Monty Python's Spamalot
Book & Lyrics by Eric Idle, Music by John Du Prez & Eric Idle, Directed by Mike Nichols, Choreographed by Casey Nicholaw
Direction and Choreography Restaged by Scott Taylor; Music Director/Conductor, Rick Bertone; Production Stage Manager, Jinay L. Reitze; Set & Costume Design, Tim Hatley; Projection Design, Elaine J. McCarthy; Lighting Design, Richard Latta; Sound Design, Jeremy Oleksa
CAST: Charles Shaughnessy, Rachel York, Richard Costa, Jeffry Denman, Matthew Greer, Ayal Miodovnik, Jeffrey Scott Stevens, Christopher Sutton; Ensemble: Kimber Benedict, Scott Brateng, Richard Cerato, Todd Michael Cook, Rebecca Fale, Jason Grauerholz, Jenny Holahan, Motique Korman, Patrick N. Lavallee, Erika Odegard, Tera-Lee Pollin, Kent Zimmerman
Performances through September 11 at John Lane's Ogunquit Playhouse Box Office 207-646-5511 or www.ogunquitplayhouse.org
Monty Python's Spamalot is a Tony Award-winning spoof of the tale of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table and their search for the Holy Grail, as only Eric Idle and the Pythons could tell it. Nominated for 14 awards and recipient of three, including Best Musical of 2005, Spamalot makes a successful transfer from the Great White Way to the Beautiful Place by the Sea. Thanks to star performances from Charles Shaughnessy as Arthur and Broadway diva Rachel York as the Lady of the Lake, equally strong featured players, and a group of seven musicians whose quality belies its quantity, the Ogunquit Playhouse transports the dazzle of Broadway to the beach.
Scott Taylor, Director/Choreographer of the Restaging, was a member of the ensemble of the original Broadway show, directed by Mike Nichols and choreographed by Casey Nicholaw. With Music Director/Conductor Rick Bertone producing magical sounds from the pit and Tim Hatley's Tony-nominated sets and costumes providing rich visuals, Taylor enthusiastically recreates the feel and the fun of the imaginative New York staging. The Playhouse has stepped up its game vis-a-vis production values, with great lighting and sound effects designed by Rich Latta and Jeremy Oleksa respectively. Regrettably, the sound system fails to deliver some of the dialogue as clearly as it does the clap of thunder or coconuts emulating the clopping of horses' hooves, but this problem is not new here nor peculiar to Spamalot. Fortunately, there are enough jokes in this material that you won't want for occasions to laugh, but it would be nice to not miss any of them for technical reasons.
