Reviews of Clay in Spamalot?

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 1/21/08 at 7:48pm

Please post your PERSONAL experience seeing Clay.
Thank you.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 1/21/08 at 7:52pm

Considering I've seen nearly every cast of Spamalot, I'll say I hope to get back to the show within the next month or so.

Will be sure to post my thoughts.

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 1/21/08 at 7:55pm

Thanks, Yankee. I am interested in hearing what people have to say about Clay's performance in the show.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 1/21/08 at 8:02pm

I'm perfect for the task. Because I have no unnatural attachment to him (like so many people do) I have no vested interest in him succeeding or failing.

[worrell4077]

Posted: 1/21/08 at 8:04pm

"Because I have no unnatural attachment to him (like so many people do) I have no vested interest in him succeeding or failing."

That's so funny Yankee because I feel that way too.

I'll be seeing SpamAlot on Feb. 5th, so I'll post as well my thoughts on his performance.

[hermionejuliet]

Posted: 1/21/08 at 8:09pm

I'm looking forward to reading the reviews.

I'll be going in March, and I will happy to post a review.

Wow - it's nice to see a civilized discussion!

[arabella]

Posted: 1/21/08 at 8:17pm

I saw Clay Aiken in Spamalot this weekend. I thought he was very good in the role of Sir Robin. I expected that the singing would be good because he has a great voice but I was quite surprised at how well he had picked up the choreography.

The entire cast was fantastic and the show was very enjoyable.

[grnsmwhr]

Posted: 1/21/08 at 8:28pm

I agree dead parrot and I really am interested in other's reviews of Spamalot. I feel like my review was objective but I am a fan so maybe I am biased.

I didn't think this last thread was all that bad--I actually thought it had made some progress from the previous threads. There was some discussion that made me think and some posters I started to understand their position a little more.

[nitsua]

Posted: 1/21/08 at 9:14pm

I promise to be good.

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 1/21/08 at 9:17pm

I'm interested in hearing how Hannah was. I did experience the crowd screaming when Clay exited the stage door after the matinee on Saturday.

[hermionejuliet]

Posted: 1/21/08 at 9:19pm

Well, I have no idea how she did, but she looks beautiful in that costume!

[MissLesMis]

Posted: 1/21/08 at 9:25pm

I'm interested in hearing how Hannah was. I did experience the crowd screaming when Clay exited the stage door after the matinee on Saturday.

She was magnificent! She has a marvelous voice and stage presence.
All the cast, including Clay Aiken, had me laughing as hard as the first time I saw it with DHP. They worked together to make the show a joy to attend.

[mikem]

Posted: 1/21/08 at 10:23pm

For those of you who have seen Clay already:

Has he in fact been given more to sing than David Hyde Pierce had? Can you describe which songs he sings?

[allofmylife]

Posted: 1/21/08 at 10:28pm

Well, this is certainly a more civilized discourse than some of the hate-filled comments this afternoon. I couldn't post for a while because the site was over whelmed.

[musiclover4]

Posted: 1/21/08 at 11:14pm

______________________________________________________________

For those of you who have seen Clay already:

Has he in fact been given more to sing than David Hyde Pierce had? Can you describe which songs he sings

______________________________________________________________

I don't think they added an entire song but added a few lines to make Sir Robin a show off of his vocals and the line is the Idol of the Stage or Ages (lots of laughter so was hard to make it out). So there's a part where Clay does a scene showing off his vocal range and he also yodels a bit. The Broadway song is pretty much the same, except for the ending of the song where Clay shows his vocal range.

I saw the show on Sunday and it was LOL funny. The entire cast was great. Hannah was great and she has a body to kill. I think for Clay's first effort on Broaday, he did very well. The British accent is right on and in a few scenes he is very, very funny. Not the Clay Aiken one would expect on Broadway. Clay isn't a dancer by no means so he had to work really hard to pull off the bottle dance so well. It was a very fun and entertaining show and just flew by. Lots of laughs and applause.

It will be interesting to see if more is added or adjusted as Mike Nichols was in the audience with Diane Sawyer taking notes.

