Simon Russell Beale to Headline London Spamalot

According to The New York Post's  Clive Barnes, Simon Russell Beale, who currently plays King Arthur on Broadway, will headline the upcoming British production of the madcap Monty Python musical Spamalot.

The West End production of the musical will play its first performance at the Palace Theatre on October 2nd. Tickets will go on sale on February 21st 2006.

Beale replaced Tony Award-nominee Tim Curry as King Arthur on December 17th. The actor, who made his Broadway debut in the 2004 revival of Tom Stoppard's Jumpers (and received a Tony nod for his performance), has won Olivier Awards for his turns in Volpone, Candide and Uncle Vanya. He has appeared on the West End in dozens of plays by Shakespeare, Stoppard, Ibsen, Chekhov and others; they include Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Hamlet, Troilus and Cressida, The Man of Mode, Humble Boy, Love's Labour's Lost, Twelfth Night, Julius Caesar, Edward II, Some Americans Abroad, The Duchess of Malfi, Ghosts and King Lear.

Directed by Mike Nichols (Tony Winner for Best Director), Spamalot has a book by Eric Idle, and music and lyrics by John Du Prez and Eric Idle. Spamalot has played to standing-room-only capacity at the Shubert Theatre since opening on March 17th. 

The show currently features Russell Beale, Hank Azaria, David Hyde Pierce, Christopher Sieber, Steve Rosen, Michael McGrath, Christian Borle and Lauren Kennedy as the Lady of the Lake.

A national tour of Spamalot will also begin performances in Boston on March 5, 2006.

 Lovingly "ripped-off" from the internationally famous comedy team's Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Spamalot received the 2005 Tony Award for Best Musical as well as Best Director for Nichols and Best Featured Actress in a Musical for Sara Ramirez. It also won the Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle awards for Best Musical. Spamalot boasts choreography by Casey Nicholaw, set and costume design by Tim Hatley, lighting design by Hugh Vanstone and sound design by ACME Sound Partners.

Telling the legendary tale of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, and their quest for the Holy Grail, Monty Python's Spamalot features a chorus line of dancing divas and knights, flatulent Frenchmen, killer rabbits and one legless knight.

For more information on the show, visit www.montypythonsspamalot.com. For tickets to the Broadway production of Spamalot, call 212 239-6200, 800 432-7250 , or visit www.telecharge.com.