This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:00] Richie Grasso: Welcome to another episode of Half Hour, Jeff and Richie, the podcast where we deeply dive into the shows that we see.

[0:05] Jeff Malone: This week we are turning our spotlight towards the delightful revival of the Broadway musical Spamalot.

[0:11] Richie Grasso: Do you want to know our thoughts on this comedic revival? Then join us for the next 30 minutes.

[0:15] Richie Grasso: I'm Richie, a theater director and producer.

[0:17] Jeff Malone: And I'm Jeff, a music industry producer and manager.

[0:21] Richie Grasso: Let's set the stage for Spamalot.

[0:26] Jeff Malone: Half hour.

[0:31] Richie Grasso: Welcome to today's show, everyone. Before we dive in, we want to remind our listeners that there will be spoilers in our discussion about the show in this episode.

[0:39] Jeff Malone: So if you still want to experience it first, that's okay. Go check it out and then come back and listen to this episode.

[0:45] Richie Grasso: You have been warned. Without further ado, today we're here to discuss the hilarious and whimsical revival of Spamalot on Broadway.

[0:52] Jeff Malone: This show is a musical comedy lovingly ripped off of the 1975 film Monty Python and the Holy Grail. With book and lyrics by Eric Idle, music by John DuPrez and Idle, Spamalot is a farcical take on the Arthurian legend filled with absurd humor, catchy tunes, and a whole lot of fun.

[1:09] Richie Grasso: If you're looking for a laugh-out-loud experience that pushes the boundaries of traditional musical theater, this is the show for you. Spamalot is back on Broadway at the St. James Theater. It's ready to take you on a joyride through the Middle Ages like no other.

[1:21] Jeff Malone: Just a little bit of history on Spamalot. Spamalot was originally on Broadway, I believe it was 2006 at the Schubert Theater. Uh, won a ton of Tony Awards. I believe it won the Tony Award for Best Musical.

[1:30] Richie Grasso: Um, I guess this makes me sound a little old because uh, this I think might be the first show ever where I've seen the original Broadway cast, and now I'm seeing the original revival cast. I've seen a lot of shows with replacement casts and revival after revival.

[1:48] Jeff Malone: Although I will say the original, it's not like the original of this was like in the 1960s or something. This is like only a few years ago, so it wasn't too long ago. But it is a short time frame between original and first revival.

[2:01] Richie Grasso: And I always say I think that shows a successful show. I remember like Dolly and in my musical theater history studies. I remember things like Fiddler on the Roof and Dolly and Cabaret, Gypsy for sure, having instant revivals pretty soon after the original.

[2:18] Jeff Malone: It would be like five or six or seven years later, another revival came. So that's definitely happened before in musical theater history. So it's not uncommon for something to come back in this short period of time. I just think it's kind of cool that I got to see the original cast and then this.

[2:31] Richie Grasso: So that's just a little tidbit on the show. Also, this revival is directed and choreographed by Josh Rhodes. So diving in, should we start with overall thoughts?

[2:41] Jeff Malone: I can kind of go first. I feel like since I saw the original on this, I'd love to kind of start us off.

[2:47] Richie Grasso: I would love for that to happen.

[2:49] Jeff Malone: I will say overall, I do have only seen bits and pieces of this film, the 1975 film. I haven't seen the whole film. I would say some of the Monty Python humor is really funny. It's not all 100% my cup of tea, but I do really appreciate this musical, and I laughed the whole time.

[3:07] Jeff Malone: This revival is not quite different from the original. There's a lot of similarities, other than some of the comedy is freshened up for modern day, where we have some lines like Leslie says, "Oh, um, brought to you by Ozempic," right? Or there's like, um, the grinder sound effects going off and like the gay scene with like the knights and whatever.

[3:29] Jeff Malone: So, like there's definitely more modern things, I think, happening. Um, in bringing in those pop culture. They keep the Britney Spears line, but they add like the Lea Michele line into like they definitely modernize some of it with some of the comedy takes.

[3:43] Jeff Malone: But overall, this is very similar to the original. The comedy stays true. I saw Tim Curry as King Arthur, who is just, oh my gosh, a legend. And then to see James Monroe Iglehart, just a different take on it, right? I saw Sarah Ramirez who won a Tony Award, who I thought was brilliant in the role.

[3:59] Jeff Malone: And then I saw Leslie Kritzer now in this, who is also really funny in her own way and made it her own. So overall, I did enjoy this. I laughed a ton, and very similar to the original, but it did have its own modern spark and flair to it. And I liked it overall.

[4:15] Jeff Malone: I would say I liked it for the most part. I think that let's see. I feel like what I'm starting to realize in kind of like the farce kind of comedy is sometimes it's like a little immature, but no, like not like in a, not saying that comedy is all supposed to be mature, but like the style of it.

