Howard Panter for The Ambassador Theatre Group and Bill Kenwright present Monty Python's Spamalot: A new musical lovingly ripped off from Monty Python and the Holy Grail by Eric Idle and John Du Prez on their UK Tour from May 29th 2010.
Really, really famous and much loved TV actor Todd Carty will bang two coconuts together in the UK Tour of Spamalot, joining the cast as Patsy. He will start off in Wimbledon and then drag himself onstage at every venue on the tour, until he bunks off after High Wycombe (possibly).Todd Carty will play Patsy from May 29th until November 13th. You might recognise him from a BBC TV show called Grange Hill (Tucker!) which he starred in for five years and which resulted in his very own spin off series, Tuckers Luck. He's also been on a few other famous TV shows, he played Mark Fowler in EastEnders (never heard of it!) and some other bloke in The Bill. More recently he has reinvented himself as a director and ice skater."The most infectiously funny musical of the millennium" (Eric Idle), Monty Python's Spamalot, will begin a sweeping tour of the UK in May 2010. Lovingly ripped off from the classic film comedy Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Spamalot is an almost-new musical with a book by Eric Idle and an entirely new score, (well, almost) created by Eric Idle and John Du Prez.
The UK tour will begin on May 29th in Wimbledon and stagger wend its way through the UK to Nottingham (Sherriff approved, Robin not welcome), Glasgow (pending Scots uprising), Brighton (unless captured by the French), Bromley, Manchester Opera House, Leeds (the ever so Grand Theatre), Newcastle (in a special black and white version), Southampton (see Brighton), Stoke, Liverpool, Aberdeen, Cardiff (sheep go half price), Sheffield, Bristol, Woking (where?!), Northampton, Edinburgh (assuming the Scots behave), Oxford, Torquay, High Wycombe, York and (Ye Olde) Milton Keynes before settling down for four weeks at the Alexandra Theatre in Birmingham for the Christmas season (Season of Goodwill - Bring Gifts!!). In 2011 it will move on to yet more theatres, including the new state of the art Waterside (home of the Lady of the Lake) in Aylesbury"The Holy Grail of Musical Theatre" The Daily Grail
Audiences all around the world have been roaring with laughter since Monty Python's Spamalot won the Tony Award for Best Musical in 2005. Spamalot tells the legendary tale of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table and features a bevy (or possibly a brace) of beautiful show girls, witch burnings (cancelled due to health and safety) not to mention cows, killer rabbits and French people. The show features fantastic tunes which are catchier than the plague He Is Not Dead Yet, Knights of the Round Table, Find Your Grail and of course the Nation's Favourite Comedy Song (Reader's Digest Poll 2009) Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life.The nation's favourite Nancy, Jodie Prenger, will open the tour in Wimbledon as The Lady of the Lake, before dates at the Churchill Theatre in Bromley, Brighton Theatre Royal, Manchester Opera House, Sheffield Lyceum Theatre and Liverpool Empire. "Funnyman" (Marcus Brigstocke's mum) Marcus Brigstocke will play Arthur, King of the Britons from Wimbledon to Liverpool inclusive. Everyone's favourite Python (After John and Michael) Eric Idle will star as God - at least he's voice will, he is too lazy to appear in person. Further dates and full(ish) casting will be announced soon.
Spamalot will be directed by Christopher Luscombe (if he can find the time) and designed by Hugh Durrant (if he can find the drawing board). Jenny Arnold will choreograph an unlikely group of non-dancers; and Simon Beck will attempt to supervise the music. Lighting design will be by Nick Richings provided no one steals the follow spots.TODD CARTY was born in Ireland and began his career at the age of four in London. He made his stage debut at the New London Theatre, Drury Lane, were he played the leading role of ‘Lionel' in the musical based on Lionel Bart's life. Todd's first major television role was playing the lead of ‘Tucker' in BBC TV's Grange Hill for a period of five years, which proved so popular that he was then offered his own series playing ‘Tucker' as an adult in Tuckers Luck. Todd is perhaps best known for his role as the central character in ‘Mark Fowler' in the BBC's award-winning flagship drama series EastEnders a role he played for 12 years. Todd went on to play the regular role of ‘P.C Gabriel Kent / David Kent' in Talkback / Thames Television's drama The Bill, ‘Ray Hallam' in the Christmas special of Heartbeat and ‘CameRon Cook' in the BBC's Casualty. He also appeared with his son James in C4's Dangerous Adventures for Boys. More recently Todd played the role of ‘Det. Insp. Hallet' in the UK tour of The Business of Murder, directed several episodes of Doctors for the BBC and made an ‘unforgettable appearance' in ITV's prime time entertainment show Dancing on Ice. He went on to appear in the UK tour of the show. He also directed the film A Perfect Burger for the British Youth Film Academy which is due for release this year.
