Monty Python's Spamalot
| Monty Python's Spamalot - The Totally Crazy Musical | |
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Logo Spamalot.svg |
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| Musical dates | |
| Title: | Monty Python's Spamalot - The Totally Crazy Musical |
| Original title: | Monty Python's Spamalot |
| Original language: | English |
| Music: | John Du Prez , Eric Idle & Neil Innes |
| Book: | Eric Idle |
| Lyrics: | Eric Idle |
| Premiere: | December 21, 2004 (Preview) |
| Place of premiere: | Sam Shubert Theater, New York |
| Playing time: | approx. 2:30 hours |
Monty Python's Spamalot is an award-winning satirical musical based on the film The Knights of the Coconut by British comedian group Monty Python . The popular song Always Look on the Bright Side of Life was taken from their film The Life of Brian . The piece was written by Monty Python member Eric Idle and John Du Prez . The Broadway production was directed by Mike Nichols .
Spamalot (a corruption of Camelot based on the Spam sketch by Monty Python) follows very freely the legend of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table in their search for the Holy Grail . The four knights of very different character (Sir Lancelot , Sir Galahad , Sir Robin, Sir Bedivere ) are recruited by the melancholy King Arthur and the diva-like fairy from the lake who are allied with him with bizarre methods and travel through England, where they have all kinds of adventures have to. Above all, the shallow Broadway business is ironicized.
action
1st act
A historian informs about the situation in medieval England . Because the actors misunderstand him, they sing a song about Finland ( Fisch Schlapping Song ). The historian steps in and makes it clear that he is talking about England. In a gloomy, shabby village, monks sing Latin chants. King Arthur and his squire Patsy pass by, without a horse, but with two coconut halves that Patsy hits each other to at least make an impression with the sound of hooves. Arthur is looking for knights for his round table at Camelot Castle. He meets two guards who argue about whether two swallows are able to carry a coconut and therefore have no ear for the king. Sir Robin, who picks up the dead from the plague, meets the incredibly brutal knight Lancelot, who is about to eliminate the not-yet-quite-dead Fred. This conjures up, despite his plague bumps, to be still alive, even to dance and sing. He demonstrates this until the impatient Lancelot takes him down with one blow with a shovel ( He Is Not Dead Yet ). Lancelot wants to join the Round Table as a fighter, Robin wants to limit himself to dancing and singing. Arthur tries to convince the farmer Dennis Galahad that he is the King of England because the fairy of the lake has given him the sword Excalibur, the symbol of royal dignity. However, it turns out that Dennis and his mother are radical leftists who reject any king who was not popularly elected. To resolve the dispute, Arthur calls the fairy from the lake and her cheerleaders to help ( Come with Me ). Cheered on by the girls ( Laker Girls Cheer ), Dennis is knighted as Sir Galahad. All together sing a cheesy love song, as it is typical for Broadway musicals ( The Song that Goes Like This ). Sir Robin and Sir Lancelot join in, along with Sir Bedivere and a gentleman who is very reminiscent of Don Quixote and therefore has to leave the show as soon as possible ( All for One ).
Camelot turns out to be an opulently furnished vacation home with showgirls and a gambling den with oversized cubes. The fairy from the lake is also involved ( Knights of the Round Table / The Song that Goes Like This (Reprise) ). In the midst of the noise of the party, God appears (voice is played), who asks them to look for the Grail . The fairy from the lake encourages you to leave ( Find Your Grail ). The knights set out and come to a castle where they are tricked by devious French opponents. In revenge, they respond with a wooden rabbit , analogous to the Trojan horse . The knights of the round table overlook the fact that they should have hidden in the rabbit. Triumph the French, they insult, put Cancan Go-Go girls and toss with cows ( Run Away! ). Arthur and his followers manage to escape before the French can throw the rabbit off the catapult.
