Spamalot Production History

Production history[edit]

Chicago[edit]

A ticket from the first preview show

Previews of the show began in Chicago‘s Shubert Theatre (now the Bank of America Theatre) on 21 December 2004; the show officially opened there on 9 January 2005.

Two musical numbers were dropped from Act One while the production was still in Chicago.[citation needed] During the scene set in the “Witch Village”, the torch song “Burn Her!” was originally performed by Sir Bedevere, The Witch, Sir Robin, Lancelot and Villagers. At the French Castle, “The Cow Song”, in a parody of a stereotypical film noir/cabaret style, was performed by The Cow and French Citizens. Before the two songs were cut in Chicago, the lead vocals in both songs were sung by Sara Ramirez. This gave her six songs in Act One, but no further appearances until scene five in Act Two, for “The Diva’s Lament”.

Broadway[edit]

The musical previewed on Broadway, at New York‘s Shubert Theatre, beginning 14 February 2005, and, after some changes, officially opened on 17 March 2005. Mike Nichols directed, and Casey Nicholaw choreographed. The production won the Tony Award for Best Musical and was nominated for 14 Tony Awards. The show played its final performance on 11 January 2009 after 35 previews and 1,575 performances; it was seen by more than two million people and grossed over $175 million, recouping its initial production costs in under six months.[2]

The original Broadway cast included Tim Curry as King Arthur, Michael McGrath as Patsy, David Hyde Pierce as Sir Robin, Hank Azaria as Sir Lancelot and other roles (e.g., the French Taunter, Knight of Ni, and Tim the Enchanter), Christopher Sieber as Sir Galahadand other roles (e.g., the Black Knight and Prince Herbert’s Father), and Sara Ramirez as the Lady of the Lake. It also included Christian Borle as Prince Herbert and other roles (e.g., the Historian and Not Dead Fred), Steve Rosen as Sir Bedevere and other roles (e.g., Concorde and Dennis’s Mother) and John Cleese as the (recorded) Voice of God.

Notable cast replacements included:

US Tour[edit]

First National tour (2006–2009)

Spamalot’s North American tour took it to Washington, D.C.’sNational Theatre in May 2006.

A North American tour commenced in spring 2006, and the cast included Michael Siberry as King Arthur, Jeff Dumas as Patsy/Mayor/Guard, David Turner as Robin/Guard/Brother Maynard, Rick Holmes as Lancelot/French Taunter/Knight of Ni/Tim The Enchanter, Bradley Dean as Galahad/Black Knight/Herbert’s Father, Tom Deckman as The Historian/Not Dead Fred/French Guard/Minstrel/Prince Herbert, Christopher Gurr as Sir Bedevere/Dennis’s Mother/Concorde, and Pia Glenn (who remains slated for productions as late as June 2008)[4] as the Lady of the Lake. Deckman moved to the Broadway production in November 2006 and was replaced by Christopher Sutton.

The tour won three 2007 Touring Broadway Awards, including Best New Musical.

This same tour returned to Chicago on 20 January 2009 at the Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University, this time with Richard Chamberlain as King Arthur.[5][6] This production costs $419,099.53 in artist fees/royalties for 8 performances in a venue in Florida.[7]

The Tour continued through the summer 2009, with dates at the Golden Gate Theatre San Francisco, the Ahmanson Theatre, Los Angeles, the Canon Theatre in Toronto, the San Diego Civic Theatre in San Diego, the Tucson Music Hall in Tucson, and played its final performances at the Segerstrom Hall in Costa Mesa[8] where it closed on 18 October 2009.

Second National tour (2010)

A Second North American tour launched on 24 September 2010 from Waterbury, CT and ended 26 June 2011 in Dallas, TX.[9] Leading the tour was a non-equity cast, however it used the same sets and costumes as the First National tour. The cast included Steve McCoy as King Arthur, Caroline Bowman as the Lady of the Lake, Adam Grabau as Lancelot, Jacob L. Smith as Galahad, Matt Ban as Sir Bedevere/Dennis’s Mother, Glenn Giron as Patsy, Martin Glyer as Robin, Thomas DeMarcus as The Historian, and John Garry as Not Dead Fred/Prince Herbert. Other cast members include Stephen Cerf, Jennifer Cordiner, Carl Draper, William Harrell, Melissa Denise Lopez, Shaun Patrick Moe, Linda Neel, Jeffrey Shankle, Keleen Snowgren, Tara Sweeney, Michael Warrell, Jessica Wockenfuss, Matthew Alexander, and Jenny Holahan. The tour restarted later that year and ran through 2012.

