Bring out your dead and your not dead yet ? “Spamalot” can revive them.
Spamalot, the Tony Award-winning musical at the Hippodrome Theatre, stars Michael Siberry as King Arthur with his merry, idiotic men.
Based on the movie “Monty Python and the Holy Grail,” the two-act comedy forces audiences to laugh at the silliest, stupidest situations.
Lead by Siberry, the Knights of the Round Table leave their Vegas-style Camelot near the end of the well-paced first act to find the Holy Grail and their individual fates. The second act reveals each performer?s unique personality.
“Spamalot” is truly funny, from the traditional fish-slapping dance to the blessing of a hand-grenade to acerbic, sexualized Frenchmen.
Misunderstandings among characters (“the Holy Grail is not a quail,”) are comedic gold mines for the entire cast. Eric Idle?s script gives diehard Monty Python fans what they want ? coconuts for horses and catapulting cows ? but keeps the tone fresh.
Siberry, primarily a straight man, occasionally sounds like a slurring Thurston Howell III from “Gilligan?s Island” but his off-accent is easily forgiven by a smooth, commanding performance.
Robert Petkoff as Sir Robin is cry-laughingly funny, especially with his minstrels and during his musical number, “You Won’t Succeed on Broadway.” Petkoff is the quintessential showman while explaining that a Gentile stage production simply must have Jewish cast members to do well.
Audiences may bust a gut listening to Christopher Sutton as Prince Herbert serenade his white knight, and rise in their seats for Jeff Dumas? tap dancing number.
The Lady of the Lake, played by Pia Glenn, throws down with her operatic pipes and comedic talentsas the female lead. Glenn overacts and gestures for laughs, singing up and down the scale like a combination drunken lounge singer, Broadway diva and cracked out Mariah Carey.
The sharp musical laces its quirky and humorous dialogue with lessons, but stops short of cramming morals down the audiences? throats.
A twist at the end with audience participation gives the successful show a thrust to the finish line, ending at just over two hours.
IF YOU GO
» Venue: Hippodrome Theatre
» Times: Through March 18, Tuesday-Saturday, 8 p.m.; Saturday,
2 p.m.; Sunday, 6:30 p.m.
» Tickets: $32-$77
» More info: 410-547-7328 or www.BroadwayAcrossAmerica.com
