Spamalot Tour last night...

[Bdwy24]

Posted: 5/7/07 at 5:17pm

So, I saw the Spamalot tour last night in Buffalo. What a great show. So stupid but fun. What great roles for the cast. They get to do so much and never seem to stop working. What I really enjoyed is that I couldn't tell each of their characters apart. Basically, I couldn't tell that Not yet Dead....also plays the historian and also plays Herbert. They all do a GREAT job of coming up with totally different characters.

It was Pia Glenn's last performance as Lady of the Lake. She did a GREAT job. The cast bowed down to her when she took her final bow and brought out a bouquet of roses. It was cute. Best of luck to her....

[IdinaBellFoster]

Posted: 5/7/07 at 5:49pm

I saw the show on the 2nd, and I did not like it. I thought the show was very good, but the actors and actresses voices could not fill out the score. Pia being one of the main ones. Her soprano was not very easy on the ears, yet she did really blow me away with her Act 2 solo.

I don't know, maybe it was just me. But congrads to her none the less, I could tell she was giving it her all.

[thejcm]

Posted: 5/7/07 at 6:08pm

Does anyone know who is taking over for Pia? I'm seeing the show in a couple weeks here in Louisville and I really hope the Lady of the Lake is amazing.

[Tag]

Posted: 5/7/07 at 7:59pm

I remember seeing Pia a while ago (last summer?) and I thought she was horrible. Her Diva's Lament left much to be desired. Perhaps I was just accustomed to Sara's rendition on the OBCR but Pia wasn't even comparable in my opinion.

[Broadway Dancer]

Posted: 5/7/07 at 8:16pm

Thanks for the review! And I'm seeing the tour on Saturday, so I'd love to know who's playing the Lady of the Lake now.

[Andante]

Posted: 5/7/07 at 9:09pm

I saw Pia in March, and though I'd never seen the show before then, I thought she did a bad job of playing the Lady of the Lake. She didn't seem over-the-top enough for me, and her vocals hurt my ears. Didn't make them bleed, but pretty close.

[ohjustjake]

Posted: 5/7/07 at 9:56pm

I saw it last Saturday in Rochester, and at first I didn't like her much either. But then I really started to like her rendition of Find Your Grail. I'm so used Sarah's voice singing it, but then half way through, I really liked what she was doing to it, making it her own. I thought she did great.

And I agree, I totally could not tell that they played multiple parts. Especially Patrick Heusinger (sp) - I thought he was great as Sir Lancelot. And then I noticed he played like 10 other roles also, and he was awesome in ALL of them. I really wanted to see him after the show but I was with my school and we had to go.

[Bdwy24]

Posted: 5/8/07 at 8:51am

I dont think there really is a score to fill out in Spamalot. It's a heavy acting show. You dont need to have amazing vocals. I think the only one who needs to be decent is Lady of the Lake, which I think Pia was. yeah, shes no sara ramirez. But she did a FINE job of making it her own.

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 5/8/07 at 9:06am

Does the tour have a lotto??? Or student seats?

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 5/8/07 at 10:23am

A few people have said that they are "used to Sara Ramirez's voice." So if you are biased towards her voice and how she acts, you're going to be disappointed with the other actresses who step into the role.

I've only seen Pia Glenn and Lauren Kennedy in the role, both who have gotten somewhat mediocre reviews on this board. Ironically, some of these people who gave the so-so reviews are also accustomed to Sara's rendition. Sara's performance was obviously mind-blowing (again, I haven't seen her perform live, so I cannot fully judge, but I have seen numerous videos of her), and she even won the Tony.

As someone who hasn't seen Sara's whole take on the role, I enjoyed Lauren and Pia's renditions. Yes, Lauren may not have had the voice Sara had, but she had a softer take on the role and exuded a sort of elegance that was enjoyable to watch onstage. And with Pia, I enjoyed her "don't mess with me" attitude and thought she did fine in the role, though I sort of agree that the other cast members outshined her and she left something to be desired. Overall, there was nothing terribly wrong with any of these women's performances. It's just a matter of how accepting you are to someone's take on the role, and I think a lot of viewers expect every Lady of the Lake to act and sing just like Sara.

Updated On: 5/8/07 at 10:23 AM

[Parks]

Posted: 5/8/07 at 11:14am

Ah, I was wondering if she was going to be in the show when it came to Dallas! From what I saw of her, I was not a fan of her performance. Anyone know who's the next Lady of the Lake?

[Broadway Dancer]

Posted: 5/13/07 at 2:55pm

Esther Stilwell, the understudy, has been promoted. Her voice was fine, but I don't think she had enough of a diva attitude. When she used it, it was great. Patrick Huesinger (Lancelot) and Robert Petkoff (Lancelot) were the stand-outs for me.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 5/24/07 at 1:04pm

Houstonist review: http://www.houstonist.com/archives/2007/05/23/review_tuts_spa.php

[HOUFlip04]

Posted: 5/25/07 at 12:40am

I just saw the tour here in Houston. Esther Stilwel was excellent as the Lady of the Lake. I actually liked her BETTER than Sara Ramirez (gasp!). Yep - I think her voice was stronger.