[4:36] Jeff Malone: So some of the things where I think, I don't know, and maybe this is gonna touch a little bit on when you first saw the show versus now. I think it's like it's good family comedy, but like it doesn't really have that um, smart humor. I feel like like the farting and things like that.

[4:54] Jeff Malone: For me, I feel like that falls a little flat for me, or eventually it just like goes on too long. And I'm only bringing this up now because when we saw The Cottage this summer, and we're watching this kind of farcical comedy, and it's like far joke after far joke after far joke. I'm like, why do we find that so funny?

[5:07] Richie Grasso: Yeah, yeah.

[5:11] Jeff Malone: You know, but then there's some smart comedy, like I feel like the song that goes like this in Spamalot, that's a really well-written song about like a typical ballad in musical theater, right? Or like, you know, taking, um, I think, uh, comedy moments that stand out to me, like Finland, the whole thing where we're in, he says the historian says in England, and then they thought he said Finland, and they do a whole five-minute production number on Finland until he comes out and says, "No, I said England," like silly, simple stuff like that.

[5:40] Jeff Malone: I find so funny. Or when they're doing the, um, "You won't succeed on Broadway if you don't have any Jews," and they're like doing the bottle dance from Fiddler on the Roof, you know, and then all of a sudden someone wheels out a barrel of hay, and they're like, "Hey," I just think that's like so awesome.

[5:55] Jeff Malone: Like stuff like that is great, you know. And that I think I do find funny, and I guess, uh, part of this for me were a little bit of like, was our audience not laughing as much as I thought they were gonna be, or were just like, were they not getting all of the comedy fully?

[6:14] Jeff Malone: Like, I really enjoyed this, and I was laughing and had a good time, but I do think that it was falling a little short at times, and I'm just curious for you seeing this, was it like roar laughing when you first saw it, or was it kind of in the same space where what we were seeing?

[6:31] Richie Grasso: Well, it's interesting because I think when you release a comedy and it's cutting edge for its time, you have to make sure that 10, 15, 20 years later it's the same. I actually worry as much as something like The Producers was so groundbreaking for its time and so fun.

[6:46] Richie Grasso: You know, I think if that was a movie from the 60s, 70s and then it was on Broadway 30, 40 years later and still worked, you would think that it would work in a revival. I don't know.

[6:55] Richie Grasso: Yeah, with Spamalot, I think you know, if you know the show already. Like, like okay, um, "You won't succeed on Broadway if you don't have any Jews." That was a big comedy moment in 2006, right?

[7:09] Richie Grasso: Um, this, um, when Sara Ramirez came out in the original, and they say, "Whatever happened to my part, I've been backstage for the whole second act." Like, that was so funny, right? Like, because you haven't seen her in a while, but everyone knows that's coming now, and so now you're like, "Oh," and now we have the moment where she forgets like we forgot about her.

[7:29] Richie Grasso: Like, but if you didn't see the show originally, you'd be like, "Oh my god, that was so funny." So it's just some things I think totally stuck, and something, you know, there was an interview somewhere, and um someone asked the producers of this revive, like, "Why is this?" because it was at Kennedy Center last year, right?

[7:45] Richie Grasso: It was revived at Kennedy Center, and they said, "Well, we're in a post-COVID world where we really need to laugh." And I think we need to start, we realize these heavy shows on Broadway right now that are dark and really moving and groundbreaking.

[7:57] Richie Grasso: We need a, I don't need to think, I can just turn off my brain and kind of sit here and laugh for two hours. And I think that's where they're getting a pocket of tourists, a pocket of comedy that works.

[8:07] Richie Grasso: And so, yes, I understand what you're saying. Some of the jokes really work, and then some are like, "Okay, like we've seen this already," you know.

[8:15] Jeff Malone: I get that.

[8:16] Richie Grasso: Right. And obviously, this is a show that people know and love and they love Monty Python. And you could see, because we're in the theater and it's packed, and like people know what they like.

[8:24] Richie Grasso: So it of course, you know, but and also this kind of touches a little bit, and maybe we're gonna go later into the whole revival conversation at towards the end of this podcast, but it does make sense for what we've been talking about in this post-COVID world of how long does a show last and how long does it come until it comes back.

[8:43] Jeff Malone: So when we're starting to see shows now from the 2000s that are coming back, you're kind of looking at it and you're like, "Oh, okay, what's next?" Because there's so many things in that pocket of space.

[8:55] Richie Grasso: Like how we've had Fiddler on how many times? Uh, we each I've seen a revival with you. I saw a revival when I was in high school. Cabaret, Cabaret's coming back. We saw Cabaret how many years ago?

[9:08] Jeff Malone: Like 10?

[9:08] Richie Grasso: It was like on Broadway. So, you know, when you see these shows that are just coming back, are we gonna start seeing newer shows do the same thing?

