Perhaps the day the new letters went up at the John F. Kennedy for the Performing Arts was not the best time to catch a show. A dark cloud hung heavy not only over the arts institution, but over DC in general, an all-time low for morale or faith in our elected officials loomed heavy. Amidst all the controversy and anger, the national tour of Monty Python’s Spamalot was premiering this week and try as they might, the troupe was handicapped by social and political affairs a mere two weeks after every red carpet celebrity maintained “We’re here for the arts. Not for Politics,” before the 2025 Kennedy Center Honors. It is unfair to this ridiculously talented and game company to put them in front of an audience fraught with the day’s baggage when they are just trying to put on a should-be-hilarious, frivolous over-the-top broad musical comedy.
And nothing says “frivolous, over-the-top broad comedy”—in all the best ways, of course—than the epitome of the genre, the Tony Award Winning Monte Python’s Spamalot (as the credits bill it, “lovingly ripped off from the motion picture Monty Python & the Holy Grail” by the Ringmaster of the Flying Circus himself, Eric Idle, with music by John DuPrez and Idle. The farcical comedy starts in the playbill before the on-stage shenanigans even commence). So I have to praise this company immensely for giving what amounts to an amazing performance, because they too were very aware of the situation of the theatrical world. In the following days the Actors’ Equity Union made a full scale call for all to abandon their contracts with the Kennedy Center
And it’s a shame because this show should have been a happy homecoming for this troupe, who basically were born here in May of 2023 as the finale of at then the best-to-date of the Kennedy Center’s former crown jewel, their critically acclaimed Broadway Center Stage Series, with an all-star cast of the best of Broadway and Hollywood with stars like James Monroe Iglehart, Lesley Kritzer, Michael Urie, Alex Brightman, Rob McClure, and Matthew Saldivar.
Later that year, the successful production was another first for the prestigious Kennedy Center series when they transferred the show to Broadway with the bulk of the star-studded cast intact. But there was no star power lost as Taran Killam and Tony nominees Christopher Fitzgerald and Ethan Slater joined to replace Urie, Saldivar, and McClure respectively, who had other professional commitments (Brightman returned in January of ’24 when his commitment in The Shark Is Broken was closed). Kritzer picked up a Best Featured Actress Tony Nomination for her role as the Lady of the Lake. When the National Tour of this production was announced, their was much pride in it returning to its original home for a hero’s reception. Then opening week, the new Ric Grenell-led board, in yet another poor decision–the poorest yet–threw a blanket over everything with their “unanimous” vote to rename the 50-year-old memorial institution after its current president.
So, once again, the Grenell board, no strangers to daily controversy, once again sabotaged their own show {ask where the highly esteemed and award-winning Broadway Center Stage series is?) and tainted the national spirit, which was very apparent in the seats that were sold (the show, which packed the 2300 seat Opera House in 2023, was moved to the smaller 1500 seat Eisenhower Theatre due to lagging ticket sales, which is plaguing the Kennedy Center under this regime; there were still may open seats). The audience which howled two years ago laughed pleasantly at the show, which is no less funny, and even though the names are not the star caliber of their multiple Tony-nominated predecessors, are just as thoroughly enjoyable and funny.
Major Attaway (Aladdin, Little Shop of Horrors) is the perfect King Arthur to headline the comic nonsense onstage. In the mold of Iglehart (who he also followed as the Genie on Broadway), he is authoritative, with a strong voice and perfect dry comic timing. His Arthur is a natural leader for this accomplished troupe of zanies and a strong center to the show, a job that in lesser hands is thankless. Attaway shines.
Chris Collins-Pisano (Elf), has the comic gift track of the show as a Sir Lancelot with anger management issues augmented with all of the best character cameos in the show (all of which he fully delivers). While he is slightly low energy with the Lancelot character, lacking a bit of the conceited buffoonery that is written into the role, he more than makes up for it when his satellite characters explode off the stage, especially his scenery chewing first act finale French Taunter, throwing sophomoric barbs and “rude gestures” at Arthur and his band of prospective knights with the most ridiculous over-the-top French accent. Probably the most popular segment of the movie, Collins-Pisano delivers every bit of absurdity and raucousness that the fans expect. His other appearances as the legendary Knight of Ni and Tim the Enchanter are also comically exaggerated to hilarity. Collins-Pisano got the comic award of the night for turning lemons into lemonade with the best on stage ad lib of the show (there are several). The Knight of Ni nonsense is built in to have a bit of day-of levity when, upon their return, he reveals they are no longer called the Knights of Ni. They are now the Knights of “Ecky-ecky-boing-boing-followed by multiple other syllables and phrases that draw inspiration from the daily headlines and pop culture. When Collins-Pisano finished his treacherous and funny improv, and Attaway successfully duplicated it, Collins-Pisano, without missing a beat, added “We just changed it today!”, and immediately turned to the audience continuing “What?! It was unaminous!!” Needless to say he got the biggest laugh and applause of the night.
Steven Telsey (Barry Manilow’sHarmony, The Book of Mormon), likewise shines in a showy tract that starts out with the stodgy Historian who narrates the transpiring sketches and ends with a hilarious effeminate Prince Herbert dealing with his daddy issues on his wedding day, being held in a tower and forced to marry a girl against his will. Also a very versatile performer, he also sets the pace of the show at a steady gallop with high energy and some really fancy footwork in his second appearance as Not Dead Fred, in a full elaborate vaudevillian song and dance routine as he flat out refuses to die. He finishes his track as an obnoxious, scene-stealing minstrel singing a very violent ode to Sir Robin.
