Delaney Benson, Meridien Terrell, Claire Kennard, and Lindsay Lee Alhady (Photo by Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman)
Reviewed by F. Kathleen Foley
Hollywood Pantages Theatre
Through April 12
RECOMMENDED
The cast of “Spamalot” (Photo by Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman)
Spamalot, currently running at the Hollywood Pantages, is not for the easily offended.
Written by Eric Idle with music by Idle and John Du Prez, the show takes aim at “takes aim at everyone from Jews to gays to the “woke,” to an incontinent commander-in-chief — you name it. For the particularly sensitive, that kind of equal opportunity offensiveness may not land. Others, however, will find the evening a solid hoot.
However, the more niggling problem is that Spamalot, which had a long and successful run on Broadway over 20 years ago, is showing its age, with jibes and jokes that sometimes seem more mild than scathing. A sequence about a knight “coming out” may have once felt cheeky but now seems more a relic than biting satire. A bit about putting on a Broadway show, an endeavor that first requires locating an essential Jew — a scant commodity in these medieval times — is particularly problematic.
Even so, on the whole, the show is entertaining. And the fact that it is based on Monty Python and the Holy Grail, possibly one of the top five most hilarious comedies ever committed to film, serves as a solid basis for an evening of blissfully silly escapism — a gift to be treasured in these troubling times.
Those who saw the original National Tour in 2009 will be impressed by the sheer technical glitziness of this reboot. Most eye-catching among the superb design elements are Paul Tate and dePoo III’s set and projection designs and Jen Caprio’s costumes, which range from muddy peasant attire to dazzling Vegas-style showgirl outfits.
Director and choreographer Josh Rhodes reprises his staging from the 2023 Broadway revival (which might not have run for four years, as did the revival which preceded it, but managed a respectable five months before closing). However, he’s lumbered, in part, by the material. The breathless first act whizzes by, but the second act is weighed down by overplayed gags that should have been trimmed.
Sterling-voiced Major Attaway delivers a solid turn as King Arthur, while Sean Bell’s Sir Robin is the undisputed riot of the evening. Amanda Robles, who plays the Lady of the Lake, is the best singer in the cast.
Certain effects, such as the famous scene in which Arthur severs an adversarial knight’s limbs, and another in which a deadly bunny, personified here by a bloody-jawed puppet, decapitates its foes, are examples of clever stagecraft at its best. Those scenes, among others, reach a peak of the hilarity that typify the enduring comical panache of Spamalot.
Hollywood Pantages Theatre, 6233 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood. Tues.-Fri., 7:30 pm; Sat., 2 and 7:30 pm; Sun., 1 and 6:30 pm, through April 12. www.broadwayinhollywood.com 2 hours, 30 minutes with intermission.
