Monty Python’s Spamalot – Fifth Avenue Theater

I have to confess, I’m not a huge Monty Python fan. I don’t dislike them, I just haven’t seen the tv series or movies outside of Life of Brian. But I’m familiar enough to know what I was in for with Monty Python’s Spamalot: silly, gag-filled, toilet-humor mocking establishment while still being smart and super-funny. With songs. Spamalot was nominated for a lot of Tonys in 2005, winning Best Musical, so I was looking forward to this.

There is a small semblance of a plot. It’s 932 AD and King Arthur, recently made King by the Lady of the Lake, is putting together his Knights of the Round Table. Despite ongoing disrespect and unhelpful encounters, King Arthur gathers Sir Galahad, Sir Lancelot and others and is quickly given a Quest from God himself: find the Holy Grail. (If you are looking for historical accuracy, you won’t find it here.) We follow King Arthur and his merry band on further adventures, most of them surreal and absurd, filled with more disrespect, irreverence, dumb plans, and outlandish characters. And more songs.

I enjoyed the sets and costumes. Many of the songs were silly as expected, the most well-known being Always Look on the Bright Side of Life. The performers for King Arthur and Lady of the Lake had quite nice voices, and were able to show it off in a few places. (Fun fact, Mexican born actress Sara Ramirez from tv’s Grey’s Anatomy won a Tony for this role.) There were many, many jokes. Many I’m sure I missed, but I particularly enjoyed the pokes at musical theater. A lot of the songs had a strong resemblance to well known musical number with multiple scenes calling out musical theater tropes. There were a number of local call outs (Go Seahawks!) and the show had been slightly updated since 2005 as we got to hear some Bad Bunny.

This is a musical, but this is a show to see for the humor, not for the songs. And while I’ve seen much, much edgier shows, some of the jokes and gags might not be for everyone. As I mentioned, I haven’t seen the movie and, if you’re a Monty Python purist, I can’t weigh in on how closely it hews and honors the movie.  But It’s overall a very fun time, and the audience was laughing throughout.