Spamalot "guest star bits" (and other bits in other shows?)
Spamalot "guest star bits" (and other bits in other shows?)
#1Spamalot "guest star bits" (and other bits in other shows?)
Posted: 7/23/19 at 9:42am
I just saw something on Reddit a few days ago about how when Clay Aiken stepped into Spamalot as Sir Robin, they added some new comic vocal passages to show off the fact that he had a much wider vocal range than David Hyde Pierce. It then occurred to me that when I saw the Pittsburgh CLO production, instead of David Hyde Pierce's Victor Borge routine at the grand piano, the Sir Robin did a bit of physical comedy with a rubber chicken.
Did Aiken do the piano act, or did he have a specialty bit in "You Won't Succeed on Broadway?" Have other actors in that track had specialty material as well? Also, are there other shows where additional or alternate material was added or changed for replacements? I know the most famous example is Ethel Merman getting new songs in "Hello, Dolly," and Usher got a new dance sequence for himself in "Chicago."
ErmengardeStopSniveling
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/20/18
#2Spamalot
Posted: 7/23/19 at 10:19am
Ann Miller got a tap sequence in "That's How Young I Feel" when she stepped into Mame.
When Liza stepped into Chicago in the 70s, they made "I Am My Own Best Friend" a solo number for her. Years later, when she stepped into Victor/Victoria, "Crazy World" was replaced with a different song.
John Raitt played Billy in Carousel for decades after the original production. When he did tours and regional productions, he had Act 1 end right after "Soliloquy" (instead of with the book scene that sets up the Jigger/Billy plot for act 2 and ends with a quick reprise of June in Bustin). Jack O'Brien also used a similar ending for the 2018 revival.
I believe JoAnne Worley has added a necklace-spinning bit to every show she's ever done.
Some shows have guest stars written in ("Oh Hello," "The Play What I Wrote," and "After Midnight" being recent examples).
TheGingerBreadMan
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/7/12
#4Spamalot
Posted: 7/23/19 at 11:53amI don’t know if the piano bit in Spamalot has ever been replaced by a specific production, but it’s definitely in the script of the licensed version. When I did the show, our Robin didn’t know the first thing about playing piano and our rehearsal schedule didn’t allow him the time to learn, so our director chose to make it comical by using a tiny Charlie Brown piano that doesn’t even play, and Robin made it obvious that he was only pretending to play by over-exaggerating the movements on the little tiny piano while the keyboardist in the pit did the actual playing for him.
ErmengardeStopSniveling
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/20/18
#6Spamalot
Posted: 7/23/19 at 12:20pm
Related; when I played Schroeder in Charlie Brown back in February, we found a toy piano with 32 keys that actually played, and I learned passages of the score on it. There would be times when the band would cut away and it would just be sound from the toy piano. Always got a laugh.
VotePeron
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/2/13
#7Spamalot
Posted: 7/23/19 at 3:11pm
When Charlie Stemp joined Hello, Dolly!, his character of Barnaby replaced Minnie in the dance solo for "Dancing". This happened about 10 months into the run of the show, and they re-choreographed this sequence to highlight Stemp's talent. (Not sure if Barnaby or Minnie do the solo on the tour).
nasty_khakis
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/15/07
#9Spamalot
Posted: 7/24/19 at 10:41am
VotePeron said: "When Charlie Stemp joinedHello, Dolly!, his character of Barnaby replaced Minnie in thedance solo for "Dancing". This happened about 10 months into the run of the show, and they re-choreographedthis sequence to highlight Stemp's talent. (Not sure if Barnaby or Minnie do the solo on the tour)."
Someone in the cast told me (vaguely) that they also rehearsed "more tapping for Bernadette" somewhere in the show but I saw her first preview and again later in the run and there seemed to be no added dancing for Dolly.
