'Spamalot' Pokes Fun At Broadway

Come to New York City today and you might find people roaming the streets discussing flying cows and killer rabbits, and singing songs about how they're not dead yet.

Don't be alarmed. They're not crazy. They've just seen "Spamalot," a musical that started out 30 years ago as a silly, small-budget British film called "Monty Python and the Holy Grail."

It was a wacky take on the legend of King Arthur by the irreverent British comedy troupe Monty Python.

Now, a former Python has brought the Holy Grail to Broadway, because he believes it's "a good time for silly." reports.

"That audience is not going to the theater, that rock 'n' roll audience. My dream, and I think we started it, is to bring those people back into the theater," says Idle. "Because the theater's become tedious and boring and dull."

Idle challenges Broadway conventions with a parody of the ballads of Andrew Lloyd Webber, from musicals like "Phantom of the Opera." Why?

"Because Andrew [Lloyd Webber] has occupied … he has been about the musical for the last 25 years," says Idle. "He's taken the comedy out of it. I think if you can laugh, have a song, laugh, have a song, that's the most agreeable form of entertainment you can have in the theater."

And audiences seem to agree. But many who are flocking to "Spamalot" are drawn by the familiar name above the show's title: Monty Python.

"They tried to persuade me to put Eric Idle's 'Spamalot' up. They really did," says Idle. And I said, 'No, it must be Monty Python's. That's the whole point of it all."

Monty Python was a British comedy troupe that achieved cult status in the '70s with its TV show, "Monty Python's Flying Circus."

"It had, some say, an element of sophistication, at the same time it had slapstick, at the same time it had irreverence," says Rose. "It took comedy to another place."

"I think it's intelligent men being stupid," says Idle, laughing.

The Pythons also made movies, notably "The Life of Brian," typical of their brand of humor: beyond irreverent. Then, there was "Monty Python and the Holy Grail," the Python's signature film, and the basis for "Spamalot."

The movie was pure Python and poked fun at historic events like the Great Plague. "I understood that it would make a good Broadway musical," says Idle. "People say, 'I'm not dead yet.' That's clearly a cue for a song."

There are scenes in "Spamalot" that Python fans will recognize from the movie "We always knew we'd bring the Python fans in. They were gonna come anyway. That's a given. But you can't base a show on that," says Idle.

How much of what he has written for the play comes right from the movie? "Well, surprisingly less than you'd think," says Idle. "In order for a thing to remain the same, you have to change something completely when you put it on stage."

The most obvious change is that none of the original Pythons perform in "Spamalot." But Idle still needed to get their permission to turn "The Holy Grail" into a musical.

"I wasn't sure I'd get approval," says Idle. "It was the only thing that put me off doing it, was the fact that I had to approach them and get all their permissions."

Why call it "Spamalot"?

"I think the Pythons were keen that we didn't [use] the Holy Grail, so that it didn't just look like, so that it was something different. It stood aside," says Idle. "In the original movie, there's a line from the original song, 'I eat -- we eat ham and jam and spam a lot.'"

Idle had a title and a script, but he needed a director. So he called an old friend, Academy and Tony-Award winner Mike Nichols, who eventually agreed to direct "Spamalot" after seeing some of the early material.

"I said, 'Please go away. I don't want to do another musical,'" Nichols said at first. But after seeing some early material, Nichols said, "I thought there's no way I cannot do this because it's brilliant and it's funny, and I love – I've been friends with Eric [Idle] for 30 years now." "So you approached this as a Monty Python fan?" asks Rose.

"Fan and friend," says Nichols.

But in adapting the movie to the stage, Idle and Nichols faced a little problem. "There is no story at all in 'The Holy Grail.' It's a review. Secretly, or not so secretly, it's sketches. It's anarchy. So I said, 'Listen, Eric, 'If you have people come to a theater, there's a kind of an understanding between you that you will tell them a story.'"

So Idle developed the characters, even added a female lead, and gave the play a new ending.

"The plot is painfully thin. There is hardly any plot. But it's enough," says Nichols. "There's only one rule: Is it funny? Is it not funny? If it's not funny, it has to go. If it's funny, it stays."

Tim Curry plays King Arthur in "Spamalot." As a veteran of the stage, he knew that big ideas for Broadway shows rarely become reality. But a year ago, Idle called about "Spamalot."

"[He said,] 'You'd be wonderful in it. And we should talk about that if and when it happens,'" says Curry. "And I had said, 'Yeah. Great. You know, sure. … Call me!'"

Curry got the call and "Spamalot" became a reality. But he's only one part of an ensemble cast that has earned rave reviews.

"I also was a huge Python fan," says David Hyde Pierce, who plays Sir Robin, the Not-Quite-So Brave. "I read it in the paper that -- Mike Nichols is directing a musical of 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail,' and I actually had my agent call his people, but they called back."

Pierce is famous for his deadpan humor as Dr. Niles Crane on the hit TV sitcom "Frasier."

"Do you think people here see any of Niles Crane?" asks Rose.

"I think for me, this was … it's a great leap," says Pierce.

It was also a great leap for Hank Azaria, who had never been in a Broadway musical. "I got a call at home from Mike [Nichols]," says Azaria, who worked with Nichols in "The Birdcage."

"Mike knew he wanted me to do it. But they weren't so sure about my singing and dancing," adds Azaria. "Mike said, right out, 'We're not sure about your singing and dancing so we have to see about that.' Fortunately, me trying to do those things is silly and funny, which fits right in with the theme of the show."

But most of the cast had to know how to sing and dance. They got their parts the traditional way.

"I auditioned," says Sara Ramirez, who plays The Lady Of The Lake, a part that wasn't in the original movie -- not that she knew that when she heard about the audition.

"I'm embarrassed to say I was not familiar with Monty Python," says Ramirez. "My friends that I was living with in LA are like, 'You don't know? Come on! We're taking you to Blockbuster.'"

"It is incredibly rare that a group of people so disparate enjoy each other so much, and respect each other so much," says Curry. "And believe me, I have been in many, many, many plays where you would've, you know, I could've taken in an AK-47 any day."

"There's a rhythm in terms of the life of a country and a time. I don't want to be too heavy about this, but if you think of 'Monty Python,' you think of silliness, as you say, smart silliness," says Rose. "Is there somehow, because we've gone through a lot in this country, that there may just be the right time to see something like this on Broadway?"

"I think it's very important. I think it absolutely is right," says Idle. "I think 30 years ago, you were in Vietnam, you had Vietnam going on and Python came along and said, 'Remember, always look on the bright side. You're -- we're not dead yet.' And now, here we are, 30 years later opening a heartwarming show, a funny show on Broadway, to remind you that you aren't totally responsible for everything."

"That's the thing," adds Pierce. "That's the comment I've heard more frequently from audience members than anything else is, 'God, we needed this.'"

"You know, it's a good time for silly," says Azaria.

"For the first two weeks, just watching people rehearse this stuff made me cry all the time," says Idle. "Because there's something weird about having done something 30 years ago, and then seeing young people doing it again 30 years later in a different form, and it's going on. And, you won't go on. But, it's sort of going on."

On opening night, the five living Pythons got together for the first time in many years. And as they took the stage, Idle saw tears in their eyes.

"I touched them. I got them," says Idle. "And they were proud, because they're also seeing their lines getting laughs on stage. So, it's a gift I'm giving them also."