SPAMALOT To Play The St James This Fall — Page 11

I wonder how concerned they are about Jesse Green critics notebook - "Can These Three Much-Loved Musicals Ever Be Truly Revived?"

“Candide” in an opera house. “Spamalot” and “Rent” cheek by jowl with Shakespeare. But treating them as classics may not be doing them justice.

OUCH 

I mean, the cast is good, but honestly the material isn't something that's going to be elevated by the cast. Spamalot just is what it is... 

ACL2006 said: "Lady of the Lake is the only difficult role to sing. Every role requires comic timing and abilities. I've seen enough community theater productions of this show and most have pulled off the humor in this show. Unlike The Producers which requires a solid actor to play Max and Roger De Bris."

Leslie is the only one who would get me to see this. And Christopher Fitzgerald just going to do Igor again? It's like just the same character. Hunched over sidekick to the hero who plays his conscious. 

Jordan Catalano said: "I've now been told by three completely unrelated people that they're waiting to cast that last role until they have a better idea of if "Shark is Broken" will complete it's full run.


Read into that what you will..."

I just heard the same thing.

if i'm reading between these implied lines correctly, I'll be getting Spamalot tickets if it pans out that way.............

Based on the reviews and grosses of The Shark is Broken, I have a feeling Alex Brightman will be back as Lancelot...

SPAM will need to pull the trigger on casting by like Sept 15 at the latest (rehearsals begin October 2). It's not like SHARK's Sonia Friedman is going to bend over backwards to appease SPAM's Jeffrey Finn or Brightman. It's only on sale through 11/19, but the reviews won't help their anemic sales, and they surely lost some money in their 2 weeks of previews. Whether it lasts 6 weeks or 20 weeks shouldn't have much of an impact on licensing –– regionals & community groups still might want to do this based on the JAWS connection.

Brightman might mean slightly more in a musical comedy than a play, but it's still a microscopic name value, so the head-scratching about everything related to this revival continues.

As for the question about Shaw and his impact on the closing: he'll have no input. He's not the lead producer of it

Updated On: 8/11/23 at 04:05 PM

This show is obviously being brought in so the Jujamcyn flagship house doesn't sit empty all winter. Could it be that this show is also a placeholder for something else waiting to take that theater in the spring that's not ready to come in yet? Any ideas? 

Jordan Catalano said: "I've now been told by three completely unrelated people that they're waiting to cast that last role until they have a better idea of if "Shark is Broken" will complete it's full run.


Read into that what you will..."

If Shark runs past a time when Alex Brightman could be comfortably put into Spamalot as Lancelot, And that seems like a big iff although stranger things have happened, who do we see them casting as Lancelot?  I don't see SHARK allowing Alex Brightman to withdraw from the role., or replacing him.  Of course, if Shark heads out to sea in the short term my question is rendered moot.

 

I dunno, I thought it was pretty cool that LMM sent me a slightly angry private message on BWW like ten years ago - now he’s too famous to care what I think, ha ha.

RippedMan said: "Seems like they're hoping for a "Into the Woods" type hit with well-known Broadway actors playing the leads, which might work if word-of-mouth is good. I mean, Ethan Slater is in the news - not for good reasons - but Ariana Grande coming to the opening could make for some good press."

Aside from seeing ITW at NYCC and not having seen Spamalot, I can't persuasively argue why it feels like there's less momentum and the announced names (James Monroe Iglehart, Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer, Michael Urie, Christopher Fitzgerald, etc.) feel less impressive than the Into the Woods cast. Is it more actors who have had supporting roles? My instinct is that Heather Headley and Sara Bareilles tipped the scales. Even though everyone had theater experience, the ITW cast felt like a blend of musical influences. It was sonically diverse. The original Spamalot cast was a blend of comedic influences. The revival cast is solid but I kind of know what to expect.

akhoya87 said: "If Alex Brightman comes back to Spamlot, does that mean this production will be the first musical on Broadway to:

Huzzah