Spamalot at the Peace Center

Bruce Steele: As someone who has seen the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail at least a half-dozen times over the decades — and even performed in a high school talent show in a skit excerpt, playing the argumentative Dennis — it was a pleasure finally to see the musical Monty Python’s Spamalot onstage at the Peace Center in Greenville, South Carolina. Other than the fact that the show was based on the 1975 movie, parodying the legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, I knew little about it, so even for a Grail-head, there were plenty of surprises.

Edwin Arnaudin: As two big fans of the film, it's odd that neither of us had seen Spamalot until this current national tour of the 2023 Broadway revival. It's been high on my theater wish list since I first heard of its existence in 2005, when it began its original five-year Broadway run. Does it feel like a worthy reworking of our beloved source material?

Bruce: It is — and in fact I think the reworked parts work as well or better than the line-by-line recreations.

Edwin: Right. As much as I loved seeing personal-favorite vignettes such as the Black Knight and the Knights of Ni…

Bruce: And that argumentative Dennis, questioning King Arthur’s right to rule — and the “bring out your dead” scene, now a wacky song-and-dance called “I Am Not Dead Yet”…

Edwin: …it's the additions and embellishments that feel like the show’s true accomplishments.

Bruce: I see your point. While Act 1 is a compendium of the movie’s most memorable scenes, climaxing with a hilarious recreation of King Arthur’s vulgar humiliation at the French castle (with an added song aptly titled “Run Away”), it’s all the new material in the second act that’s the freshest and most engaging, at least for a Python fan like me.

Edwin: Overall, it strikes a good balance between faithfully recreating key moments from the movie — live and with the available technology — and expanding smaller details with theatrical potential into something new and original. 

Amanda Robles as the Lady of the Lake with ensemble members in the national tour of Monty Python’s Spamalot.

Bruce: Right, such as making the Lady of the Lake (the spectacularly voiced Amanda Robles) into the female lead, and eliminating the film’s abrupt, cinema verité ending in favor of a musical theater plot arc heading toward a conclusion that’s both traditional and a meta commentary on theater traditions. You can definitely see the influence of Mel Brooks’ 2001 stage musical of The Producers — not just because it adapts a classic film, but because of its comic jabs at theater clichés. There’s even a number called “The Song That Goes Like This” — “It starts off slow / And ends up with a kiss” — and another in which the Lady of the Lake laments her not appearing onstage more often (“Diva’s Lament”).

It helps to have a solid lead in this production’s King Arthur: the powerfully voiced and perfectly unflappable Major Attaway, a former Genie from Disney’s Aladdin stage franchise. Sean Bell, as the risk-averse Sir Robin, and Chris Collins-Pisano, as Sir Lancelot (who in this telling has a big secret), also make memorable impressions, both as the knights and in other roles. Collins-Pisano even steals the Act 1 closer, as the French Taunter atop that castle. And yes, there is a flying cow.

Blake Segal (left) and Major Attaway (as King Arthur, right) in the national tour of Monty Python’s Spamalot.

Edwin: Were there omitted scenes from the film you wish had made the cut?

Bruce: Not that come immediately to mind. There’s even a cameo by some Terry Gilliam-style animation in the appearance of God (voiced by a pre-recorded Eric Idle). And any Python fan will be thrilled with the apt and even emotional inclusion of the song “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life,” lifted from the finale of Monty Python’s Life of Brian (1979).

This national tour is based on the 2023 revival, so it has been slightly updated from the 2005 show (look for references to Taylor Swift and other current cultural touchstones, as well as new tech, as you mentioned, such as creatively employed projections), but the changes, I’m told, are minimal. Original Python member Idle remains credited with the book and lyrics, and as co-composer of the music, with John Du Prez. The original director in 2005, believe it or not, was the legendary Mike Nichols — who won one of the show’s three Tony Awards — and this production’s director, Josh Rhodes, fills his shoes well. We haven’t commented on the sets and costumes, perhaps because they’re exactly on target, so there’s nothing really to critique. Even though we missed that original 2005 incarnation, I feel well satisfied that this Spamalot is the Holy Grail we’ve been awaiting all these years.

Monty Python’s Spamalot plays through Sunday, August 2, at the Peace Center. For tickets and more information, visit peacecenter.org.

Photos by Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman, courtesy of the Peace Center.

Major Attaway (as King Arthur, leaft) and other cast members in the national tour of Monty Python’s Spamalot.