[BroadwayBaby19]

Posted: 1/21/08 at 11:19pm

I checked out Clay on Saturday and he did a phenomenal job. Everyone is great of course, especially Hannah, but Clay was the big question and he did himself proud. I've seen the show only once before, but I'm pretty sure that Clay had more solo parts than David. They would have been nuts not to utilize his voice in some way since there is no big showey number for him that relies mainly on vocals. I was surprised to see him keeping up with the dancers, too! One funny addition was that the Knights Who Say Ni broke into "Invisible" and Clay deftly resisted the urge to crack up. For anyone wondering, he fit right in.

[LyTeMyCanDyI]

Posted: 1/22/08 at 12:21am

Thank G-d for this thread!!! I've been waiting to hear real reviews of Clay and not a discussion of his sexuality or how obnoxious his fans are since Friday.

glad to hear he's doing well. I can't wait til I see it in April. by then he should be good and comfy in the role.

[BroadwayBaby19]

Posted: 1/22/08 at 12:34am

Grnsmwhr, I'd love to hear your review as I missed it in the other thread that was deleted. I'm interested in all points of view on the show.

[broadwayjim42]

Posted: 1/22/08 at 7:35am

My kids and I may be going in April...and I'm really grateful that there's a semi-serious thread here now. We could fill pages with each other's personal peccadilloes, but I wanted to hear about the performance.

Thanks for that.

[ULCard]

Posted: 1/22/08 at 7:37am

I've seen it with DHP and thought he was really good. Love the dead pan looks. His character had some great lines and parts. It will be interesting to see how Clay Aiken can do them. I have seen him on Kimmel a few times and he has good chemistry with him at having fun and shooting one-lines off the cuff, so he may be able to pull it off. Definitely has a voice that would work, especially since the part, while great, is not what you would call vocally challenging for a good singer. Maybe they will jazz it up a little as he does have the pipes, being a singer as opposed to an actor as such.

It will be interesting to see it play out. Certainly has been enough publicity everywhere leading up to it and getting sung the praises of Mike Nichols and Eric Idle is no small feat. Hannah is very good too, so should be interesting to see the changes.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 1/22/08 at 7:42am

Because any professional director would put out a release saying how much he hates the newest casting choice.

What the hell do all of you expect Nichols to say?


I'm pretty sure Mel Brooks released a statement saying how much he loved Henry Goodman and how great a replacement he would be for Nathan Lane... Updated On: 1/22/08 at 07:42 AM

[StageFan2]

Posted: 1/22/08 at 9:52am

If memory serves, DHP was the question mark in the original production. There was a good deal of spectulation as to how good he would be as Sir Robin even though his acting roots were in the theatre. There were also the stunt casting rumblings that are now being voiced concerning Clay Aiken.

Like DHP, Clay deserves the chance to show us what he can do with the role. I'm not expecting him to be DHP, David Turner, or Michael Moran. I plan on seeing Spamalot in Feb. and I'll form my opinion at that time. I do admit to going in slightly jaded because I'm an absolute shill for DHP. I think he even stands still better than anybody I've ever seen (told ya - shill ). However, I do want to give Clay a fair shake. So I'll try to be less of a shill when I see him as Sir Robin.

In the meantime, it sure is nice to be able to discuss this with calm civility.

[Buckeyebroad]

Posted: 1/22/08 at 9:56am

Clay did an outstanding job in this show. His incredible voice is a given but it was even more superb than I have ever heard.

When co-mingled with Broadway veterans, he certainly held his own! Anyone who says otherwise has incredible, unfounded biases (? jealousy?) against a very talented person who has done nothing to hurt anyone.

BuckeyeBroadwaybound
Updated On: 1/22/08 at 09:56 AM

[Fosse76]

Posted: 1/22/08 at 10:42am

I saw it on Saturday (matinee). Clay was pretty good. He seemed to have no real problems with comic timing or anything like that. While he is certainly no David Hyde Pierce, he definitely held his own. They did add some new material for him, but it was added to pre-existing material. The stage door had about 20 or so people BEFORE the Shubert even opened for seating, and at least half the house after the show. I said it before (somewhere in another thread): Clay was fine, but his fans were creepy. The best part for me was AFTER the show when my usher forced his way out of a side door knocking a few of these "Claymates" on their butts. I enjoyed that more than the show!

[Clayford27]

Posted: 1/22/08 at 10:54am

Thank you for this thread. It's nice to see Clay's performance actually being discussed, rather than having three different hate-threads that only discuss his fans and his sexuality. I'm really glad some people are willing to give Clay a fair shake in this. I've heard some good things so far and I will be seeing the show later this week. Can't wait! :)