The touring production of Monty Python’s Spamalot has coconut-galloped into Seattle’s 5th Avenue Theatre to bring audiences a couple of hours of comedic absurdity that will likely land pleasantly nostalgic with older theatergoers and confusingly silly with younger members of the audience.
Spamalot is somewhat based on the motion picture Monty Python and the Holy Grail, which was structured like a movie but is more akin to a random amalgamation of humorous concepts stitched together by a sketch comedy troupe. The movie gained traction among comedy aficionados and was endlessly quoted by socially awkward young men for years, until those men became old and needed a Broadway theatrical outlet for their Holy Grail obsession.
Spamalot, like Spam, has a pretty good shelf life, thus the touring production, and a night of laughter at knights that say “ni,” corpses that are not dead yet, and a bunny that strikes terror into no one until it is too late. The musical doesn’t really make sense, but it doesn’t really have to. As long as there are enough Monty Python fans still alive to drag their offspring and significant others to the theater, the show will keep galloping along.
The cast “honors” the material well, doing their best to squeeze the comedy out of every broad visual gag, groan-inducing pun, and Monty Pythonesque verbosity. Several earworm-worthy songs are sure to follow you home and help you dissociate from the relentlessly horrifying news commonplace in Trump’s presidency. Nothing like smiling and humming “always look on the bright side of life,” while watching democracy rapidly disintegrate.
Major Attaway is perfectly cast to play King Arthur. His vocal gravitas, comedic timing, and playful authoritative ineptitude fortify the musical’s farcical foundations. The Knights of the Round Table (Sean Bell, Chris Collins-Pisano, Ellis C. Dawson III, and Leo Roberts) sing, dance, and act equally able, while doing their best to carefully butcher a myriad of exaggerated accents. The show’s portrayal of the French seemed the most nuanced and accurate. Blake Segal (Patsy) plays a mean pair of coconuts, while Steven Telsey (Prince Herbert) captures well Monty Python’s not-so-subtle portrayal of effeminate male behavior.
Although Monty Python historically went out of their way to exclude women from their comedic efforts, the musical recognized the need to include at least one woman with a main role. Thankfully, Amanda Robles (The Lady of the Lake) said yes to the job, giving the musical a much-needed break from its testosterone-centered focus. Not really knowing what to do with a woman, many of Amanda Roble’s show-stopping moments are solo affairs. She makes the most of the over-the-top requirements of her role.
There are no weak parts in the show, and the larger numbers work well as the stage fills with an ensemble cast of highly accomplished singers and dancers, willing to give their all to fish-slapping, bottle-dancing, corpse-prancing choreography.
The song and dance work well, and the music holds up with time. Although the Seattle audience still responded a bit uncomfortable with the “we won’t succeed on Broadway, if we haven’t any Jews” song. Honestly, I just felt a little uncomfortable writing those words. And although the musical has existed for some time, it’ll still ruffle the feathers of people unwilling to recognize the existence of same-sex attraction. Individuals who find such things offensive should probably stick with professional wrestling, a clearly heterosexual form of entertainment.
To summarize, Monty Python’s Spamalot is not dead yet. For individuals looking to escape and laugh a little, or to drag their grandkids to a very confusing night of musical theater, Spamalot is the perfect show for you. I give it 3 holy hand grenades and 1 shrubbery.
Douglas Bursch is the author of Posting Peace: Why Social Media Divides Us and What We Can Do About It. He also hosts The Fairly Spiritual Show podcast.