2nd act
Sir Robin and friends follow King Arthur into a "dark and expensive forest" (Arthur will later note that the forest is "extremely expensive"). You get lost. The king meets the terrifying but mistaken “knight who says Ni” and categorically demands a bush. Arthur desperate to find one, Patsy comforts him ( Always Look on the Bright Side of Life ). Shortly afterwards, a shrubbery comes into view.
Sir Robin makes himself courage ( Brave Sir Robin ) and has to face a fight with the Black Knight, who spreads fear, but is quickly rendered harmless by Arthur, who rushes over: the monster loses both arms and legs, but wants to continue fighting. The Knights of the Round Table ask the King to write a musical and bring it to Broadway, but not an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical. Its name alone makes everyone stop and scream in panic. Sir Robin points out that it takes Jewish artists to be successful on Broadway ( You Won't Succeed on Broadway ). This is followed by a wild mishmash of Anatevka quotes, including the folkloric bottle dance, which is performed here with Grail vessels. Arthur and Patsy set out to find Jews. In order to avoid accusations of anti-Semitism , this satire is mostly rewritten in German-language productions, so that there is talk of the particularly high (unattainable) quality standards on Broadway. In Asia , too , for example in South Korea , this passage has been adapted to regional characteristics.
Performers appear in costumes from popular Broadway musicals such as Cats , Grease , Miss Saigon , The Phantom of the Opera, and Chicago . The fairy from the lake weeps for her fate not to have an appearance in the second act ( Whatever Happened to My Part? ), Sir Lancelot receives a letter from a damsel who turns out to be a young drag queen named Prince Herbert ( Where Are You? / Here Are You ). His father, the King of the Swamp Castle, hates music and threatened to forcibly marry Herbert. Herbert was saved by Lancelot's companion Concorde. The evil king asks his son how exactly the liberation came about, after which Herbert wants to start a song. Enraged, the father attacks him with a spear, Lancelot intervenes and preaches philanthropy. He promptly comes out as homosexual and celebrates his sexual orientation with a big disco number ( His Name is Lancelot ).
King Arthur regrets his loneliness, although Patsy does not leave his side ( I'm All Alone ). The fairy from the lake consoles him by pointing out that he has been appearing in a Broadway musical the whole time. Patsy admits he had Jewish ancestry, but adds that this is not a wise remark to a "heavily armed crusader". Arthur finally wants to get married and chooses the fairy from the lake ( Twice in Every Show ). Reunited with the Round Table, Arthur is warned by Tim the Charming about the killer rabbit. This promptly bites off the head of a knight, but Arthur aims with the holy hand grenade from Antioch at the animal, which turns out to be a puppet whose player is shocked. A large rock with inscriptions (different depending on the theater) puzzles everyone. Is that the key clue about the Holy Grail? A voice from above refers to the audience. Arthur realizes: A certain seat in the hall is marked on the rock. Under him, it turns out, is the Grail hidden. The viewer who has taken this seat will be honored with an instant photo and a gift ( The Holy Grail ). At the wedding, the fairy from the lake confesses that her real name is Genoveva. Lancelot marries Herbert. His father steps in, but is shouted down by everyone else. Lancelot switches him off with a targeted blow on the head. Sir Robin takes on a musical career ( Finale / Always Look on the Bright Side of Life ).
The playing time is about two hours, plus a break.
Productions
The musical binds the viewer for about 2½ hours with black humor and in some cases with reference to current mostly political events and the venue. The audience is also involved in the play several times, not entirely voluntarily.
New York (USA)
The official world premiere was on March 17, 2005 at the Shubert Theater on Broadway in New York . Before that, there were sneak preview events in Chicago and New York. The last Broadway show was on January 11, 2009.
London (United Kingdom)
From October 16, 2006 to January 3, 2009 the musical was shown in the Palace Theater in London .
Las Vegas (USA)
From April 1, 2007 to July 13, 2008, Monty Python's Spamalot was also performed in Las Vegas at the Wynn Las Vegas (at The Grail Theater ).
