Interview: Amanda Robles Talks Vocals, Comedy, and Touring with SPAMALOT

Currently on her first national Broadway tour, Amanda Robles is making a splash as the Lady of the Lake in Spamalot, a role known for powerhouse vocals, sharp comedy, and a constant connection with the audience.

The show will play the Segerstrom Center for the Arts February 17–22 before returning to Southern California for a run at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre March 24–April 12.

Blending Monty Python’s trademark silliness with over-the-top musical numbers, Spamalot was nominated for 14 Tony awards when it debuted in 2005, winning three—including Best Musical. The show follows King Arthur and his bumbling Knights of the Round Table as they embark on a quest for the Holy Grail.

The cast includes Major Attaway (Aladdin) as King Arthur, Sean Bell (Harmony) as Sir Robin, Chris Collins-Pisano (Forbidden Broadway) as Sir Lancelot, Ellis C. Dawson III (Hamilton) as Sir Bedevere, Leo Roberts (Les Misérables) as Sir Galahad, Amanda Robles as The Lady of the Lake, Blake Segal (Mary Poppins) as Patsy and Steven Telsey (The Book Of Mormon) as The Historian/Prince Herbert.

Robles, a Connecticut native, chatted with BroadwayWorld about what surprised her most about the show, how the offbeat humor plays in different cities, and the backstage moments that keep the cast laughing.

Hi Amanda! Congratulations—this is your first Broadway touring role, right?

Yes!

What a way to start! How does that feel?

Honestly, it's an honor. Something that my friends always say: there are no overnight successes. For me, it's like my hard work has paid off. This is something that I'm ready for, and I do not take for granted at all.

Amazing. How long have you been on the tour?

We opened December 1. So, two months and two weeks. It's been a while.

For people who haven't seen Spamalot, give me your best one-line description of the show.

Every dad joke you can ever imagine is in this show. I think this one is definitely for the dad. There is not a performance where I'm not in the wings and I'm not cracking up on what they're doing on stage. This is definitely a show for the dads.

Tell me a little bit about your role as the Lady of the Lake.  

It's not in the movie, obviously. She is in the story of King Arthur and the Holy Grail, but not in “Monty Python and the Holy Grail.” She is talked about—this mythic, I would say like a siren almost. She gives the sword to King Arthur, makes him king, and kind of puts him on this quest.

But in the show, she is the only female part of the whole show, with the exception of the female ensemble. She is kind of their guide through this quest. And is the embodiment, in my mind, and what I view as a character: just every nerd's perfect woman. That's who she is.

That's a lot of pressure for you.

It is, but with these boys, they make it easy for me. They really do.

Tell me what you learned about yourself as a performer that you didn’t really know before you stepped into this.

Even during the audition process, you have to go, and you sing the songs. You sing the songs over and over. And one thing Josh Rhodes, our director, said to me was, “Amanda, you're such a good singer, but I need you to exaggerate your imitations of people. . . . you have to put on the ham,’ which is something that I kind of had to learn how to push through that comedic wall. I don't have a lot of formal training in comedy. . . . With the vocal stamina and stuff like that—that's what you train for, and I trained for that, but not so much the ham part of it. And I'm still learning, because every audience is different. 

Is it different from city to city? Do you notice any changes in how the audience reacts?

You can definitely tell when we're on the East Coast and when we're on the West Coast. And you can also definitely tell with the audience, too, which is a Tuesday night performance rather than a Sunday matinee. 

Is there anything that surprised you, stepping into the show? 

Especially with Lady of the Lake, I didn't know how taxing it was or what you had to do backstage to stay warm. Because between “The Holy Grail” and “Whatever Happened to My Part?” that's 45 minutes I'm backstage not doing anything. So I definitely had to navigate how to stay warm, how to navigate my voice, and then navigate my voice on two-show days, too. 

That's hard. I never had to sing this sporadically and this much of my range with any other show. I'm like, ‘Oh, crap, I’ve got to warm up now,’ or, ‘I have to start getting ready.’  

