Review: SPAMALOT at Connor Palace

SPAMALOT, also known at MONTY PYTHON’S SPAMALOT: A MUSICAL (LOVINGLY) RIPPED OFF FROM THE MOTION PICTURE MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL, is settled in at the Connor Palace for a short run (December 1-6).
 
From the very start of the show, you know that you are in for a “different” evening!  A recording encourages members of the audience to "let your cell phones and pagers ring willy-nilly," and the audience should "be aware there are heavily armed knights on stage that may drag you on stage and impale you."  (And, believe it not, some naïve second-row-seated gentleman, did find himself onstage!)
 
Though the trend today is for Jukebox musicals, revivals, and musical dramas, for those who want to laugh, there are of shows around that are classified as musical farces.  These include FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM, SOMETHING ROTTEN and SPAMALOT.
 
SPAMALOT, with music by John De Prez and Eric Idle, and lyrics and a book by Idle, is based on the 1975 film ”Monty Python and the Holy Grail.  It loosely follows King Arthur on his quest to find members of his roundtable, and incidentally, the holy grail.
 
The show first appeared on Broadway in 2005, garnering fourteen Tony Award nominations.  It won for Best Musical.
 
During its initial run of 1,575 performances, the production was seen by more than two million people and grossed over $168 million. 
 
It was one of eight UK musicals commemorated British postage stamps.

The show starts harmlessly enough.  A historian relates the “history of England.”  Unfortunately, the fish smacking dance turns out to be Scandinavia and we are off on a serious of potentially outlandish “schticks” (bits).

SPAMALOT has “everything that makes a great knight at the theatre, from flying cows to killer rabbits, from British royalty to French insulters, to dancing girls, fake shrubbery, and of course, the Lady of the Lake.”  There are lots of vaudeville-like scenes.
 
The score includes such classical songs as “The Song That Goes Like This,” “Find Your Grail,” ”You Won’t Succeed on Broadway (If you don’t have any Jews)” and “His Name is Lancelot.”
 
SPAMALOT makes references to other musicals, such as: “The Song That Goes Like This” (a spoof of Andrew Lloyd Webber productions; “Whatever Happened To My Part” reminiscent of “And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going”from DREAMGIRLS, the knights doing a bottle dance harking back to FIDDLER ON THE ROOF, and another reminiscent of WEST SIDE STORY; a member of the French army dressed as Éponine from LES MISERABLES; and a line pulled from "Another Hundred People" from Stephen Sondheim's COMPANY.

The last time the show was in CLE, I was accompanied by two male tweens, who, following the show, skipped through the lobby, loudly singing, “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life” and yelling a line from another song, “I Ain’t Dead Yet.”  Yep, that’s the kind of experience this is, or should be.
 
CAPSULE JUDGEMENT:  A reviewer said of the original production, "It's UNFAIR to make me laugh this much!”  I wish I could say that of the touring show.  Unfortunately, I can’t.  This production seems to be missing some of the abandonment needed to really get the audience to let loose.
 
That’s not to say the show is bad.  It’s not.  But, it  seems a little uninspired, a little too much on automatic pilot, and not as zany as it could be or has been in previous incarnations.  We need more ridiculous farce and less-Hamlet drama!

SPAMALOT, which is in its North American Tour launch, runs December 1- 6, 2025 at the Connor Palace.  For tickets call (216) 241-6000 or go to playhousesquare.org.