Posted: 11/1/23 at 10:04am
I'll be seeing this at the end of the month - it'll be my first Broadway show! Love all things Monty Python, love this show (saw it at Stratford this past summer), and am excited to check out this production.
Posted: 11/1/23 at 10:09am
Yeah there seemed to be a ton of adlibbing last night, some of which was funny, some…not so much. But they need to keep a watch on that because if they were doing that much last night with a very receptive audience, when the crowds aren’t that “into it”, I can see them easily going way overboard with it to draw them in.
Posted: 11/1/23 at 2:57pm
BorisTomashevsky said: "bwayphreak234 said: "This is essentially a strange half-baked “hybrid” between the original production and an Encores! production."
Just what I imagined. We’re getting more regional-feel, bus & truck-ish revivals, like they’ve been getting in the West End for a while."
At the same time, I would say the gap between Broadway and the upper echelon of regional theatres has narrowed a lot over the years, and I wonder if what we expect from Broadway in terms of scale and quality has gone up because of how good some regional productions are.
Posted: 11/1/23 at 4:50pm
Rentaholic2 said: "At the same time, I would say the gap between Broadway and the upper echelon of regional theatres has narrowed a lot over the years, and I wonder if what we expect from Broadway in terms of scale and quality has gone up because of how good some regional productions are."
But also pricing. If I can pay $55 for an orchestra seat to GATSBY at PaperMill and see that and more or the stage, I should expect something bigger for the value of my Broadway ticket. (I paid $63 on TDF, but it was a $199 seat)
Posted: 11/1/23 at 6:24pm
ARIANA GRANDE was there last night....she was mobbed....
Posted: 11/1/23 at 7:07pm
BETTY22 said: "ARIANA GRANDE was there last night....she was mobbed...."
This the exact opposite of what other posters have said.
Posted: 11/1/23 at 11:32pm
-is this the next groundbreaking revival? No
-is this a fun 2.5hrs at the theater? Yes
- I want to hate Ethan slater because he’s a slimeball but he’s just too damn talented
- you can tell the audience doesn’t know whether to laugh or be upset during “you won’t succeed…”
i walked past two girls after the show and one was trying to convince the other that the show show wasn’t being hateful toward Jewish people
Updated On: 11/2/23 at 11:32 PM
Posted: 11/2/23 at 12:04am
nativenewyorker2 said: "- you can tell the audience doesn’t know whether to laugh or be upset during “you won’t succeed…”
There's a very small percentile who enjoys a dancing Gentile...
Posted: 11/2/23 at 12:55am
BETTY22 said: "ARIANA GRANDE was there last night....she was mobbed...."
Simply untrue. I was right by her and saw maybe 3 people come up and ask for pictures. I walked behind her on the way out and not a single person even stopped her. Liz Gillies was also there.
Posted: 11/2/23 at 9:49am
For the stage door-curious, a bunch of us from the first preview went back last night. Kritzer, Smagula, Killam and Walker all signed, Slater, Urie, and Fitzgerald did not. Iglehart went out the side but I bumped into him on sidewalk as I was walking away from the theatre and he was kind to humor my request.
Posted: 11/2/23 at 10:56am
quizking101 said: "For the stage door-curious, a bunch of us from the first preview went back last night. Kritzer, Smagula, Killam and Walker all signed, Slater, Urie, and Fitzgerald did not. Iglehart went out the side but I bumped into him on sidewalk as I was walking away from the theatre and he was kind to humor my request."
So you have no problem with chasing down and "bumping into" an actor who clearly was not interested in participating in stage door meet & greets"??
This is why we can't have nice things...
Posted: 11/2/23 at 11:06am
nativenewyorker2 said: "-is this a fun 2.5hrs at the theater? Yes
2.5 HOURS?!!! Spamalot has always been a 2-hour show. Please tell me this is a typo and that they didn't pad out an extra half hour. That would be excruciating.
Posted: 11/2/23 at 11:07am
Yes, asking him to sign a playbill is akin to stalking him through the mail, killing his friends and staff and hiding backstage and attempting to murder him like in that film.
Posted: 11/2/23 at 11:25am
bjh2114 said: "nativenewyorker2 said: "-is this a fun 2.5hrs at the theater? Yes
2.5 HOURS?!!! Spamalot has always been a 2-hour show. Please tell me this is a typo and that they didn't pad out an extra half hour. That would be excruciating."
my phone said 10:25 at curtain call
Posted: 11/2/23 at 11:30am
JSquared2 said: "quizking101 said: "For the stage door-curious, a bunch of us from the first preview went back last night. Kritzer, Smagula, Killam and Walker all signed, Slater, Urie, and Fitzgerald did not. Iglehart went out the side but I bumped into him on sidewalk as I was walking away from the theatre and he was kind to humor my request."
So you have no problem with chasing down and "bumping into" an actor who clearly was not interested in participating in stage door meet & greets"??
He said nothing about "chasing down" anyone. You hallucinated that. Reading is fundamental.
This is why we can't have nice things...
Because you make up problems that don't exist? Okay.
Posted: 11/2/23 at 11:34am
nativenewyorker2 said: "bjh2114 said: "nativenewyorker2 said: "-is this a fun 2.5hrs at the theater? Yes
2.5 HOURS?!!! Spamalot has always been a 2-hour show. Please tell me this is a typo and that they didn't pad out an extra half hour. That would be excruciating."
my phone said 10:25 at curtain call"
That's about what time the first preview was done too if I recall correctly. The first act is very short - just a minute or two shy of one hour. Second act definitely felt a little longer (not sure how long it actually was). I think the show is advertised as two hours and twenty minutes.