MARCUS BRIGSTOCKE Marcus's talent was noted early on in his career in 1996 when he won the BBC New Comedian Award at the Edinburgh Festival. He is now regarded as a major comedy, writing and acting talent, performing stand up nationally to sell out audiences both on tour and on the well trodden comedy circuit. BBC Radio 4 has become somewhat of a second home to Marcus with regular appearances on The Now Show and Just A Minute; He has also written and recorded three series and four specials of his hit show Giles Wemmbley-Hogg Goes Off. Marcus has notched up an impressive list of TV credits including his role as team captain on Argumental (DAVE), and host of The Late Edition and I've Never Seen Star Wars (BBC FOUR). Other appearances include; Have I Got News For You (BBC ONE), QI (BBC TWO), Sorry I've Got No Head (BBC ONE), The Late Edition (BBC FOUR), and the 11 O'Clock Show (Channel 4). Marcus is the master of satirical comedy and has proved to be blisteringly funny over a wide range of topics including; Climate Change, Religious Extremism, Immigration, Loans Companies, The Special Relationship, Compensation Culture, Women's Magazines, The EU and David Blaine, not to mention his own personal battle against his middle class roots.
Jodie Prenger landed the role of Nancy in the revival production of Oliver! at Theatre Royal Drury Lane having won BBC 1's I'd Do Anything. Spamalot will be her first musical theatre appearance since finishing in Oliver!. For that performance, Jodie won the 2010 Whatsonstage Theatregoer's Choice Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Musical. She is a regular presenter of The Midweek National Lottery on BBC1. Her other television appearances include GMTV, Daily Cook's Challenge, Loose Women, Children In Need, Guesstimation, As Seen On TV, All Star Family Fortunes, Tonight's the Night and New Year's Eve Live 2008. Jodie has appeared on BBC Radio 2 covering for Elaine Paige and Paul O'Grady as well as co-hosting with Graham Norton for Children in Need 2009. Hers concert appearances include Thank You for the Music, BBC Radio 2's tribute to ABBA, The Friday Night Is Music Night James Bond Special and The BBC Radio 2 Andrew Lloyd Webber 60th Birthday Party, The RAF Benevolent Fund Gala, and Bryn Terfel's annual Faenol Festival in north Wales. Jodie can be heard duetting on John Barrowman's new album the track So Close from the movie Enchanted and has an autobiography, My Story, out now.
Eric Idle (Book, Lyrics and Music) has hyphenated his way through life as a writer-actor in the movies and TV shows of Monty Python, as creator-actor-director of The Rutles, and as singer-songwriter on stage at Carnegie Hall, the Hollywood Bowl and two highly successful tours of the US with John Du Prez: Eric Idle Exploits Monty Python (2000) and The Greedy Bastard Tour (2003), where they journeyed 15,000 miles across North America in a Rock and Roll bus (see The Greedy Bastard Diary). Spamalot won the Tony for Best Musical of 2005, and a Grammy for Best Soundtrack and has appeared on Broadway, on Tour in the US, in The West End of London, in Las Vegas at The Wynn Hotel and somewhere in Australia. Not The Messiah (He's A Very Naughty Boy) a comic Oratorio based on The Life of Brian, written with John Du Prez, received its world premiere in Toronto in June 2007, premiered in the US soon after and toured Australia and New Zealand and ended up at the Hollywood Bowl. His play What About Dick? had a short try out in LA and Rutlemania! The Tribute Concert a celebration of 30 years of The Rutles opened in March 2008.
John Du Prez (Composer). A Trevelyan Scholar at Christ Church, Oxford, and Associate of the Royal College of Music, he entered the film industry in 1978 composing additional music for Monty Python's Life of Brian. This began a long association with Eric Idle, leading eventually to their current writing partnership. He has scored more than 20 feature films including The Meaning of Life, A Private Function, A Fish Called Wanda, Once Bitten, UHF and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles I, II and III. Other Python projects include the Contractual Obligation Album, Monty Python at the Hollywood Bowl and The Fairly Incomplete & Rather Badly Illustrated Monty Python Song Book. He was musical director for Eric Idle's two North American stage tours, Eric Idle Exploits Monty Python (2000) and The Greedy Bastard Tour (2003). MONTY PYTHON Is he God or Godot, an agent of the devil or an agent of the William Morris Agency, or is he, as some have argued, a fictitious character invented in 1969 by Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin in a desperate attempt to find a title for their rather silly TV show? Whatever the truth, he is the eponymous impresario who fronts "The Flying Circus," The Holy Grail, The Life of Brian, The Meaning of Life, And Now for Something Completely Different and who appeared Live at Drury Lane, City Center and the Hollywood Bowl. He has fronted numerous books including The Big Red Book and The Papperbok as well as many CDs, DVDs and matching ties and handkerchiefs. He is currently in retirement in an old jokes home near Dover, anxiously awaiting Nighthood and a Knightnurse. www.PythOnline.com
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Mon 06 December - Sat 1 January 2011 BIRMINGHAM ALEXANDRA THEATRE www.alexandratheatre.org.uk Box Office: 0844 847 2302 To be continued...
