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Ludicrous, silly, daft and deliciously, wickedly funny
Todd Carty and Phill Jupitus as loyal serf Patsy and King Arthur on their quest for the Holy Grail Monty Python's Spamalot Wolverhampton Grand ***** SPAMALOT is probably the most half-baked,
stupid, juvenile, absurd musical ever conceived but it is gloriously,
uproariously funny. Eric Idle and John Du
Prez have taken (nicked) Monty Python and the Holy Grail and turned it
into a musical with romantic ballads such as
He is not dead yet –
a sort of nearly plague victim's lament. Idle's big hit, the funeral and fans of relegated
football teams' favourite, Always Look on the Bright Side of Life,
is in there as are three very clever numbers The Song That Goes Like
This, The Diva's Lament and I'm All Alone – the first two now
regulars in amateur pantomimes. The show was in the Midlands, at The New
Alexander Theatre, in December and has seen a couple of personnel
changes with Phill Jupitus taking over from Matthew Kelly as King Arthur
and Jessica Martin has put on her snorkel and
flippers to replace Jodie Prenger as the Lady of the Lake. The contrast between the
ladies is less distinct. Both have fine voices and for their two big
numbers and both had that mischievous sense of fun. The reign of the kings has
more contrast. Kelly was excellent and so too in his own way is Jupitus.
Kelly is a big man and a classical actor giving the role a certain
gravitas as well as a wealth of laughs. Jupitus has the stand-up's
inbuilt timing creating extra laughs merely with pauses along with a few
glances, shakes of the head and even the removal of his glasses – and
when did Arthur start smoking a pipe. That bit was missing in the
history books. He underplays the role to give Arthur the hunted look of
a thwarted chartered accountant.
Still there is EastEnders star
Todd Carty who reves in the role of Patsy, the
King's scruffy, grubby, put upon manservant - a sort of Baldrick with an
extra brain cell. The rest of the cast play the
entire population of Britain . . . and France . . . between them with
Simon Lipkin superb as the gruff Northern father of Prince(ss) Herbert,
the Black (it's just a flesh wound) Knight and ‘is my hair all right'
Sir Dennis Galahad. David Langham is the nerdy
historian who sets the scene, Prince(ss) Herbert, the Barry Manilow
lookalike minstrel and the reluctant corpse, Not Dead Fred in a
remarkably talented quartet of performances. Graham MacDuff gives us Sir
Lancelot, the French Taunter, the Knight of Ni and Tim the Enchanter
while Robin Armstrong is Sir Bedevere, Dennis's Mother, Concorde the
serf and a mind numbingly stupid guard with Samuel Holmes coming in as
Sir Robin and the mayor of some village in Lapland . . . don't ask. Spamalot is about Arthur's
quest for the Holy Grail, which on opening night was hidden under a seat
in the stalls. Arthur and his knights ride around on imaginary horses,
driven by half coconut shells, on a quest that takes them to French
castles where they are almost fatally insulted, to very expensive
forests and to Swamp Castle where Sir Lancelot can rescue a maiden(ish)
in distress called Herbert. There is a Black Knight who
reckons losing both arms and legs in a sword fight (just flesh wounds)
constitute a draw, killer rabbits, flying cows and the Holy Grenade of
Antioch. There are even ornithological
debates on the carrying capacities of migrating sparrows and political
discussions about whether a bint in a pond giving out swords and telling
blokes they are king is a better system of Government then democratic
elections – you don't get that in Les Mis!!!!! There is not even a passing
nod of acknowledgement to PC, some silly jokes and a few bits of filth
scattered innocently Donald McGill-like among the lines of the script. It is all very English and
remarkably daft. We seem to delight preserving the spirit of schoolboy
and undergraduate humour from cradle to grave. This is a fine heir to
The Goon Show, probably the first of the English lunatic school of
surreal comedy as well as being great family fun. Anyone who fails to
laugh should really book an appointment with an undertaker. To 30-04-11
Roger Clarke And now
for something completely different ***** THIS mad musical won
the Tony Award in 2005, and it is still the funniest show in town. If
you don't laugh from start to finish, see your doctor. Said to have been ripped off
from Monty Python and the Holy Grail by Eric Idle and John Du Prez, it
is a non-stop riot of British humour at its best. Where else could you see our
King Arthur riding into action - on foot - accompanied by his grubby
manservant playing clip-clop on two half coconut shells; or the French
troops (above) abusing our
brave monarch with an unusually played trumpet; or even a Black Knight
having his arms and legs chopped off and coolly dismissing it as "a
flesh wound". Oh, and of course, there's the
super-hit song Always Look on the Bright Side of Life at the
start of Act II and the finale, with just about everyone in the audience
joining in. I saw the show for the first
time at the New Alexandra Theatre in Birmingham a while back, and I
enjoyed it even more this time. Don't ask me why. Phill Jupitus has now replaced
the brilliant Matthew Kelly as King Arthur and Jessica Martin has taken
over from Jodie Prenger as the Lady of the Lake. Both are excellent, and
the courage of the Knights of the Round Table is . . . different,
particularly when they face the Killer Rabbit. Could anyone else play King
Arthur's overloaded and under-appreciated sidekick, Patsy, with such
humour as Todd Carty? I doubt it. Terrific performances, too, from David
Langham as Prince Herbert, Not Dead Fred (and many more), Simon Lipkin
(Sir Galahad), Graham MacDuff (Sir Lancelot), Robin Armstrong (Sir
Bedevere) and Samuel Holmes (Sir Robin). Some other cracking songs turn
up throughout, like He is Not Dead Yet and The Song That
Goes Like This. Directed by Christopher
Luscombe with Dean Austin's musical direction, this Spamalot of Camelot
runs to Saturday night 30.04.11 Paul Marston
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