SPAMALOT
STARRING JOE PASQUALE AND TODD CARTY
Cliffs Pavilion, Southend-on-Sea
Mon 27 Apr - Sat 2 May
STARRING JOE PASQUALE AND TODD CARTY
Cliffs Pavilion, Southend-on-Sea
Mon 27 Apr - Sat 2 May
I’ll admit that I’ve never really been a fan of Monty Python and to be honest, if I hadn't been given tickets for press night, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have gone. I remember watching the Python film, Life of Brian, which came out when I was at senior school and thinking to myself 'what on earth is this nonsense?' (To be fair, I was a bit of a swot and more into netball, badminton and Little House on the Prairie in those days), yet lots of my school pals thought it was hilarious and for weeks afterwards you'd hear shouts of "He's not the messiah, he's a very naughty boy!" going around the playground followed by a never ending rendition of "Always look on the Bright Side of Life". Well, of course I joined in - I didn't want my fellow pupils to think I was a complete square - but I just didn't ‘get it’.
And so I found myself at the first night of the Southend run of the Spamalot tour not entirely sure what to expect. The story is, by their own account, lovingly ripped off from the Monty Python and the Holy Grail film and is vaguely based on King Arthur and The Knights of the Round Table.
King Arthur is played by Joe Pasquale putting on his posh (still quite squeaky) voice and his devoted servant Patsy is beautifully underplayed by Todd Carty; who, co-incidentally, as that same humourless hormonal school girl, I had a huge crush on (he will always be Tucker Jenkins from Grange Hill to me). Ahem…anyway, I digress…God gives him and his newly found Knights of the Round Table a quest to find the holy grail and off they trot quite literally, coconuts in hand, in hilarious pursuit.
Joe Pasquale seems to sail through the show with ease and can’t resist a few ad libs and audience asides along the way. I suppose it’s the sort of production where you can get away with this and the audience certainly seemed to delight in these moments. Us Brits do love a bit of corpsing too, although I felt this was perhaps a little contrived in places.
Sarah Earnshaw as The Lady of the Lake was the one who stole the show for me and I loved her number “The Song that Goes Like This” with Richard Meek as Sir Galahad, which truly sums up the whole essence of the show. “The Diva’s Lament” was fabulous; this lady certainly knows how to belt out a big number and also, along with Richard Meek, has excellent comic timing. Most of the ensemble cleverly double up with parts and are all equally impressive, although I particularly enjoyed watching Richard Kent and Jamie Tyler as Prince Herbert and Sir Lancelot; and Will Hawksworth as cowardly Sir Robin.
Spamalot has an (almost) entirely new score written for this production created by Eric Idle and John Du Prez, with a lot of the humour in the show being brought up to date. One particular reference about Cheryl Cole (I can’t even be bothered to type her new name) made me giggle. All the numbers are hugely catchy and the lyrics are so funny you really don’t want to miss anything. In fact you can’t fail to miss out on singing along at the end of the show, when the words to “Always Look On The Bright Side of Life” are hoisted down from the rafters and the whole audience have the opportunity to join in with the cast.
This is a musical that has fun and makes fun of itself and its whole genre. From the first song to the last, it is witty, clever, quirky and completely ridiculous and will definitely appeal to people like myself who have a wickedly sardonic sense of humour. I actually found myself laughing out loud throughout the entirety of this show. The whole silly madness of the production is a real tonic and I may have to revisit The Life of Brian and try and catch some Monty Python re-runs because I think my teenage self may have actually missed out. It’s taken 30 years, but I think I ‘get it’ now!
Mon to Thurs 8pm plus Wed and Sat 2.30pm - £33.50*, £32.50*, £26.50*
Fri and Sat 8pm - £36.50*, £35.50*, £29.50*
Conc £1.50 off (exc Fri and Sat)
U16s £18.50* (exc Fri and Sat)
Group discount: 10% off groups 10-19, 20% off groups of 20 or more
*A £1.50 per ticket booking fee applies, capped at four per order. Groups of 10+ please call 01702 351135 to buy fee-free.
www.southendtheatres.org.uk
And so I found myself at the first night of the Southend run of the Spamalot tour not entirely sure what to expect. The story is, by their own account, lovingly ripped off from the Monty Python and the Holy Grail film and is vaguely based on King Arthur and The Knights of the Round Table.
King Arthur is played by Joe Pasquale putting on his posh (still quite squeaky) voice and his devoted servant Patsy is beautifully underplayed by Todd Carty; who, co-incidentally, as that same humourless hormonal school girl, I had a huge crush on (he will always be Tucker Jenkins from Grange Hill to me). Ahem…anyway, I digress…God gives him and his newly found Knights of the Round Table a quest to find the holy grail and off they trot quite literally, coconuts in hand, in hilarious pursuit.
Joe Pasquale seems to sail through the show with ease and can’t resist a few ad libs and audience asides along the way. I suppose it’s the sort of production where you can get away with this and the audience certainly seemed to delight in these moments. Us Brits do love a bit of corpsing too, although I felt this was perhaps a little contrived in places.
Sarah Earnshaw as The Lady of the Lake was the one who stole the show for me and I loved her number “The Song that Goes Like This” with Richard Meek as Sir Galahad, which truly sums up the whole essence of the show. “The Diva’s Lament” was fabulous; this lady certainly knows how to belt out a big number and also, along with Richard Meek, has excellent comic timing. Most of the ensemble cleverly double up with parts and are all equally impressive, although I particularly enjoyed watching Richard Kent and Jamie Tyler as Prince Herbert and Sir Lancelot; and Will Hawksworth as cowardly Sir Robin.
Spamalot has an (almost) entirely new score written for this production created by Eric Idle and John Du Prez, with a lot of the humour in the show being brought up to date. One particular reference about Cheryl Cole (I can’t even be bothered to type her new name) made me giggle. All the numbers are hugely catchy and the lyrics are so funny you really don’t want to miss anything. In fact you can’t fail to miss out on singing along at the end of the show, when the words to “Always Look On The Bright Side of Life” are hoisted down from the rafters and the whole audience have the opportunity to join in with the cast.
This is a musical that has fun and makes fun of itself and its whole genre. From the first song to the last, it is witty, clever, quirky and completely ridiculous and will definitely appeal to people like myself who have a wickedly sardonic sense of humour. I actually found myself laughing out loud throughout the entirety of this show. The whole silly madness of the production is a real tonic and I may have to revisit The Life of Brian and try and catch some Monty Python re-runs because I think my teenage self may have actually missed out. It’s taken 30 years, but I think I ‘get it’ now!
Mon to Thurs 8pm plus Wed and Sat 2.30pm - £33.50*, £32.50*, £26.50*
Fri and Sat 8pm - £36.50*, £35.50*, £29.50*
Conc £1.50 off (exc Fri and Sat)
U16s £18.50* (exc Fri and Sat)
Group discount: 10% off groups 10-19, 20% off groups of 20 or more
*A £1.50 per ticket booking fee applies, capped at four per order. Groups of 10+ please call 01702 351135 to buy fee-free.
www.southendtheatres.org.uk
What the audience thought