SPAMALOT - Help!- Page 2

Posted: 5/3/08 at 10:57pm

NO! WBAF has spoken- you CAN NOT like this show. Please, do not try to defy him. He KNOWS.

And FOR GOD'S SAKE do NOT remind him how many people say you HAVE to watch Xanadu (THE MOVIE) before you can enjoy his beloved show XANADU (THE MUSICAL). PLEASE. No one tell him that. No telling what he'd do.

Now everyone, just agree with him and move on.

[clever name]

Posted: 5/3/08 at 11:07pm

I saw both Tim Curry and Jonathan Hadary. I think when I saw it with the original cast it was almost overwhelming. When I saw it last week with the current cast, I just enjoyed the show for the show's sake...Am I making any sense?

[LimelightMike]

Posted: 5/3/08 at 11:45pm

So ... Hadary and the bunch aren't good?

I mean, OBC is OBC ... It's special, but replacements (in more and more cases, nowadays) outshine to some degree. I'm *sure* Hadary ain't Curry, but yeah ... I think that's what you mean?

[LimelightMike]

Posted: 5/4/08 at 12:04am

B-B-B-b-b-b-UMP

[flaemmchen]

Posted: 5/4/08 at 9:52am

No, I think that person was saying that it was more enjoyable because he wasn't so focused on the big "names."

I didn't see the original cast, so I can't really compare, but I thoroughly enjoyed Hadary as Arthur. He really understands the Python sense of humor and succeeds in making Arthur kingly but slightly, and endearingly, dim.

I also think it's a good cast to see right now. Hannah Waddingham and Tom Deckman particularly shine.

[SpellingBeeFan4Ever]

Posted: 5/4/08 at 11:34am

I saw Spamalot with the OBC in Chicago before the movie (even though I owned it) and I loved it anyways.

[My_Candle]

Posted: 5/4/08 at 3:14pm

I've heard about plenty of people who had no Monty Python background but loved the show. I did watch the movie and didn't care for it much. I loved the show and the entire cast.

I thought Jonathan Hadary did a fine job as King Arthur, but I also saw Anthony Holds play the role and I enjoyed him very much. He had a younger take on the part and it fit in well with the show.

The cast is great. You just can't beat Tom Deckman, Rick Holmes and Hannah Waddingham.

[Mythus]

Posted: 5/4/08 at 4:49pm

Rick Holmes and Tom Deckman are incredibly entertaining. If you end up not liking the show (though I hope you do!), I guarantee you'll at least leave liking them, haha.

As for the seats, I think they're fantastic. I've sat up close in the orchestra, farther back in the orchestra, and in the mezz, and I can honestly say I liked the closer up (row C, seat...109, maybe?) seat much better. (And on the tour, I've sat in the mezz, and in the upper, upper balcony...and boy, you don't want that far back.) You really won't miss anything, in regard to the set. The stage is high, but it's not that high - you won't be straining your neck to see. Sitting closer really involves you in the show (not literally, of course), and it makes for a much more enjoyable experience, I have found.

As for Robert Petkoff, I haven't personally seen him, but several of my friends did on tour and they had nothing but good to say about him.

Also, Marianne2, it was Chris Sieber's third time in the role, not second. He just keeps coming back, haha.

Oh, and Jonathan Hadary! I've seen him twice, and he's one of my favorite Arthurs. He's been in the role for over a year now, and he hasn't started phoning it in or getting bored with the role. He also has very good diction, which I know is a random thing to comment on, but I saw Michael Siberry twice as well (on tour) and the second time, a year later, he was slurring his lines so much that even I (who could recite the show in my sleep) wasn't quite sure what he was saying.

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 5/4/08 at 4:59pm

I'm completely with WBAF on this one.

I laughed only when Sara Ramirez was onstage to be quite honest. She stole the show for me and from what I hear every one of her replacements have been almost as good. The show itself is MAJORLY flawed and I didn't find about 70% of the show very funny. It's also about 25 minutes too long.

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 5/4/08 at 5:00pm

PS: I miss Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. Ten thousand times more funny than Spamalot and the best musical comedy of the last few years. It deserved a much longer run.

[LimelightMike]

Posted: 5/4/08 at 5:26pm

I agree with your SCOUNDRELS statement.
Definitely deserved a MUCH MUCH longer run at the Imperial.
Nevertheless, I feel somewhat inclinded to give SPAMALOT a chance - I'm sure I'll find enjoyment - It *is* a musical after all ... I have a tendency to like 'em, y'know? Hee!

[TIGGOSAURUS]

Posted: 5/4/08 at 6:16pm

Spamalot was my first Broadway musical for 18 years and kick-started my twice-or-thrice yearly return visits to NYC to see shows. I'm glad I got to see it with the OBC, but I have also enjoyed the replacements I've seen (particularly Hannah Waddingham who I saw in London).

I was never a huge Python fan and when I watched Holy Grail after Spamalot, I still didn't enjoy it that much. But I loved Spamalot and I'm extremely grateful it lured me back to Broadway!

[clever name]

Posted: 5/4/08 at 7:52pm

-No, I think that person was saying that it was more enjoyable because he wasn't so focused on the big "names." -
Yes flaemmchen said it better than I did. But that's what I meant. I really loved this cast. They were all very good.

[Cartwheel]

Posted: 5/4/08 at 8:10pm

Chris Sieber is in the audience tonight, as well as Mike Nichols.

Stage door from this afternoon:

[flaemmchen]

Posted: 5/5/08 at 5:49am

I really didn't want to like Spamalot, because as far as I was concerned, it stole the Tony from my beloved Piazza, but I was in hysterics within seconds and by the end, I was a fan. I think it was the fact that it's not the cheap humor of The Producers that really won me over.

I hope you enjoy, Mike!

[Cartwheel]

Posted: 5/5/08 at 1:43pm

From Playbill:

"Robert Petkoff, who played Perchik in the most recent Broadway revival of Fiddler on the Roof, will join the Broadway cast of Monty Python's Spamalot May 6 at the Shubert Theatre.

Petkoff will step into the roles of Sir Robin, Guard 1 and Brother Maynard, according to a show spokesperson. He succeeds former "American Idol" contestant Clay Aiken, who played his final performance May 4.

Petkoff joins a cast that currently includes Tom Deckman, David Hibbard, Jonathan Hadary, Rick Holmes, Bradley Dean, Steve Rosen, Hannah Waddingham, Kevin Covert and Matthew Crowle.

Robert Petkoff has been seen on Broadway in Fiddler on the Roof and Epic Proportions and Off-Broadway in More Stately Mansions. He appeared in The Royal Family in the West End, on tour with Spamalot and in productions of Tantalus, The Importance of Being Earnest, Sunday in the Park With George, Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet. Petkoff's screen credits include "Milk & Money," "Loverboy," "Game Day," "Chappelle's Show," "Law & Order," "Hack," "Quantum Leap," "Married With Children" and "Mona.""


Fiddler's Petkoff to Join Broadway's Spamalot May 6