The entire show was great and I've never seen the original movie - and I still enjoyed it. Great mindless fun!

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 10/24/07 at 1:26am

A little ouch, LOL: http://seattlest.com/2007/10/22/a_bit_creepy_sp.php

[Pascal/Menzel/Bundy]

Posted: 10/24/07 at 10:26pm

I'll be seeing this soon, so thanks for the reviews!

[JRybka]

Posted: 1/3/08 at 10:18pm

SO for Christmas my partner bought us tickets to see SPAMALOT. Being that this is Washington DC and affording anything more then ramen noodles we got tickets in the VERY LAST ROW of the Balcony. I have say that the seats at the National Theater were really good. We were smack dab in the middle. And we saw everything!
So now for the show...
My partner thought the guy who played Lancelot was hot. (go figure!)
I have to say that I thought it was absolutely hysterical. The cast really did a great job for being a Wednesday Night. (That is not a knock but you know it is just a random Wednesday instead of the weekend... and having been in shows myself, I know that sometimes on a random midweek.. you tend to lazy yourself.... or maybe it was just me.. lol)

ANYWAY...
I am really bad with names so I am going to call them by their charactors...

King Arthur was very good. I enjoyed him and he had great timing.
I was VERY VERY VERY dissapointed with The Lady in the Lake. She might have just been having a bad day but she really seemed to just go thru the motions. It was kind-a upsetting but she was still good. I guess I just had such high hopes for this charactor. Lancelot was great and I thought he was the cute one out of the group.... (okay that is not a review of the actor but he WAS hot!)
Sir Dennis had the strongest of the voices and really was amazing singing... I have to give LITL props when she sang with Sir Dennis as they did a great job.

All in all a great show.
I will review more tomorrow or this weekend.

[kec]

Posted: 1/4/08 at 8:10am

Interesting comments Millie. I haven't seen the Broadway production, but I saw the London production twice, once in previews. I was familiar with the music as I had been given the Cast Recording for my birthday, so I was familiar with Sara's voice. However, Hannah Waddingham, who play the Lady of the Lake in London, just completely impressed me. I actually liked her voice much better than the one on the CD.
Updated On: 1/4/08 at 08:10 AM

[lusciouslace]

Posted: 1/4/08 at 9:42am

JRybka- Thank you for your review! I'm in DC, also. I've been trying to get to Spamalot since it's been here and just haven't made it yet. Since it's leaving on this weekend, it's now or never and I was just sitting here thinking about seeing it tonight. I'm so glad to read that overall it was really good...I'd love to hear anything else you thought about it.

Thanks!

[JRybka]

Posted: 1/4/08 at 9:15pm

Okay more about the TOUR in Washington DC...

The cast:
Christopher Sutton was very funny and a really great danceer as NOT DEAD FRED and as Prince Herbert. I really enjoyed him very much.
Michael Siberry as King Arthur had a great singing voice and was very good in his timing. I noticed that he played off the other actors very well.
James Beaman is and was adorable as Sir Robin. (He is the one that my partner thought was really cute!) He was excellent and did a great job with "You Won't Suceed on Broadway"... how he did all that singing and dancing and praning around and then just kept going.. (but then again I am not a peite person so that would have exhausted me...)
Patrick Heusinger was a laugh as Sir Lancelot when he started to get the homo-moments when he rescued Prince Herbert and then came out...
Ben Davis was really very good as Sir Dennis. He had a much deeper voice then I expected when he sang but it was very nice and rich and full.
The lady in the lake... let me repeat that i am a HUGE ENORMOUS fan and totally and madly in love with Sara Ramirez so I have to say no one could possibly play the lady of the lake like her... so I was dissapointed with Esther Stilwell as TLITL. My partner thought she was excellent. I will say she grew on me mand by the end she was better but again, maybe she was just having an off day but I did feel she walked thru the big 2nd act number "Diva's Lament"-- it was a bit of a downer.
The rest of the cast was full of energy and some of the jokes where so funny that I felt that I lost a couple of others as I was laughing so hard.
One thing that I have to say was.. I noticed a LOT of jewish people in the audience... andd if you want to ask how I knew.. they had their yarmulka on.. and the biggest laugh of the night was not the Broadway number but when patsy admited he was jewish and king arthur wanted to know why he had not told him this... I will not ruin it but the answer is HYSTERICAL and so damn funny! It got a roar of approval and applause.

Okay the orchesta... very good. The sound was excellent. I was very very pleased with them. Felt like i was listening to the cd.
Anyone want to know anything else just let me know