This is about to be part of a whole slew of posts that should have been made ages ago if I hadn't fucked up my computer trying to make shiny things before 4 January.
This one should be from 12 January - caught the matinee that day; last viewing of tour was 4 January.
I have now officially seen at least two people in every role in Spamalot. This is odd to me, in that I never thought I'd be seeing Spamalot multiple times. I entirely blame Robert and Ben - I only went in the first place to see Robert. Then Ben joined the tour cast. Then Robert went to Broadway company to fill in until Clay Aiken started, and it was the week after LM closing so withdrawal was happening so we went. Because we are idiots.
Anyway: Weird seeing Broadway company after seeing the tour so much. I didn't have a chance to mention anything about James Beaman, who took over for Robert on tour. He's fraking adorable. Short, dark-haired, plays it straighter than Robert does (Robert's Sir Robin mugs for his audience; James' doesn't). It still works. He's drier, I think, than Robert, but utterly adorable and I love him.
But Broadway company is just weird. Or at least was in the interim between Marin leaving and Clay and Hannah arriving. Some of the staging, like the Lady of the Lake with the Grail coming up from below the stage doesn't work nearly so well as on tour, where they can't guarantee a trap so they have her come downstage - it's easier for the audience in the balcony to see the Grail when Sir Robin cries "Found it!" And some of the additional shiny isn't necessary. As for the difference in jokes between A101 and D101 - the D101 jokes are funnier (especially since I really prefer that Lancelot be defined by his stupidity than by his sexual orientation). Broadway company is also apparently somehow very short, in that Lewis Cleale seemed to loom over everyone. Which is weird because tour cast isn't tall and Ben doesn't seem to loom.
Main tracks:
Galahad: Ben is so much better it isn't even funny. Lewis Cleale is fine as the Black Knight and as Herbert's Father, but he's not appropriate for Galahad. Even ignoring that Ben is way prettier and my mind was just reeling over John Adams discussing the decision-making processes of an anarcho-syndicalist commune, Lewis Cleale is just wrong for this role. He can't sing The Song that Goes Like This. That part "It's awfully high for me" he can't get the falsetto. It's so much funnier in falsetto than just oddly fucked up, which is what Lewis Cleale manages to do.
Bedivere: Christopher Gurr on tour is fine. So is Brad Oscar in Broadway company. I found I liked Brad far better in these roles than the last couple times I saw him (I wasn't getting his best work at Arena, but I blame Molly for that as his performances in Damn Yankees and Cabaret were only small parts of what seemed wrong about those productions). I think Brad was slightly better as Dennis' Mother, but really it's rather a draw.
Robin: My preference is still for Robert, but that's mostly because I know Robert, I adore Robert as an actor, but James is darling and I wish I could see him again.
Herbert: Christopher Sutton on tour is far better as the Professor - Tom Deckman is trying to dryly drone on and it isn't working. I also think Sutton is better as Not Dead Fred. But Tom Deckman's Herbert is a revelation. And not just because he's fainting standing up (my back hurts just thinking about it). He's an authentic character. Nothing seems overdone or played for laughs - he *is* Prince Herbert. And while overall, Rick Holmes is better than Patrick Heusinger, I wish I could see Patrick with Tom because I think they'd fit.
Lance: On the whole, Rick is better. Rick differentiates his accents. Rick is funnier as the Knight who says Ni. But I prefer Patrick as Lance. I like his version of dimness better, and I feel something more authentic when he's with Herbert. Plus the tour script, with "d'oy" instead of "aioli" fits Lance better, it doesn't seem this sudden departure into gaydom. So Patrick has that benefit. But there's something terribly likeable about Patrick.
Arthur: Michael Siberry is rather dry and put out; Jonathan Haddary is rather fey and out there. I'm just so used to Siberry that it was weird watching Jonathan Haddary. But it was rather nice to see that people aren't locked into one particular interp, that there is flexibility. You'd think this show would be fairly by the book, but it isn't, thank god.
Lady of the Lake: Not even really commenting here, as Emily Hu filling on Broadway was hopefully having an off performance - she wasn't managing the various types of singing the way she needs to. Esther Stillwell with the tour used to be understudy and is generally pretty fab.
Patsy: Jeff Dumas is Patsy. Yes, he needs to go home, he's been on the road for ages, but he is Patsy. No one else is quite right. It's not just that he's only about 5'2 - he is Patsy. He's perfect. He'll be missed.
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