Tell me about these amazing costumes you get to wear. 

I just think I have the best costumes in any production ever of any Broadway show. They are so beautiful, so fit to my body. They are gorgeous, but you look closely and you're like, ‘No, that's a salmon belt. She definitely has a fish for a belt.’

That’s a great Easter egg. Any other little details people should look for?

With the girls' costumes, when we first enter for the “Laker Girls” and stuff like that, if you look really closely, they're bubbles with seaweed attached to them. Something that's really cool with the boys: the chain link is actually fabric. It's just a thick fabric—but that chain link is original—it’s 20 years old—which is pretty amazing.

Monty Python humor is such a specific kind of humor. Do you think the show still has the same appeal today as when it first launched?

My introduction to Spamalot was in high school on YouTube—I saw Sara Ramirez singing it for the first time at the Tony Awards. But my aunts came from Puerto Rico when we were in Hartford, they came to see me, and they just laughed. They thought it was so funny because it was the physical comedy of it, the language of it—even though some of it is a lot of British humor—it's just the pure dad joke of it all. That's what told me it was timeless. It's relevant. 

It was made in a time when, with comedy, you could kind of insult everybody, and everybody could have a laugh at it. I think we've forgotten that a little bit. . . . And it's a show we need right now, because you really go to the theater to forget and be entertained. And that's something that I think Spamalot still does.

Tell me the funniest thing that’s happened on stage that wasn’t supposed to happen.

I've had moments where I've been so tired, I've actually said the wrong city. And they'll tell me after; they're like, ‘Yeah, you said Detroit. We're in Seattle.’

OK, I have a friend who used to be in Spamalot, and he told me to ask you about the scatting part in the “Camelot” number.

That was probably my most nerve-wracking part during rehearsals! I am not really a scatter. I do a lot of jazz when I sing, but I'm not a really big improviser. You have to improvise the whole thing when you're scatting, so I went through a lot of options in my head, and finally I asked Josh, is it okay if I just imitate a lot of artists and string some of their biggest hits together? And he was like, yeah, let's do that.  

How long are you scatting?

Honestly, maybe like 40 seconds until I start up with the song again. 

How much do the actors improvise or change the dialogue in the show?

There are definitely sections that Josh gave the boys where he was like, ‘This is your open door. Just know when to close it.’  

Tell us where that happens, so we can look for it.  

“Nights of Nee” does it. Lancelot also does it in “French Taunter.” Steven does it at the end with the “Killer Rabbit.” 

That must keep things interesting for the cast! 

Yeah. There's a different demographic in every city. When I was in Detroit, I did Aretha Franklin rather than Madonna. It keeps us always thinking, which I love.

Even vocally, there are times that I'm not feeling my greatest and I'm like, no, we're going to opt up here, or we're going to opt down here. It keeps it fresh. I haven't gotten sick of this show, and I think we've done like 80-something performances already.

OK, rapid-fire questions! Just answer these with the first thing that comes to your head.

OK. 

First musical you ever loved.

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

Go-to pre-show ritual.

I have to have some Sour Patch Kids.

Dream role you haven't played yet.

Clara in The Light in the Piazza.

Hardest moment in the show, vocally or comedically.

Definitely “The Holy Grail.”

Hot tea or vocal steam?

Vocal steam.

One word to describe the cast.

Honestly, the sweetest. They really are.

One costume or prop you’d steal from the show if you knew you wouldn’t get in trouble.  

My Grail dress. That Grail dress is—I’ll be surprised if that thing isn't in the museum someday. 

What would you want to be if you weren’t an actor?

An FBI agent.

Thank you so much, Amanda! I can't wait to see the show! 

Thank you!

Spamalot plays at Segerstrom Center for the Arts from February 17 to 22, 2026. The show will then go to The Hollywood Pantages from March 24 to April 12, 2026.

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