The first topic I would like to acknowledge is gratitude that it seems the Kennedy Center has finally embraced their worth to the theatrical community and ceased using the misleading word “concert” when referring to their gold standard Broadway Center Stage series of self-produced musical extravaganzas. Coming off the undeniable triumph of their February tour de force Sunset Boulevard starring the incomparable Stephanie J. Block, I admit I had a very minor concern about how one follows what was essentially not only the most impressive production the group has ever mounted, but arguably the best production of the Tony Winning Best Musical to date. The answer was inspired. Switch gears and run in the opposite direction. The only way to follow up the powerful, big ballad, iconic melodramatic theatrics of an immortal classic story with perfect, stellar performances is with a frivolous, over-the-top broad comedy—with perfect, stellar performances.
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 broad comedy starts in the playbill before the on-stage shenanigans even commence). So yet again, with a show that is brilliantly an apples-and-oranges comparison to their pinnacle of perfection so far, I can confirm that the Kennedy Center has upped its game by producing the most elaborate presentation they have given us to date. With a full-stage castle and no less than 130 specialty costumes, this show is Broadway ready, bigger and better quality in their two-week mounting process than most national tours that come to town—with the biggest names in musical comedy and television to boot.
And, yet again, what a dream cast it is. Featuring many names who have graced the series before The Broadway Center Stage series is, intentionally or inadvertently, beginning to resemble a repertory company. And with the mega-watt marquee names they are attracting, it stands to grow into the biggest and best in the industry.
BSC veteran and Tony Winner James Monroe Iglehart (BSC: Guys & Dolls, Aladdin) is the perfect King Arthur to headline the comic nonsense onstage. Authoritative, with a strong voice and perfect dry comic timing. Usually relegated to scene stealing supporting roles, Iglehart is a natural leader for this accomplished troupe of zanies and a strong center to the show, a job that in lesser hands could be thankless. Iglehart shines.
When looking for big comedy and irreverent laughs today, there recently was a gold mine on Broadway the past three seasons in the reborn audience favorite camp Beetlejuice. Broadways Center Stage wisely raided literally half that cast to bring their unique comic geniuses to this company.
Beetlejuice himself, two-time Tony nominee and force of nature Alex Brightman (School of Rock, The Blacklist), brings the same level of high octane buffoonery to a Sir Lancelot with anger management issues and the best and most demanding track of characters in the show (all of which he fully delivers), particularly his scenery chewing first act finale French Taunter, throwing sophomoric barbs and “rude gestures” at Arthur and his band of prospective knights. Probably the most popular segment of the movie, Brightman 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 comic high points of the show. How Brightman doesn’t possess a Tony yet is boggling.
Castmate and fellow two-time Tony nominee Rob McClure (Beetlejuice, Mrs. Doubtfire, Chaplin), also no stranger to farcical nonsense, 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. Possibly the most versatile performer in the cast, 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 minstrel singing a very violent ode to Sir Robin.
The third Beetlejuice alunma, Lesley Rodriguez Kritzer (Legally Blonde, Something Rotten), one of the most gifted comic actresses currently performing on Broadway, 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. At the end of that bring-the-house-down number, Kritzer tosses off a (semi-) facetious jab at the Helen Hayes Awards. Helen Hayes, I hope you were listening. There are instances in this show where Kritzer seems to actually channel a young Carol Burnett.
Another BSC returning performer, Michael Urie (BSC: How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, Ugly Betty, Torch Song Trilogy), usually cast as the snarky secondary, which he’s brilliant at, seizes the opportunity to play against type and takes center stage 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.
Matthew Saldivar (BSC: Guys & Dolls, The Wedding Singer) returns to BSC to give Iglehart 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 quasi-theme “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life”, leading a full chorus of tap dancing Knights. He also gets the 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, Nik Walker (Hamilton, Ain’t Too Proud) 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 for some non-swamp land.
And Jimmy Smagula returns for his third BSC credit (BSC: The Music Man,BSC: Guys & Dolls, The Little Mermaid), providing great comic relief in a string of smaller roles including Sir Bedevere (inventor of the Trojan Rabbit), Lancelot’s wounded second Concord, and Dennis Galahad’s recently widowed mother on the prowl.
But while I could go on for days about the comic genius amongst the cast, there is equal proficiency in the most elaborate staging the series has accomplished to date. Set and projection designer Paul Tate DePoo III has outdone himself. 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 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 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 Coordinator/Additional Designer Jen Caprio wisely works with Tim Hatley’s classic original designs and produces an 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 Urie’s showstopper.
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 Designer Haley Parcher provides the expected Kennedy Center crystal clear sound.
Director and Choreographer Josh Rhodes guides his larger than life cast in the best directions, forming eight white hot stars 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.
I continue to be astounded by the quality of the Broadway Center Stage series, which is progressively living up to and maybe surpassing its name. Finishing their fourth season, as more and more talented performers return, they are inadvertently becoming the most stellar and lauded repertory company in the business. And since Miss Kritzer opened the door, I will walk through it. I extend a bold challenge to the Helen Hayes Awards nominating committee. If your nominations don’t include Stephanie J Block (Sunset Boulevard), Iglehart Brightman, and Derek Klena (Sunset Boulevard) as Best Actors, and McClure, Urie and Kritzer as Best Supporting Actors (and as resident productions, not the catch-all “visiting” category)—I’ll go a step further: and if the winners do not come from this list—I will call travesty.
A well-deserved congratulations to the producers of the Broadway Center Stage series at the Kennedy Center on their continuous evolution and highest triumphs of their best season yet. I have never exhausted my list of superlatives when describing a musical in my life. How many ways can one state hilarity and perfection? BSC may necessitate I acquire a thesaurus for next season. I look forward to how they follow up this landmark season, leading off with the just announced Bye Bye Birdie, the highly anticipated production that was supposed to close the 2019-2020 season when Covid closed everything.
And I wish to congratulate them on their well-deserved multiple wins in the 2023 Marco Awards for Theatre on this website, honoring the best in live theatre competing with New York, touring, and regional theatre. Sunset Boulevard was named Best Musical, Stephanie J. Block Best Actress in a Musical, and Derek Klena Best Actor in a Musical. I will tell you in advance, Spamalot just set the bar for next year’s contenders. New York, step up your game. A new bar has been set in DC.
What are you waiting for? Take a trip, clapping your coconuts all the way, down to the Kennedy Center and see this laugh-a-second master class in musical comedy. Find Your Grail.
All photos courtesy of Jeremy Daniel
Running Time: Approximately 2 hours and 15 minutes with one intermission
Monty Python’s Spamalot currently plays through May 21, 2023, 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