Enjoy the brighter side of life at ‘Spamalot’

Vintage Theatre’s production of Monty Python’s hilarious gag-a-minute musical comedy is well-paced, cast and directed

French people, beware! There are some highly charged impressions, gags and musical numbers utterly trashing the British creator’s next-door neighbors. But that’s the world of Monty Python; no one is safe from their lighthearted taunting and musical shenanigans. Vintage Theatre’s production of Spamalot is good old-fashioned musical theatre fun.

Spamalot is adapted from the 1975 film Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Like the motion picture, it is a highly irreverent and absurdist parody of the Arthurian legend. The year is 932 AD, and King Arthur (Markus Warren) is in desperate need of a quest. Accompanied with coconuts (to make hoof noises for their non-existent horses, of course) by his manservant Patsy (Cole Henson), Arthur searches the kingdom to assemble the best and brightest knights, plus anyone he happens to run into along the way, to help him find the Holy Grail and restore peace to all of England. The knights will have to battle killer rabbits, farting Frenchmen and the fourth wall to complete their quest in time to still have a big Broadway-style wedding.

The original 2005 Broadway production received 14 Tony Award nominations, winning for Best Musical, Director, and Featured Actress. During its initial run of 1,575 performances, it was seen by an estimated two million people and grossed over $175 million. Following a West End transfer and several touring productions, Paramount Pictures is in pre-production on a film adaptation of the musical, directed by Casey Nicholaw in his cinematic directing debut, from a script by Eric Idle.

The musical requires a large cast to sit at Arthur’s “very, very big round table,” and directors Bernie Cardell and Heather Frost do a marvelous job casting an array of local performers who sing their hearts out. While more and more theatres resort to using digital track recordings of music, it is worth the time and effort to coordinate a live band. It was a delight to see 19 performers rocking out to the sounds of the nine-piece band under the direction of Heather Iris Holt.

The musical’s songs are mostly amusing, though the lyrics feature some references to Jewish people in show business and gay people in the second act that, while performed earnestly, are slightly dated and stereotypical. Choreographer Matt La Fontaine, who also plays Herbert and a variety of other parts, does a nice job. In particular, featured dancers Jill Lentz, Amy Geiger, Jenny Mather, and Dallas Slankard executed a number of impressive routines back-to-back with high energy and grace. While the larger musical numbers are not quite as clean as the smaller numbers, the cast sells their choreography even if there is an occasionally missed step or slightly off-tempo movement.

The featured dancers (from L to R) are Dallas Slankard, Amy Geiger, Jill Lentz, and Jenny Mather

Robert Janacek’s medieval set design is multi-leveled and spinnable (which is always a plus in my book). While occasionally elements are brought in on the theater’s fly system or brought out by the crew, the simplicity of Janacek’s dynamic two-pillar set allows Cardel and Frost to easily spread the actors out across Vintage’s intimate playing space. It is a highly physical show, and actors are cleverly directed in elaborate physical gags up-and-down the set and in and out of the audience.

Cheryl Faulkner has outdone herself with her flawless coordination of costumes. She decks the entire ensemble out in several silly costumes ranging from period appropriate, like King Arthur’s shining yellow costume decked out with chainmail, or Patsy’s servant’s dirty peasant attire, to satirically outrageous. The ensemble is colorfully dressed as every French stereotype in the book, including flamboyant members of Camelot’s YMCA and sparkly wedding dresses, just to name a few of the many award-worthy costume designs by Faulkner featured in Spamalot.

Markus Warren’s lead performance as King Arthur is so smug but charismatic that you understand why people would follow him on his quest for the grail. He perfectly straddles the line between well-meaning goofball and entitled pompous colonial power. Warren has excellent comedic timing and is a generous performer who helps his castmates sell their jokes through his deadpan reactions. Henson shines as Arthur’s right-hand man, Patsy, and the two make an excellent comedic duo as the arrogant master and sensitive servant. When Warren ignores Henson in his musical number “I’m All Alone,” it makes your heart break but somehow laugh at the same time.

King Arthur and his knights (from L to R) Ethan Knowles, Eric Crawford, Evan Marquez, Markus Warren, Michael J. Martinkus, and Cole Henson

Faith Siobhan Ford plays the Lady of the Lake and has a strong singing voice. Her rendition of “Find Your Grail” near the end of the first act gave me chills. Though her performance starts strong, she struggles to sell the diva energy of the character’s Act II satirical power ballad, “Whatever Happened to My Part?” The supporting knights of the round table, Eric Crawford, Ethan Knowles, Evan Marquez, and Michael J. Martinkus, are all quite charming. I enjoyed Marquez’s blustering performance as Lancelot. His bumbling physicality and hilarious vocal choices throughout never failed to make me chuckle.

The great thing about this script is that everyone gets a moment to shine, including the full ensemble, who plays a variety of characters and adds to the world of the musical.

For those interested in attending Spamalot, you’d better get tickets now. Opening night was completely sold out, and the first two weekends of performances are already close to selling out. To all fans of musical comedy in Colorado, Vintage Theatre’s high-octane production of Spamalot is a fish-slappin’ good time!