Review |
So you’re trying to break into a French castle, and you
create a large wooden rabbit. The French take it inside, and only then
do you remember you should have hidden inside it. Silly? Yes. But that
is the kind of things you expect if you are a fan of the comedy of Monty
Python.
Written by Python’s Eric Idle, Spamalot is
about King Arthur creating the Knights of the Round Table to find the
Holy Grail, but it is also about how to make a Broadway musical. Its
best song is just like the big number in all Broadway musicals; it’s
even called “A Song That Sounds Like This.” But someone says it can’t be
a Broadway show because “we don’t have any Jews.” Silly? Yes. And so
funny that the show won the Tony as Best Musical in 2005 and has played
in at least twenty countries.
Sutter Street Theatre has again done the impossible,
presenting this version with a cast of 22 playing at least 30 roles.
Genius director Connie Mockenhaupt has made it work, aided by the
magnificent accompaniment of John Wilder, the fantastic costumes by
Eileen Weaver, and the inventive choreography of Dian Hoel, who has
chorus girls and Can Can dancers invading every scene. Sutter Street is
at its best when doing musicals, and this show adds another jewel to its
crown.
The show opens with a historian, (Mike Jimena) reading
a history of medieval England. The cast thought he said “Finland,” and
perform a dance slapping each other with fish. When we’re back in
England we meet Robin (Michael Sandidge) collecting victims of the
plague. Lancelot (Derek Byrne) drags in a corpse (the rubber-faced Tom
Bost) who sings and dances to prove he’s “Not Dead Yet.”
King Arthur, played by Rick Kleber, whose rich
baritone will be remembered from last season’s “Guys and Dolls,” appears
accompanied by his servant Patsy (Mark Androvich), who claps two coconut
shells to sound like the hooves of his horse. Arthur is recruiting
knights for his quest, and Robin and Lancelot agree to join him. He soon
confronts a very left-wing peasant, Dennis Galahad (the hilarious Scott
Minor) who attacks Arthur for not being properly elected. Arthur bases
his claim to be ruler on the evidence of the sword Excalibur, and
conjures the Lady of the Lake (Allison Gilbreath) who gave him the
sword. She and her “Laker Girls” turn Dennis into Sir Galahad. God (a
voiceover) sends Arthur and his knights off on their holy quest.
Act Two continues along the same silly lines including
a meeting with the terrifying Knights who say Ni, who demand that Arthur
produce a shrubbery. The Lady of the Lake reappears, complaining that
she hasn’t been seen in this act, singing “Whatever Happened to My
Part?”
There are too many more subplots to describe here, and
sight gags pop up in every corner. If you think that silly can be
terrific fun, you must see this show, which I predict will be selling
out every performance. The show ends as “a show that ends like this,” a
wedding, and an audience sing along with the cast. |