Spamalotis both a parody and a send-up of a parody that puts down theatrical versions of the Arthurian legend. Mostly, it comes from Monty Python’s film about the search for the Holy Grail and adds musical trappings that satirize it and musicals per se. From the start, with a historian pointing on a map to medieval England, everything goes wrong. The dancers who come from behind the map are in modern Holland but Disneyish Dutch dress.
Soon Arthur, who received Excalibur, the sword that signified him as King, from The Lady of the Lake, gets assigned the task of getting back the Holy Grail. The chalice appears above the proscenium arch as if the star of the show. What show? The Broadway one he’s supposed to stage. How can he make a musical, Arthur sings, without any Jews? Still, woes are something to dance about as well as contemplate. “Find Your Grail” is not his only challenge. He has to proclaim failures, including misjudgments, in song, (e.g., “I’m Not Dead Yet” from a plague victim being carted off).
A Black Knight frightens Sir Robin away from noble pursuits, but the villain loses arms and legs and thus has to stop shielding important shrubbery from Arthur and his knights. They celebrate this, as they do many silly things, in song. Their show-stopper is “Always Look on the Bright Side” -- a tuneful sum-up of the philosophy of Patsy, Arthur’s Sancho Panza-like companion. But he is sadly overlooked usually by Arthur, who groans “I’m Alone” though with Patsy at his side.
The Lady of the Lake comes to help all with The Quest, even though she moans about being left off-stage too long. Her “Whatever Happened to My Part?” rebukes the authors of Spamalot. Still the latter smoothly uncover Lancelot’s covered-up sexuality, Galahad’s goofiness and Sir Bedevere’s bad attitude. And then there are cheerleaders for the traditional characters.
As in most shows that try to ingratiate themselves with an audience, there’s audience participation. Not that hearty Patrick Noonan as Arthur turns out to need help outside of the text to find The Grail, though Kevin Loreque’s soulful Patsy fills a heroic role too. Danny Bernardy gets laughs from coming out as Lancelot. Bruce Warren as Sir Robin and Jake Mills as Sir Bedevere are studies in contrast. “Handsome is as handsome does” suits Gil Brady as a maxim.
The Lake yields a beautifully dressed Lady with a beautiful voice: Priscilla Fernandez. Vera Samuels, Rachael Scarr, Heather Kopp, and Samantha Mills are her choral cut-ups. The ensemble of guys makes another comic chorus.
Offstage magicians fully support what happens onstage. Lori Leshner’s choreography proves versatile, as does Jim Hunter’s scenery under Dave Upton’s lighting. Coconut claps figure prominently in Marshall Simmons’ sound design. Crazy costuming by Sarah Bertolozzi seems logical as it fulfills needs of an ensemble that portrays a range of characters from monks to would-be bloody monsters. They never seem exhausted, as I almost was...from laughing throughout.
