By Dale King
If history had unfolded the way it does in the wacky musical Monty Python’s Spamalot, we might all be riding imaginary horses, negotiating with the knights who say “Ni,” fending off insults from surly Frenchmen and slapping each other with fish.
Lake Worth Playhouse drops the curtain on its 2013-14 season with a rollicking rendition of the show adapted from the 1975 film Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Like the movie, it is utterly irreverent, a perfectly Pythonesque parody of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.
The 2005 show is based on a book by Python mainstay Eric Idle, with a score by Idle, Neil Innes and John Du Prez. Idle said the title comes from “a line in the movie which goes: ‘We eat ham and jam and Spam a lot.’’ There’s nary a can of the beloved spiced meat in this play, though. But there are plenty of puns and jokes, lots of physical humor, naughty hijinks and bloody good fun.
The Playhouse cast carries out the craziness with aplomb, raising silliness to a higher level. And it works.
Ironically, Michael Cartwright, who portrays the King of the Britons with sly charm and effusive wit, and Mary Grace Tesoriero, the lovely and buxom Lady of the Lake, are both trained vocalists. Their voices lend a wonderful lilt to many of the show’s tunes. But at times, they must butcher their own vocals — particularly Tesoriero — to fit the comic motif.
No matter how hard you might try, you won’t find an off-key note in this show. What you will find are a lot of familiar faces popping up in different roles. The multitude of characters in this musical is spread among 15 talented performers. Even the King’s Sir Robin (Tim Cooch) does double duty as a monk.
We enter the addled Arthurian world via a historian who pops in from offstage. A Scandinavian village suddenly appears, with Finnish villagers singing the Fisch-Schlapping Song. The irritated historian returns to say he was “talking about England, not Finland.”
The scene immediately changes to a dreary, dark village with penitent monks in hooded robes chanting in Latin — and hitting their heads with prayer books. In comes King Arthur, who travels the land with his servant Patsy (the excellent comic actor Jason Leadingham), who follows him around banging two coconut shells together to make the sound of a horse’s hooves as Arthur “rides” before him, recruiting knights for the Round Table in Camelot.
In this show, Camelot seems more like Las Vegas, complete with showgirls, oversized dice and a roulette wheel. The Lady of the Lake shows up again, this time as the entertainment headliner. The King comments: “What happens in Camelot stays in Camelot.” (Of course, in Camelot, the performers sing “from the diaphragm-a-lot.”)
From here, knights beginning turning up — Sir Galahad (Bryan Wohlust), Sir Robin (Cooch), Sir Bedevere (Philip Corso) and Daniel Scarantino as Sir Lancelot. After they sing and “dance-a-lot,” they are assigned two tasks — to create a Broadway show and to find the Holy Grail. The cast brings a lively, funny and entertaining resolution to both, but they must first scatter into the forest and experience oddball encounters before they reunite.
Along the way, they treat the audience to a bevy of tunes, including Patsy’s whistleable advice to the king, Always Look on the Bright Side of Life. Sir Robin’s quest for ultimate stardom — and to carry out the command to create a Broadway show — results in a couple of great tunes, Brave Sir Robin and You Won’t Succeed on Broadway.
The Lady of the Lake reappears in a splendid, torso-tight red gown to sing her Diva’s Lament, a diatribe about why she hasn’t been on stage for half of the second act. She quickly recalibrates and puts the knights’ quest into gear with her inspiring rendition of Find Your Grail.
While this is going on, the gay tune, His Name is Lancelot, outs the errant knight in a bouncy Village People-style rendition after he rescues a dude in distress who he thought was a damsel in distress. Also, we can’t forget He is Not Dead Yet, sung by Jason Ziev as Not Dead Fred who tries to avoid being thrown onto the plague cart.
Jodie Dixon-Mears, the artistic boss at Lake Worth Playhouse, takes on the director’s chores with no small measure of glee. Scenic designer Cindi Taylor has fashioned a very functional castle as a backdrop for the action. Choreographer Ricky Nahas has his hands full directing all the feet in this show. Roger Blankenship is the very deft musical director.
Those planning to go are advised to pay attention to the dialogue as it sometimes gets muffled. You certainly don’t want to miss a word of this splendid show.
Monty Python’s Spamalot is playing through April 27 at the Lake Worth Playhouse, 713 Lake Ave., Lake Worth. Call 561-586-6410 for tickets and information.