GALLERY
BUY: Soundtrack CD / Book of piano and vocal selections / poster / t-shirt
PERFORMANCE
24 December 2004 – 16 January 2005:
Shubert Theatre, 18 W Monroe St, Chicago, IL
14 February 2005 – 2 April 2006:
Shubert Theatre, 225 West 44th St, New York, NY
CAST
Sir Lancelot, French Taunter, Knight of Ni, Tim the Enchanter … Hank Azaria (later Alan Tudyk)
Prince Herbert, Historian, Not Dead Fred … Christian Borle
Voice of God … John Cleese (recorded)
King Arthur … Tim Curry (later Simon Russell Beale)
Patsy … Michael McGrath
Sir Robin, Brother Maynard, Guard … David Hyde Pierce
Lady of the Lake … Sara Ramirez
Sir Bedevere, Concorde, Dennis’s Mother … Steve Rosen
Sir Galahad, Black Knight, Herbert’s Father … Christopher Sieber
SYNOPSIS
King Arthur (Curry), aided by the loyal Patsy (McGrath), coconut-rides his way round medieval England, searching for knights to help him locate the Holy Grail. Along the way he picks up Lance (Azaria) and Robin (DHP), two peasants who are transformed into the knights Sir Lancelot and Sir Robin. They are beset by many perils, including the ridiculously resilient Black Knight, knights who say “Ni!” and demand shrubberies, minstrels who sing too graphically of one’s own heroic death (“His head smashed in and his heart cut out and his liver removed and his bowels unplugged”), and not being able to stage a Broadway show due to a lack of Jews. In the end, everyone learns a valuable lesson about finding one’s personal Grail, and there’s a rousing chorus of Python staple ‘Always Look On the Bright Side of Life’.
A monster hit, this one. Based on the 1975 film Monty Python ad the Holy Grail, Spamalot was put together by Python Eric Idle with music by John Du Prez. It was directed by Mike Nichols with a star-powered original cast of Tim Curry, Hank Azaria, DHP and Sara Ramirez, and won the Best Musical Tony in 2006. Other luminaries to have had a stint in the show include Alan Tudyk, Harry Groener and Clay Aiken. It transferred to the West End with original cast members including Christopher Sieber. On Broadway, the show closed on 11 January 2009, after 35 previews and 1,574 performances. Phew.
DAVID’S ROLES
He mainly plays Sir Robin, “the not quite so brave as Sir Lancelot, who slew the vicious Chicken of Bristol, and who personally wet himself at the Battle of Baden Hill.” A lifelong Python fan, David commented that it was nerve-wracking playing the role originated by Eric Idle whilst Idle looked on. DHP’s Robin is more deadpan, and in a new plotline, turns out to be surprisingly knowledgable about musical theatre.
David also gets to play Brother Maynard, a guard and a few other small roles. Though DHP’s Maynard has a sinisterly hilarious way of gliding onstage, we marginally prefer Michael Palin’s original delivery of the Biblical tirade (though it’s probably best that David didn’t attempt a shrill impersonation).
CRITICAL RESPONSE
“Mr Pierce (famous as the neurotic Niles on the sitcom Frasier) appears to be having such a fine time that it seems impolite to observe that he is not a natural for this material. Still, in the role of the cowardly Sir Robin, he brings a genial Rex Harrison-style dapperness to a patter number about the importance of including Jews in any Broadway show.” - Ben Brantley, New York Times
“David Hyde Pierce plays several parts splendidly and is at his most droll as he listens nervously to Christian Borle singing about his impending heroism.” - Howard Kissel, New York Daily News
“David Hyde Pierce is a deadpan delight as the more fainthearted Sir Robin.” - Elysa Gardner, USA Today
“Pierce, portraying the cowardly knight Sir Robin (among others), underplays the comedy so slyly that you might not notice how meticulously he has modulated his performance.” – Gordon Cox, NewsDay.com
“David Hyde Pierce brings his choir boy absurdity to every soft-shoe number and Gregorian chant.” - Hedy Weiss, Chicago Sun-Times
“Pierce floats through the first act but warms up in the second, where he has a big song-and-dance, Tony-friendly number.” – Chris Jones, Variety
BEST BITS
- ‘Brave Sir Robin’. Christian Borle performs the song beautifully, and David makes tiny, horrified movements.
- ‘You Won’t Succeed On Broadway’ (if you don’t have any Jews). A showstopper if ever we heard one, and David gets to do it. His vamping at the piano is possibly the funniest, gayest thing we’ve ever seen.
- Arthur telling Brother Maynard to “skip a bit” (of his scripture reading) and Brother Maynard doing a gentle hop on the spot.
BEST LINES
Sir Robin: There’s a very small percentile who enjoys a dancing gentile.
[Line from 'You Won't Succeed On Broadway']
Brother Maynard: And Saint Attila raised the hand grenade up on high, saying, “O Lord, bless this thy hand grenade, that with it thou mayst blow thine enemies to tiny bits, in thy mercy.” And the Lord did grin. And the people did feast upon the lambs and sloths, and carp and anchovies, and orangutans and breakfast cereals … [and so on]
Back to THEATRE
