Preview 2004-2005: And Now For Something Completely Different
Shannon Lewis The Look of Love, Contact, Fosse has been mentioned for the role of Ursula in the upcoming revival of Sweet Charity.
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The 1975 film comedy Monty Python and the Holy Grail was made by the six-man Monty Python troupe shortly after the conclusion of their landmark "Monty Python's FlyingCircus" BBC TV program 1969-1974. It's a film with an enormous following. Some consider it one of the funniest movies ever made, while others consider it merely one of the silliest. There are those who can recite the screenplay, written by the six Pythons, almost verbatim.
Set in the Medieval England of 932 A.D. but filmed at Doune Castle and other locations in Scotland, the film is a send-up of the Arthurian legend in which nothing is held sacred. It begins with Arthur Graham Chapman riding out into the countryside to gather knights for his Round Table. But Arthur only feigns riding a horse; his loyal squire Patsy Terry Gilliam knocks coconuts together to emulate the clatter of the horse's hooves.
Arthur gathers to his side Sir Lancelot John Cleese, Sir Robin Eric Idle, Sir Galahad Michael Palin, and Sir Bedevere Terry Jones. They all journey to Camelot, but, following instructions from no less an authority than God, they separate and go off on separate quests for the grail of Christ. Along the way, they encounter a killer bunny, an indomitable Black Knight, a three-headed giant, some insulting Frenchmen, some knights who say "Ni!," flying livestock, the castle Anthrax, an effete young prince, and a 20th-century police officer.
Directed by Gilliam and Jones, the film, which "makes Ben-Hur look like an epic," is nothing more than a random series of sketches, but it tends to stick in one's mind when one views serious epic films depicting the same era. It was the Python's first feature film, and some consider it superior to such subsequent screen efforts by the troupe as The Life of Brian or The Meaning of Life.
And it contains a few songs, including "Knights of the Round Table" which features the lyric "We eat ham and jam and spam a lot" and "The Ballad of Sir Robin." Still, one would not offhand think that Monty Python and the Holy Grail, which has had several theatrical reissues and home-video editions, would be the likely basis for a stage musical. But it's going to happen this season, the motivating force behind it being Eric Idle, who had a credit as co-conceiver of the Broadway musical flop Seussical.
The musical version of The Holy Grail is being called Spamalot. Idle is basing his book on the screenplay, and the music and lyrics will be by Idle and John Du Prez. Idle has said that the stage musical will follow the action of the film closely, retaining three songs from the film but adding about two dozen more.
What's most impressive here is the name of the director: Spamalot will be staged by Mike Nichols. The director of numerous Broadway plays and films, Nichols contributed to the staging of Broadway's My One and Only 1983 and was announced to direct the musical The Queen of Basin Street, which was aborted and turned into La Cage aux Folles. But Spamalot appears to be only the second Broadway musical directed by Nichols, the first being The Apple Tree in 1966. Jerry Mitchell had been announced for the choreography, but he became too busy with Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and La Cage aux Folles, so Casey Nicholaw Encores!' Bye Bye Birdie, New York Philharmonic Candide will choreograph.
None of the five surviving members of the Python troupe will appear in the show, but the production has secured a quartet of splendidly hammy star clowns in Tim Curry King Arthur, David Hyde Pierce Sir Robin, Hank Azaria Sir Lancelot, and Douglas Sills Sir Galahad. Michael McGrath will be Patsy, Steve Rosen will be Sir Bedevere, and Sara Ramirez is a lady fair. The scenic design will be by Tim Hatley, who provided the eye-popping and Tony winning sets for the recent revival of Private Lives.
Spamalot will have its world premiere at Chicago's Shubert Theatre from December 21 to January 16, then move on to New York's Shubert Theatre, where it will open March 10. The Shubert was also home to The Apple Tree. Chicago is, of course, the city where another musical based on a film-comedy classic, The Producers, was first seen. If the idea of a stage version of Holy Grail sounds like a long shot, it's equally true that many myself included thought that a musical version of The Producers with a score by Mel Brooks sounded like an unlikely prospect for success.
But The Producers was able to take advantage of the film's solid narrative foundation, something that Spamalot's source film doesn't offer. Given that source, I find it difficult to envision Spamalot on stage. Which just goes to make the show this season's most tantalizing question mark. In any case, it's probably just as well that the Broadway revival of Camelot, directed by Edward Hall and starring Liam Neeson, was postponed to next season.
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