I tried several times to buy tickets for Spamalot while it was showing on Broadway while in NYC but it was always sold out. So I was really looking forward to seeing the show in my own home town. I was not disappointed-I was thoroughly entertained by the Fulton production. I was delighted by the numerous cute costume changes, the perfect timing of the dialogue with the sound effects, and the inventive way of signifying world travel while staying in the Monty Python theme.
The casting of the show was perfect. It was uncanny how King Arthur’s side kick looked exactly like Monty Python stage character from decades ago. Several of actors showed remarkable versatility by playing one character like one of the King Arthur’s knights then after a quick costume change appear preciously in form as another character. In the quest for the grail King Arthur and his men become so side-tracked that they forget the quest and the purpose of the quest. These side-tracks were so entertaining that as a member of the audience I forgot completely about the quest for the Holy Grail as well. I just loved the wonderful costume changes of the ensemble during these side-tracks and as well as the other aesthetics of the side-track scenes. The overacting (isn’t this a line from the show), murdering of vocals, and the obnoxious characters doing obnoxious jesters absolutely enhanced the delivery of the show. In fact, the actors had great fun intentionally overacting, over vocalizing songs, or being totally obnoxious that the actors were very inspired to their very best in this production. The perfect timing of every element of show from the special sound effects, the orchestra, vocals, dialogue, and dead pan jokes enhanced the delivery of the production. The only thing that I would like to see is a more elaborate stage but this does not make sense to put more money into the set when it only runs for several weeks.
I read many reviews that said this is a roll in your seat comedy. I did not roll in my seat because I did not want to miss anything. The cast did not pause very long for the howling audience simply because they did not want to lose momentum. Poor King Arthur had to deal to so many nincompoops along the way that I felt as though he should burst into song his own rendition of The Wizard of OZ song “If THEY only had a brain”. The show is remarkably funny but I did not want to miss stimulus to my other senses. Spamalot was such a high quality presentation that I did not want to be laughing my head off so hard that I missed a single thing.
Since only five regional theatres have the rights to produce Spamalot and the Fulton has done such a good job producing this show, I feel that you are nuts not to take advantage of seeing this show locally (not to mention you will not be exposed to bed bugs here). Previous exposure to vintage Monty Python, Benny Hill, or British humor recommended but not required to have a deeper appreciation of the show. I would get tickets soon if you do not have tickets already since I think there will be a lot of sold out nights due to the quality of the this production.