Cologne, Germany)
On January 25th, 2009 “Monty Python's Spamalot - The Totally Crazy Musical” started in German in the Musical Dome in Cologne. The last performance took place on September 13, 2009. In the 2011/2012 season, Monty Python's Spamalot was on the program at the Landestheater Niederbayern .
Gdynia (Poland)
Since September 25, 2010 the musical “Spamalot” has been performed in the Teatr Muzyczny in Gdynia , Poland , under the direction of Maciej Korwin. The premiere took place on October 2, 2010.
Zurich, Switzerland)
The Swiss premiere took place on April 13, 2013 in the Theater am Hechtplatz , in standard German, a little English and a little Swiss German.
Wunsiedel (Germany)
The Luisenburg Festival played Spamalot in the 2013 season.
Hamburg, Germany)
The musical was shown in the German version by Daniel Große Boymann in the St. Pauli Theater on Hamburg's Reeperbahn from August 1, 2014 . The last performance took place on September 9, 2014.
Munich, Germany)
The Deutsches Theater Munich took Spamalot into its program from June 24, 2015 for a short season until July 12, 2015.
Karlsruhe (Germany)
The Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe will perform Spamalot in the 2015/16 season. The premiere was on September 27, 2015.
Mainz (Germany)
The Staatstheater Mainz will perform Spamalot in the 2015/16 season. The premiere was on October 3, 2015.
Bochum (Germany)
The Schauspielhaus Bochum has been staging Spamalot under the direction of Christian Brey since the 2015/16 season. The premiere took place on September 11, 2015.
Salzburg (Austria)
The Salzburger Landestheater has been performing Spamalot under the direction of Andreas Gergen since the 2016/17 season . The premiere took place on September 18, 2016.
Frankfurt am Main (Germany)
The English Theater Frankfurt will be performing Spamalot from November 12, 2016 to March 5, 2017.
Ulm (Germany)
The Ulm Theater has been performing Spamalot since December 1st, 2016.
Merzig (Germany)
In Zeltpalast Merzig is Spamalot from 16 August to 3 September 2017 Franziska Becker as a fairy from the lake and Uwe Kroeger as King Arthur listed.
Marburg (Germany)
The Hessisches Landestheater Marburg has been performing Spamalot with Artur Molin and Julian Trostorf since September 30, 2017 .
Röttingen (Germany)
The piece will be performed at the Röttingen Franconian Festival from June 21 to August 12, 2018 at Brattenstein Castle .
Tecklenburg (Germany)
The open-air theater in Tecklenburg will be performing Spamalot from July 20 to September 9, 2018.
Gera / Altenburg (Germany)
The Altenburg-Gera Theater will perform Spamalot from October 11, 2019 in Gera and from April 26, 2020 in Altenburg .
Halle / Saale (Germany)
The Bühnen Halle will perform the piece as a family musical in spring 2021.
The songs in the musical
| 1st act | 2nd act |
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Awards
Spamalot has been nominated for 14 Tony Awards . Awards were given in the categories of Best Musical , Best Actress (for Sara Ramírez ) and Best Musical Director (for Mike Nichols ).
The tour was honored with the Elliot Norton Award from the city of Boston for Outstanding Visiting Production (for example: Outstanding guest performance).
filming
In 2018, it was revealed that Fox was planning to make a movie out of the musical, which is strange given that the musical is already based on a movie.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Teatr Muzyczny ( Memento of the original from July 27, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Theater & Philharmonie Thuringia: Event. Retrieved May 10, 2019 .
- ^ Fox is turning Monty Python's Spamalot into a movie, for some reason? In: The Verge . ( theverge.com [accessed May 4, 2018]).
Web links
- Monty Python's Spamalot on the Internet Broadway Database (IBDb)
- montypythonsspamalot.com, official homepage
- spamalot.de official German homepage