Get Spammed at the Ogunquit Playhouse!

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.

As Idle himself proudly proclaims, the musical is "lovingly ripped off from the (1975) motion picture Monty Python and the Holy Grail," and the diehards in the audience anticipate beloved lines and sight gags, but Spamalot stands on its own for the neophytes among us. There are plenty of inside jokes for the musical theater aficionado, too, and the song list has something for everyone. Musical numbers are the highlight of the show and range from the ridiculous ("Fisch Schlapping Song,""I am Not Dead Yet"), to the sublime ("Find Your Grail," "I'm All Alone"), to the tongue-in-cheek ("The Song That Goes Like This," "You Won't Succeed on Broadway," and "The Diva's Lament"). Every member of this ensemble can sing and most of the featured actors get a turn in the spotlight. Shaughnessy is more actor than singer, but uses those thespian skills to put his songs across nicely. His Arthur is particularly adept at showing exasperation and incredulity, but whatever he's showing, Shaughnessy appears to be truly enjoying himself. Arthur's right hand man Patsy (Jeffrey Scott Stevens) is on stage by his side most of the time and the comic bit is his invisibility to the King. However, Stevens makes his mark in a delightful way, especially in the upbeat "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life," complete with tap dancing and umbrella twirling.

York inhabits the Lady of the Lake as if she had been born sub aqua. The role plays to her numerous strengths as siren, comedienne, belter, and multi-octave singer. She is dressed to kill in some alluring and glittering costumes, and also tries on a couple of well-known personalities in her characterization. I saw or heard snippets of Julie Andrews, Liza Minnelli, and Cher, but it's subtle mimicry that informs, rather than overwhelms her performance. She also takes advantage of two of the show's greatest opportunities to overact in her duet with Sir Galahad (York's husband, Ayal Miodovnik) and her solo midway through the second act when the Lady laments her limited stage time.

Each of the actors who play the knights is assigned multiple roles and has frequent costume and character changes. Miodovnik shines as the maniacal Black Knight who never says die, and as Prince Herbert's father who is more than a little frustrated with his son's constant singing and lack of interest in women or property. Christopher Sutton gives beautiful voice to the light in his loafers Herbert and one of the wandering minstrels, and creates a very lively Not Dead Fred. Jeffry Denman takes on the David Hyde Pierce-originated role of Sir Robin, not the bravest of the knights, but when Robin proclaims his love for musical theater, Denman displays his superior chops as a song-and-dance man. The brutish Sir Lancelot is Matthew Greer's primary part, and he plays it with disarming goofiness and joyful wonderment when his butterfly emerges late in the show. However, Greer really grabs the audience in his secondary roles as the French Taunter, Knight of Ni, and Tim the Enchanter. When there was a curtain malfunction at the start of act two on opening night, his Knight of Ni tried to double as stagehand, to no avail. Eventually, they got the curtain moving and neither man nor imaginary beast broke stride.

One might be totally entertained and distracted by the hilarity of the loosely connected sketches, every drop of which is milked by the talented cast, the resounding orchestrations, and the artistry of the sets and costumes. Taking the show at face value is well worth the price of admission. However, it should be mentioned that beneath the glitz and the gags, Spamalot musically conveys a simple message: "Find Your Grail." Taylor and company have it firmly in their grasp.

[Lady of the Lake]
If you trust in your song
Keep your eyes on the goal
Then the prize you won't fail
That's your grail
That's your grail

Photo credit: Charles Shaughnessy as King Arthur, Rachel York as Lady of the Lake (courtesy Ogunquit Playhouse)