Third National tour (2013),

A third North American tour was undertaken in 2013.[10]

Hollywood Bowl (2015)

A three evening performance at the Hollywood Bowl was undertaken in 2015, with Eric Idle appearing in the role of The Historian, and other cast members including Christian Slater, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Craig Robinson, Merle Dandridge, Warwick Davis, Kevin Chamberlin and Rick Holmes. The script was updated and included many Los Angeles specific jokes.

West End and UK tour[edit]

Spamalot showing at the Palace Theatre in October 2008.

A London production opened at the Palace Theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue in the West End, commencing 30 September 2006 (London premiere 17 October) with tickets on sale booking to November 2008. Curry reprised his Broadway role as King Arthur until December, with Beale taking over from January. Sieber also reprised his rôle as Sir Galahad before leaving in early 2007, replaced by Graham McDuff. Hannah Waddingham was cast as the Lady of the Lake, Tom Goodman-Hill as Sir Lancelot, Robert Hands as Sir Robin, David Birell as Patsy, Tony Timberlake as Sir Bedevere and Darren Southworth as Prince Herbert. Notable cast replacements have included Peter Davison and Bill Ward in 2007 and, briefly, Marin Mazzie, in early 2008.[11] Sanjeev Bhaskar took over from Alan Dale as the last King Arthur (23 June 2008 onwards). The London production closed on 3 January 2009.

A UK tour scheduled for later in 2009 was initially postponed, the producers commenting “Due to unforeseen circumstances the UK Tour of Spamalot will not be taking place as scheduled in 2009”,[12] but eventually started at theNew Wimbledon Theatre on 29 May – 5 June 2010 and Nottingham Theatre Royal on 7–12 June 2010.[13] The tour is scheduled to run until June 2011 at the Mayflower Theatre in Southampton. The production travelled to Trieste’s Politeama Rossetti marking on 24 May 2011 the official opening of the show in Italy.

Phill Jupitus[14] played King Arthur in the UK tour. Todd Carty played Patsy, assistant to King Arthur for the duration of the tour.[15] Phil Jupitus finished on the tour after performing at Wycombe Swan theatre. Marcus Brigstockemade his musical theatre debut as King Arthur following Jupitus’ departure. Jodie Prenger, Hayley Tamaddon, and Amy Nuttall shared the role of The Lady of the Lake. The tour also featured Simon Lipkin as Sir Galahad, Graham McDuff as Sir Lancelot, David Lingham as Prince Herbert, Samuel Holmes as Sir Robin, and Robin Armstrong as Sir Bedevere.[16][17][18]

The UK tour also featured for the first time a re-working of the song “You won’t succeed on Broadway” which has been renamed “You won’t succeed in showbiz”. The theme of the song has been changed from poking fun at the need for Jewish input into Broadway productions and instead mocks the cross over of celebrities in musicals and reality television competitions such as the X Factor. It notably pokes fun at reality TV celebrities including Simon Cowell, Cheryl Cole and Susan Boyle (who is shot by Sir Robin when she begins to sing).[19]

The show was revived on the West End for seven weeks during the summer of 2012 and played for a limited time at the Harold Pinter Theatre[20] (using some of the costumes, sets, and actors from the UK Tour).[21] Marcus Brigstocke (who had appeared on the tour) shared the role of King Arthur with Jon Culshaw for those seven weeks. The production moved to the Playhouse Theatre on 14 November 2012.[22] The show announced in January it would close on 22 February 2014,[23] but was later extended[24] and will now close on 12 April 2014.[25] During 2013 a number of celebrities each played the part of God for a week in aid of charity, including Gary Lineker, Barbara Windsor, Brian May and Michael Palin.[26]

UK Casts:[27]

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