Posted: 11/2/23 at 12:26pm
quizking101 said: "For the stage door-curious, a bunch of us from the first preview went back last night. Kritzer, Smagula, Killam and Walker all signed, Slater, Urie, and Fitzgerald did not. Iglehart went out the side but I bumped into him on sidewalk as I was walking away from the theatre and he was kind to humor my request."
James is such a sweetie. I was waiting for an actor at 59E59 at a play years ago and he was also waiting for someone. I told him how much I loved him in Memphis and he could have not been more lovely. I hope he gets more comfortable in the role soon.
Posted: 11/2/23 at 1:29pm
Jordan Catalano said: "Yes, asking him to sign a playbill is akin to stalking him through the mail, killing his friends and staff and hiding backstage and attempting to murder him like in that film.
"
For real - like idk what JSquared is on to make sure a conjecture. I’ve been stage dooring long enough to know when it’s intrusive and/or not appropriate. I asked and even said “May I please, if not, that’s okay”.
It was happenstance. I got lucky. Yeesh.
Posted: 11/5/23 at 12:54pm
I've been in Spamalot three times so I feel like I know the material pretty well, and while I enjoyed myself seeing the show last night, something felt... off? I really can't quite put my finger on why.
Part of it was defintely the set. Lord, can we PLEASE just get some big splashy broadway sets?? I'm sick of projectons. Although I do sort of get it for this show, I wish at least there would have been some more color. The browns and grays were just so boring.
Michael Urie was definitely my standout of the show. His comedic timing was perfect to me and he was just an absolute delight to watch prance around on stage. Slater was also really good. Everyone hit the mark but tbh no one really knocked it out of the park for me.
All the updated jokes were solid, the best certainly being the pronounciation of knights, which is a joke that has fallen flat literally every other time I've seen or peformed the show, so glad they found a way to make that work.
Overall it was a fun night at the theater for $40, but I wouldn't necessarily want to pay more than that. Seemed the audience was filled with mostly Monty Python fans, as the people behind me kept saying "Ni!" as soon as the knights who say Ni came onstage.
Posted: 11/5/23 at 1:16pm
I love seeing Broadway cross over onto these huge entertainment sites. Ariana seem at the show also got coverage in PEOPLE, US WEEKLY, EW.......fabulous
https://www.tmz.com/2023/11/01/ariana-grande-swarmed-fans-seeing-boyfriend-ethan-slater-spamalot-broadway/
Posted: 11/5/23 at 2:22pm
bwayphreak234 said: "I'll be there as well - for those wondering, I won the LuckySeat lottery and got last row balcony (which is a little surprising considering I only got one ticket, and there are MANY unsold seats in other sections)... Still looking forward to this, though!"
I just won the lottery for tomorrow night and you're making me nervous.
It might be rush tickets are the smarter way to see this show on a budget.
Posted: 11/5/23 at 2:34pm
Jonathan Cohen said: "bwayphreak234 said: "I'll be there as well - for those wondering, I won the LuckySeat lottery and got last row balcony (which is a little surprising considering I only got one ticket, and there are MANY unsold seats in other sections)... Still looking forward to this, though!"
I just won the lottery for tomorrow night and you're making me nervous.
It might be rush tickets are the smarter way to see this show on a budget."
If it makes you feel any better my lotto seats for Thursday night were Orchestra Row F Seats 14/16.
Posted: 11/5/23 at 2:40pm
frogs_fan85 said: "Jonathan Cohen said: "bwayphreak234 said: "I'll be there as well - for those wondering, I won the LuckySeat lottery and got last row balcony (which is a little surprising considering I only got one ticket, and there are MANY unsold seats in other sections)... Still looking forward to this, though!"
I just won the lottery for tomorrow night and you're making me nervous.
It might be rush tickets are the smarter way to see this show on a budget."
If it makes you feel any better my lotto seats for Thursday night were Orchestra Row F Seats 14/16."
Lol, it really does, thanks!
Most of my experience with LuckySeat lottery in the last year has been winning the Funny Girl lottery, only to get a follow up email that Lea Michele won't be performing. So where ever the seat is, that's not happening this time.
Posted: 11/5/23 at 4:42pm
I brought family into town to see this and was surprised by how much this disappointed me. And we were all very familiar with Monty Python.
The Good: Michael Urie, Chris Fitzgerald-- both incredible. Ethan Slater? Absolutely nailing it onstage at every turn. Nick Walker was great for Act 1 and you could tell the audience missed his presence more in Act 2. The music of this show is always a great earworm.
The Meh: It was like James Monroe Iglehart was in a different show than everyone around him. Felt disappointed since he was such a fantastic genie... but this fell flat. I like Leslie Kritzer, but there were some moments that really didn't work for me. Taran Killam was... there.
The Bad: The direction... You know it's a problem when two of my non theatre peeps thought the direction was the weakest part. The book is a Monty Python inspired mess, but a good director can make the chaotic sensible. Act 1 felt like a complete mess, where Act 2 felt more like a musical that had been rehearsed. Genuinely, if they had just given all fan service, everything would've felt more coherent. Instead, it felt like it needed another week of rehearsal.
For a bit... we thought maybe we misremembered Spamalot? Nope, we just felt this production was perfectly serviceable. $59 for mid mezzanine was the perfect price.
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