December 17, 2004

Spamalot rehearsals: everybody's laughing

New Yorker gives us a curtain raiser to Spamalot, the musical adaptation of "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" that starts in Chicago Dec. 21 and moves to Broadway's Shubert Theatre for previews February 14. The New Yorker story, penned in a rather straight-forward style by Dave Eggers, (whose "Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius" was loved by everyone in the world but me,) reports from the 42nd Street rehearsal space where it seems just about everyone in the room is cracking up. Everyone save for a few of the dancers who "read along with confused, frozen smiles," living testament that some people will just never get Python. The concern is Broadway may be in the same boat. But the risks don't seem as long considering the success of "The Producers," "Urinetown" and "Avenue Q." The show has been approved by all the Pythons, though it's a work conceived by Eric Idle, who acknowledges routine challenges in bringing the movie to Broadway.

“We thought we’d be able to get a pair of dwarfs, but it was prohibitively expensive,” Idle said. “You’d think you’d be able to get them for half price, but no.”

December 17, 2004 01:44 PM in Broadway

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