Spamalot first post-Tony performance

I saw the Palo Alto Players' production yesterday. If anyone is still interested in the lyric change, it's the Betty Ford line Chairinmain noted. It got next to no laughs, and the Britney Spears reference got even less. I wonder if they should swap out her name to someone more current. It's always the issue of using pop references in lyrics. They soon become dated and no longer generate responses.

I really love this show, and I was never that much of a MP fan. I saw the tour in San Francisco and laughed my butt off, due to some degree because the audience was laughing just as much. And they were clearly MP fans because the instant a particular beloved character appeared, the laughing and applause started. When the tour came back around, this time to San Jose, I took a different friend and the response was the same.

Now I've seen Spamalot twice in local productions. I almost feel awkward laughing at many points, because the audiences just are not responding. Both times it wasn't until the Laker Girls number they sort of came alive. Not one person seemed to get the Phantom of the Opera staging reference. Frankly, I laugh through the entire swallow-coconut patter, just the absurdity of it all. I wonder if people don't respond if they think there is some deeper meaning to it all. There isn't! Just go with it.

By the way, the Black Knight only loses his arms. He remains on stage during the "Alms/Arms for the Poor" lines, after which Arthur and Patsy clop off. The Knight just sort of slinks off in defeat. The other local production had a few wardrobe malfunctions with the legs falling off at the beginning. Maybe directors just say bugger it and only do the arms today.

I feel as well the size of the audience has to do with generating more buzz and laughter. The tours in the big houses: lots of laughs; the smaller local houses, not so much.

Anyway, speaking of being dated, maybe this post of mine referencing a ten-year old show is too. LOL

I think if you look on the Wikipedia page it says the line change