Hank Azaria Sabatical from Spamalot

Well, he's smart to do it AFTER the Tony Awards. He'd be a longshot to get a Tony nom if he took a sabatical in the middle of the first months of the run.

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Is he known for missing shows?

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He is not missing shows - he is leaving the production for a set amount of time to film episodes of the Showtime show Huff which he produces and is stars as the title character.

Very disappointed that he did not schedule this better. But no press release states the dates he will be out.

SFF, it does say that in the original post that he was leaving to film Huff.

The comment about missing days was about Curry, which I know nothing about.

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Sorry, it was a long day. I did not read who wrote the original post! I thought you were someone else. :)

I apologize.

But I am not sure about the dates. Hopefully someone else will know.

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Your information was very helpful and makes me feel better. Any tidbit of information is a help. And it makes me feel better that they are making an effort to bring in a worthy replacement.

Not to denigrate standbys or understudies - but I really wanted to see Hank Azaria and if I cannot see him, I would prefer it to be someone I know. Goodness knows, I have seen my share of understudies and they have really impressed me (in the original Dreamgirls, Jennifer Holliday was out but all the other originators were there that night and her understudy was INCREDIBLE). But Hank is one of my favorites and I would be greatly disappointed if he were gone when I see the show.

out of wonder does anyone know how he'll keep up with his simpsons voice work while doing this show? (other than putting a recording booth in his dressing room)

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Well the standby is John Bolton, who was in "The Opposite of Sex" last year and was in the original cast of "Titanic." I saw him as the Scarecrow in a regional production of "The Wizard of Oz" a year and a half ago and loved him. I also worked with him in a benefit and he was very nice and his rendition of "She Loves Me" is one of my favorite memories in theatre. So if he happens to get to go on for that time Azaria is out, he is up to it. I'm sure he will do well whenever he has to go on for any of the three.

Does anyone know where I can find information on this? I am going to call Telecharge tomorrow (Sunday) to find out if they have this listed. They usually do post this when tickets are being purchased if this is arranged ahead of time.

I think it kind of sucks when they push the names of the cast members and then don't come clean on planned outages. Sort of like a bait and switch thing. I can understand if it is short notice due to illness or personal issues, but this is scheduled and planned in advance.

Just to take my rant a little further.... Imagine you see all the awards Million Dollar Baby got at the Oscars. You pay $100 to see the movie and after you buy your ticket, you find out that an alternative print of the movie is being shown for 2 months with Chris Rock instead of Morgan Freeman.

I just think it's bad business to charge $100 plus without stating a featured star is planning to be out. I actually planned my whole vacation trip around this show - I bought the ticket before I got airfare or had my vacation approved (I live in SF, CA and come to NYC once a year for theater).

I could understand if it had been playing for a year or even six months. Jeez - like they/he didn't know his shooting schedule for Huff before offering/taking the role?

Updated On: 3/20/05 at 02:43 AM

I was talking to David Hyde Pierce yesterday and he said that all of the performers in Spamalot are contracted thru December 21st and Hank would leave mid-June and return after a month or two. Also, I heard that there was orginally talk that Michael McGrath would step up for Hank's role while Hank is gone, but the producers were so happy with his Patsy they might not.

Hank, while in the run of SPAMALOT, records his voice in a recording studio in New York for THE SIMPSONS, and his dialogue is added into the final product.

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Is the theatrical success of Spamalot as closely tied to Azaria as that of The Producers was to Lane and Broderick? Overwhelmingly, this is a Monty Python show. And the movie analogy is off and you know it.