#1
Posted: 4/1/09 at 9:35pm
I saw the Spamalot Tour this past Tuesday night in Cleveland. I will update sometime tomorrow with a more official review, but I just wanted to share some of my thoughts.
First of all, this was my third time seeing Spamalot. I first saw it on Broadway in March '06 with Simon Russell Beale, Lauren Kennedy, and David Hyde Pierce and Hank Azaria on their last weekend. I then saw it again on tour in Cleveland in October '06. Now, I was looking forward to seeing it this time, but not dying to see it for a third time. But it was as good as when I saw it on Broadway, actually.
First, Richard Chamberlain, who I thought was really just cast for "star power", was actually quite brilliant. He had a great singing voice, and could really move for 75 (which I know because the cast brought on a cake at curtain call, after which the entire audience sang happy birthday, with backup from the orchestra!)
Second, Merle Dandridge was absolutely fantastic. Easily the best Lady of the Lake I've seen/heard/watched online. She had some insane vocal runs, even singing Baby Got Back during the Camelot song. And her Diva's Lament was so phenomenal. It even blew Sara Ramirez's version out of the water, which I thought would be an impossible task.
The rest of the cast was also very good, and overall, the whole evening was just a lot of fun. It was something of a shock, since I figured that a show that had been on the road for so long would be in weaker shape, a la the Hairspray tour I saw in February. Fortunately, the show is in great shape, and is still so funny it hurts.
Another thing I noticed for the first time was Prince Herbert's "Another Hundred People" spoof. Just another priceless moment that it took me three times to pick up on.
First of all, this was my third time seeing Spamalot. I first saw it on Broadway in March '06 with Simon Russell Beale, Lauren Kennedy, and David Hyde Pierce and Hank Azaria on their last weekend. I then saw it again on tour in Cleveland in October '06. Now, I was looking forward to seeing it this time, but not dying to see it for a third time. But it was as good as when I saw it on Broadway, actually.
First, Richard Chamberlain, who I thought was really just cast for "star power", was actually quite brilliant. He had a great singing voice, and could really move for 75 (which I know because the cast brought on a cake at curtain call, after which the entire audience sang happy birthday, with backup from the orchestra!)
Second, Merle Dandridge was absolutely fantastic. Easily the best Lady of the Lake I've seen/heard/watched online. She had some insane vocal runs, even singing Baby Got Back during the Camelot song. And her Diva's Lament was so phenomenal. It even blew Sara Ramirez's version out of the water, which I thought would be an impossible task.
The rest of the cast was also very good, and overall, the whole evening was just a lot of fun. It was something of a shock, since I figured that a show that had been on the road for so long would be in weaker shape, a la the Hairspray tour I saw in February. Fortunately, the show is in great shape, and is still so funny it hurts.
Another thing I noticed for the first time was Prince Herbert's "Another Hundred People" spoof. Just another priceless moment that it took me three times to pick up on.
"Art, in itself, is an attempt to bring order out of chaos."-Stephen Sondheim
