#1
Posted: 5/23/05 at 4:32pm
Sunday, May 22, 2005
Matinée
"Spamalot, Scamalot"
What happens when you mix a hilarious movie, a bunch of "named" actors, and the rudest audience ever? Well, in one word, Spamalot. But don't be fooled. Somehow the equation also causes a long, drawn out show which makes you read to fall off your seat asleep! Does Spamalot live up to the hype? No. Does it live up to its movie counterpart. No.
This season, we have had a lot of comedies open on Broadway. You know things have gone terribly wrong with Spamalot when you walk out of the theatre saying, "Well, All Shook Up was a lot funnier." Yet somehow, this is what I did. Spamalot is mindless fun that leaves empty.
Somewhere in Spamalot, in the second act, the show suddenly became downright stupid and made me very uncomfortable. Not in a good, Cabaret way. But in a, "Dear G-d (or John Cleese as it were), when will this theatre-mocking trite end?"
The score is passable, even a lot of fun. The lyrics are funny and witty, but get old quickly. In the movie, there was no character called "Lady of the Lake" (in fact, there was no female lead in the movie). I don't know what I would have done if Eric Idle did not create this female character. Sara Ramirez stole the show right out from under the "British knights dancing around in wooley tights." She was a sparkling gem in a pile of cow dung, most likely created by the flying cow. Hank Azaria also stood out as the belligerent knight Lancelot and the tauning French Taunter. This, the French castle, scene along with all of Sara Ramirez's bits, most notably the Phantom of the Opera (aka "Song That Goes Like This") and "Diva's Lament" scenes, David Hype Pierce Pierce's "How to Succeed on Broadway," and Michael McGrath's Patsy were just about the only enjoyable moments of the show.
Now that the Tony nominations have come out, I must say I feel horrible for David Hyde Pierce, whose performance was infinitely better than Tim Curry's. Curry could have fallen off the stage through the Lady of the Lake's trap door fall I could care - he added nothing to the show. In fact, he was more bloody annoying then anything. Sure he made me laugh, rather smile, but that was mainly because I couldn't understand how he was nominated. He did almost nothing to be outstanding and even less to impress. Of the actors nominated, only Azaria and McGrath are deserving of the nomination and Sara Ramirez is deserving of the win.
The sets were all very well done and very predictable. There was nothing overly special about them (as is the case with the whole show). Mike Nichols' direction was funny, but again, just funny. The most of the show was staged well, I was waiting for something extravagent to happen. The only thing of extravagence to occur was my loss of $100.
As I said before, the score and lyrics were good, not great. Fun and enjoyable, but that's it. I laughed, but wasn't floored, as in such a show as, well, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.
When Spamalot was first announced, many people sad that this will attract non-theatergoers to Broadway. Perhaps this was the worst thing that could have happened. The audience of Spamalot was obnoxious, rude, and lacked any ounce of theatre-etiquette. More than 5 times I was forced to turn around and tell people behind us to be quiet. Their children were arguing, the little kid in front of me kept standing on the chair and his mother did not seem to care.
When I leave a show I usually can tell how much I liked it by whether or not I would see it again. Maybe it's because I cannot stomach sitting in a crowd of inconsiderate pricks, but I will not return to Spamalot (at least not at fall price).
Congratulations to Sara, Hank, David, Michael for standing out in an over-produced, undeserving-of-any-recognition, show.
-------
As far as the Tony's go: DRS is far more deserving of the Tony than Spamalot. As for which is funnier, the answer is simple. DRS floored me with laughed. I could feel my gut about to explode. Spamalot made me laugh, but that's all. It had no feeling or emotion like DRS.
Matinée
"Spamalot, Scamalot"
What happens when you mix a hilarious movie, a bunch of "named" actors, and the rudest audience ever? Well, in one word, Spamalot. But don't be fooled. Somehow the equation also causes a long, drawn out show which makes you read to fall off your seat asleep! Does Spamalot live up to the hype? No. Does it live up to its movie counterpart. No.
