"Spamalot" is incomparable. Director Mike Nichols has brilliantly captured the essence of Monty Python and delivered it, with all its absurdities and silliness, intact to Broadway.
There is not a more enjoyable evening at the theater for both "Monty Python" fans and even for those who never watched an
episode of the crazed BBC series or saw "Monty Python and the Holy Grail."
As hysterical as the replicated scenes from the movie are in their Broadway incarnation, many of the show's best "Monty Python" bits are completely original. "Spamalot" has been compared
to "The Producers" and "Hairspray," neither of which I especially liked. I loved "Spamalot" and think this is simply a lazy search by critics for easy comparisons; "Spamalot" is incomparable. Director Mike Nichols has brilliantly captured the essence of Monty Python and delivered it, with all its absurdities and silliness, intact to Broadway. The
silliness begins with the Playbill, presented in the original Finnish. The play we are about to see, we're advised, is "the story, in music and song, of Finland's transformation from a predominantly rural agricultural base to one of the most sophisticated industrial and
entrepreneurial economies in the world." The play we actually see, after a brief Monty Python-esque opening moment of displacement, is far and away the best adaptation of a movie to the Broadway stage ever. The most engaging moments seem to consistently belong to the
production's lone diva, Sara Ramirez, who should become an instant favorite for Best Actress in a Musical honors. As she notes in Act 2 with "The Diva's Lament," we see far too little of her. "Spamalot" takes a risk with "You Won't Succeed on Broadway" ("if you don't have Jews") but the lyrics
are so deviously irreverent that even the most devout ecumentarian has to laugh. The second act,
although it features the best moments, lags slightly after the pure comic intensity of Act 1. Tim Curry is the ultimate male diva and perfectly cast. Hank Azaria, while ignored by many
critics, is the John Cleese who comes forth time after time to haul lagging numbers up by their bootstraps and infuse the rampant on stage meanderings with sure-footed foolishness. David Hyde Pierce
is excellent throughout but fails to elevate his solo numbers beyond silliness to heightened levels of farce, a task Curry and Ramirez handle with relative ease. "Spamalot" features homage to "Les Miserables," "Phantom of the Opera," "National Lampoon's Animal House," "Fiddler on
the Roof," "Jazz Singer," Cher, Britney Spears and Peter Allen. No matter how prepared fans of Monty Python may be for the unexpected, we're still unprepared when it happens. For pure, adulterated
fun with absolutely no redeeming purpose or value, be sure to see "Spamalot."
Jack Myers Entertainment Report's entertainment rating system is based on a maximum of five jacks and a minimum of zero jacks. 0 = awful; 1 = pretty bad; 2 = okay
but don't go out of your way to see it; 3 = reasonably good but not special; 4 = very good and worth paying
attention to; 5 = exceptional. Opinions are based on my own likes, dislikes and preferences.
