Review: Spamalot @ WMC
“I say what a glorious show!”
My parting words as I left the Wales Millennium Centre auditorium after the funniest couple of hours I’ve ever enjoyed at a theatre. And many around me exclaimed similar sentiments after what had been an enthralling evening for our facial muscles as they endured prolonged bouts of laughter throughout the performance.
The inflicter of said jaw pain, due to its abundance of well loved gags, was of course Spamalot, the only show in the world where you can be farted at by a French person and slapped by a fish but still end up with a fairytale ending.
An any-time pantomime based on the frolics of Monty Python’s classic The Holy Grail film, Spamalot will quite literally have you rolling in your expensive WMC seats as the story of King Arthur and his knights unfolds like never before. Expect a musical extravaganza with an array of Python sketches weaved into an all-singing, all-taking-the-Michael-out-of-musical-theatre show in whence the fabulous cast indeed do justice to the original film whilst bringing it very much onto the stage.
A jolly good appearance from Eric Idle, as God, albeit pre-recorded on tape, was a nice touch, reminding the hysterical audience of the show’s roots. He co-wrote the piece with John Du Prez, long time musical ‘helper’ of the Pythons and the songs fell very easily into the story, helping it along and even ‘glamming’ it up a bit.
I don’t think I’ve ever experienced such a lively atmosphere in the WMC, which is oft quite a solemn place despite its grandeur and friendly staff, but there wasn’t a frown to be seen as opening night started the Cardiff stint of the UK-wide tour with great success. With classic characters (the Killer Rabbit, the Knights of Ni and those coconuts), classic lines (“I’m not dead yet!”, “It’s just a flesh wound!” and “We are now the Knights who say... "Ekki-Ekki-Ekki-Ekki-PTANG. Zoom-Boing. Z'nourrwringmm.”) and classic gags (those coconuts), Spamalot is a definite for Python fans everywhere and non-Python fans anywhere - it’s well funny like.
Oh, and did I mention it stars Hayley Tamaddon off of Emmerdale and Dancing On Ice (she won) and Todd Carty off of Eastenders and oh, Dancing On Ice (he didn’t). What more do you want?
Fabulous comedy at the WMC up until the 28th Aug - get tickets before they all go!