This season, we have had a lot of comedies open on Broadway. You know things have gone terribly wrong with Spamalot when you walk out of the theatre saying, "Well, All Shook Up was a lot funnier." Yet somehow, this is what I did. Spamalot is mindless fun that leaves empty.
Somewhere in Spamalot, in the second act, the show suddenly became downright stupid and made me very uncomfortable. Not in a good, Cabaret way. But in a, "Dear G-d (or John Cleese as it were), when will this theatre-mocking trite end?"
The score is passable, even a lot of fun. The lyrics are funny and witty, but get old quickly. In the movie, there was no character called "Lady of the Lake" (in fact, there was no female lead in the movie). I don't know what I would have done if Eric Idle did not create this female character. Sara Ramirez stole the show right out from under the "British knights dancing around in wooley tights." She was a sparkling gem in a pile of cow dung, most likely created by the flying cow. Hank Azaria also stood out as the belligerent knight Lancelot and the tauning French Taunter. This, the French castle, scene along with all of Sara Ramirez's bits, most notably the Phantom of the Opera (aka "Song That Goes Like This") and "Diva's Lament" scenes, David Hype Pierce Pierce's "How to Succeed on Broadway," and Michael McGrath's Patsy were just about the only enjoyable moments of the show.
Now that the Tony nominations have come out, I must say I feel horrible for David Hyde Pierce, whose performance was infinitely better than Tim Curry's. Curry could have fallen off the stage through the Lady of the Lake's trap door fall I could care - he added nothing to the show. In fact, he was more bloody annoying then anything. Sure he made me laugh, rather smile, but that was mainly because I couldn't understand how he was nominated. He did almost nothing to be outstanding and even less to impress. Of the actors nominated, only Azaria and McGrath are deserving of the nomination and Sara Ramirez is deserving of the win.
The sets were all very well done and very predictable. There was nothing overly special about them (as is the case with the whole show). Mike Nichols' direction was funny, but again, just funny. The most of the show was staged well, I was waiting for something extravagent to happen. The only thing of extravagence to occur was my loss of $100.
As I said before, the score and lyrics were good, not great. Fun and enjoyable, but that's it. I laughed, but wasn't floored, as in such a show as, well, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.
When Spamalot was first announced, many people sad that this will attract non-theatergoers to Broadway. Perhaps this was the worst thing that could have happened. The audience of Spamalot was obnoxious, rude, and lacked any ounce of theatre-etiquette. More than 5 times I was forced to turn around and tell people behind us to be quiet. Their children were arguing, the little kid in front of me kept standing on the chair and his mother did not seem to care.
When I leave a show I usually can tell how much I liked it by whether or not I would see it again. Maybe it's because I cannot stomach sitting in a crowd of inconsiderate pricks, but I will not return to Spamalot (at least not at fall price).
Congratulations to Sara, Hank, David, Michael for standing out in an over-produced, undeserving-of-any-recognition, show.
-------
As far as the Tony's go: DRS is far more deserving of the Tony than Spamalot. As for which is funnier, the answer is simple. DRS floored me with laughed. I could feel my gut about to explode. Spamalot made me laugh, but that's all. It had no feeling or emotion like DRS.
Updated On: 5/23/05 at 04:32 PM
I didn't know if I would, but I adored it (and thank goodness for that, as it was the main reason for my trip to NYC, which entailed airfare, hotel and myriad other travel-related charges, in addition to a full priced orchestra seat ticket). As for your opinion of Tim Curry's performance...well, I won't even go there. Suffice it to say we disagree. 
I felt bad reading it, but opinions are what they are - and since it's all subjective, it's not like anyone can be proven "wrong". To me, his performance was exactly what it needed to be. For your sake, more than for his, I'm sorry you didn't feel that way. That being said, I very much enjoyed all the other performers as well - no exceptions. 
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