Amanda Robles, in her national tour debut, has a long career ahead of her as a most gifted comic actress and powerhouse vocalist. Here she gets the chance to show off all her immense talents as the Lady of the Lake, who reappears throughout the show (or doesn’t…) with the best string of songs in the score that flaunt her entire musical repertoire. From “Come to Me” (the seductive siren), to “The Song That Goes Like This” (poking fun at Andrew Lloyd Webber’s big overblown ballads), the reprise of that song in the Camelot segment (as a Liza Minelli-esque Vegas lounge singer), the quasi-inspirational “Find Your Grail” (sending up every pop vocal diva ever from Patti LaBelle and Jennifer Holliday to Christina Aguilera and Mariah Carey), and culminating with her second act literal show stopper “Diva’s Lament”, where she interrupts the act to break the wall and communicate her frustration over her lack of stage time since intermission. This tour de force power ballad was another giant ovation. The audience had indeed not forgotten her. (A dated reference to Britney Spears needs updating, but that’s not on her; Robles delivers the number in spades).
Sean Bell (Barry Manilow’s Harmony, The Beacon), takes center stage and provides constant laughs as the affable but delicate Sir Robin, the potential Knight who has the desire but maybe not the stomach for the job. He excels at delivering Idle’s dim humor in classic segments as an inept body guard and Robin requiring very specific instructions regarding the Holy Grail. But he gets his leading man moment to shine in his second act production number “You Won’t Succeed on Broadway” which in the course of 5 minutes manages to skewer every cliché associated with musical theatre. His 11:00 pivotal turn as Brother Maynard (Keeper of the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch) is just a finishing touch on an already noteworthy performance.
Blake Segal (Mary Poppins) gives Attaway strong support as his servant Patsy, who plays a great second fiddle the entire show until granted the opportunity to deliver the most famous song from the movie, the unofficial theme “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life”, leading a full chorus of tap dancing members of a previously seen number. He also gets the whole farce off to a lively start as the Finnish Mayor in the silly/fun false-start opener “Fisch Schlapping Song”.
Rounding out the Round Table candidates, Leo Roberts (Mrs. Doubtfire) as belligerent anarchist Dennis Galahad matches wits with Iglehart in one of the funniest classic bits of dialogue from the movie, as he debates the political state of monarchy and the absurdity of establishing a King based on being handed Excalibur (“Soggy old blondes with the backsides in ponds can’t replace the electorate”). He also excels in another iconic segment as the menacing Black Knight, whose bark is way worse than his bite, and Prince Herbert’s fed-up father desperate to marry his son off against his will for some non-swamp land. But best of all, beyond doubt, Roberts’ Dennis inadvertently answered the tone for the evening early on in scene 3 when he received the biggest unplanned laugh during his rapid fire political banter with Arthur when he drops the classic retort “You’re foolin’ yourself! We’re living in a dictatorship. A self-perpetuating autocracy over the working class.” The crowd, on their hands to that point, went wild. Board, take note.
The welcome news of the evening was that, despite its history, the show wasn’t just a recast version of the incredible show we saw in 2023. Set and projection designer Paul Tate DePoo III has outdone himself with totally new structural elements and projections. From a stunning central castle that adds and subtracts mobile towers to serve as varying locales to his “very expensive forest” that lives up to every dollar in its name, DePoo creates a totally different Broadway-worthy set more elaborate than the Tony nominated original New York one, and enhances it with phenomenal background projections that give it an advanced new degree of depth and detail. DePoo continues to amaze, but this is some of his best work to date. These projections don’t just enhance the background, they also add to the choreography and help tell the story.
Costume Designer Jen Caprio wisely works with the movie’s classic designs for Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table, but produces a brand new astounding 130+ plot featuring not only the multitude of iconic characters mentioned above, but a continuous parade of glorious ensemble outfits from knights and various peasant victims of the plague to nuns and Vegas showgirls, to the mythical (the Lady of the Lake’s backup “Laker Girls”), and a sprinkling of the best of Broadway in Bell’s showstopper. Her new Lady of the Lake plot is no less stunning and serviceable than Tim Hatley’s original Broadway designs which she worked with and augmented in the BSC production. It was a delight to see different visuals for the very familiar show.
Cory Pattak’s lighting design is equally as stunning, working form above and within DePoo’s stylized set to accent every scene flawlessly. And Sound Designers Kai Harada & Haley Parcher provide the expected Kennedy Center crystal clear sound.
Director and Choreographer Josh Rhodes guides his incredibly game cast in the best directions, forming eight strong costars into one tight, cohesive ensemble unit, allowing everyone to stand out but balance the others. He also makes some updated choices in staging and choreography that work incredibly well to the satisfaction the audience, keeping things fresh but still honoring the tempos and staging the fandom purists expect. I’m dying to list some but don’t want to drop any spoilers because they’re all that clever.
So, with things clearly being about politics as well as art at the beloved John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, if you can bring yourself, take a trip, clapping your coconuts all the way, to see this laugh-a-second master class in musical comedy. Find Your Grail. I hope and pray that the Kennedy Center does likewise. They deserve better.
All photos courtesy of the Broadway company by Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman
Running Time: Approximately 2 hours and 15 minutes with one intermission
Monty Python’s Spamalot currently plays through January 5, 2026, in the Eisenhower Theatre at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, 2700 F Street NW, Washington DC 20566. For tickets, call the box office at 202.467.4600 or purchase online