[9:17] Jeff Malone: Yeah, it'll be interesting.

[9:17] Richie Grasso: We'll definitely talk about that.

[9:19] Jeff Malone: Yeah, for sure.

[9:20] Richie Grasso: Right, which kind of leads into like this whole creative design here because I didn't, I don't have anything to compare it to for seeing the first one, but this was very like projection heavy one unit set.

[9:33] Jeff Malone: I know it came from Kennedy Center as it's giving us a little bit of like that encore vibe.

[9:41] Richie Grasso: We'll be right back.

[9:45] Jeff Malone: Welcome back. What did you feel like really stood out for you in this versus the original?

[9:51] Richie Grasso: Well, starting with the original, okay. So when you're talking about just the direction and choreography on this as a whole, it seemed very two-dimensional. Everything was like lit, like there was a glass wall of a fourth wall for us, and everything was played very linear.

[10:05] Richie Grasso: And I don't know if it was done on purpose or not, but the set and the projection, it was like there's a whole half of a stage behind that castle because that castle hit mid-stage line, so I'm like, there's so much more depth.

[10:16] Richie Grasso: I wasn't seeing a lot of diagonals, I wasn't seeing a lot of depth dimension, I wasn't seeing forced perspectives. I was seeing very like, and I think that plays to like we're at a TV studio putting on the Monty Python. Like, I think they tried to play into that, but when you're talking about the St. James Theater on Broadway, you're not talking about City Center Encores, you're not talking about a one-weekend Kennedy Center run. You're talking about a huge, huge show. So to me, I think what fell flat is where the producers telling a scenic designer, okay, this worked at Kennedy Center, now elevate it. Because we're not just gonna rely on a projection, but it was so heavy on projection, which sometimes it worked, and sometimes it was like, okay, like can this castle open up and lift up and show us a huge stage or something, like at the end of a play, or I don't know.

I just thought that that kind of fell flat. So to me, I wasn't a big fan of the scenic design. Um, but I will say what to two things about the design overall that I really appreciated. Love the costumes, really thought they were there was a ton of costume changes for everyone. I love that they elevated the costume, the ensemble, the Las Vegas number, all those show girl costumes, love that. I will also say keeping a it is I think it's an almost I think 17 or 18 piece orchestra. So thank you, thank you, thank you for keeping large orchestration on Broadway. I mean, we go to see Harmony in this brand new musical that's and it's like a seven-piece orchestra, and I'm like, what is going on? And so I see this like revival of this, and the music is splashy, right?

The music is big, fun, loud musical theater. And I think at one point Leslie says, and let's give it up for the Spamalot Orchestra and 17-piece orchestra, like thank you, thank you. Like it sounded so good. The sound design was great, and the orchestrations they kept all that. So costumes and the focal point of the music was the highlight for me in terms of yeah, for me too.

[12:08] Jeff Malone: I’m kind of looking at the design here and the direction of this, and I feel like they were so close to having something really cool and unique. And I don't even know if this was in intention or not, but I felt like they were going for a video game look. Yes. With this, and I feel like where it missed the mark was it didn't go deeper because when we're coming in and we're seeing the act curtain and it's moving and the characters are moving, kind of like Wreck It Ralph, if people know it, it was giving a lot of that. And what what are those characters doing in the game of Spamalot? And then like we're actually watching that happen. But then when you go into the game, and I just feel like it didn't happen.

Like go there with that. If we're gonna make the design a character of the show as well, make it a character. Like like when the historian keeps coming out, why couldn't it put a curtain come in and you saw them marching down the street? Now we're in the castle, like show us the jerk like elevate the comedy of the absurdity of this cartoonishness. I understand exactly what you were saying. It like didn't fully go there, you know.

[13:22] Richie Grasso: Um yeah, because like it looked like for like lack of a better saying here, where it's like they were putting the Kennedy and they're transferring the Kennedy production, the Kennedy Center production. Um, okay, that's fine, do that. But like, right, take it to the next level. Give us Broadway. And if we're gonna be seeing more of Kennedy Center transfers and Encores transfers here, you really need to step up the Broadway level of what people are expecting, right? I mean, but then let's go into some casting standout performances because some of those were what I think really made the show. I have I have my oh so let's. I mean, I have two, definitely three, definitely two. I have three standout performances of my favorite people in this. It was a big cast. Well, I feel like we could uh yeah, I mean, I feel like we probably I think someone stole the show. And okay, I'm curious to see your thoughts on that.

[14:18] Jeff Malone: I think I think that's going to Michael Urie, yeah, playing Sir Robin. I think he completely he owned the character. It was a great performance. I love Leslie's take on Lady of the Lake. I've seen a million performances of Sarah do Lady of the Lake from you, so I know what she brought. I do feel like Sarah had a little bit more of a diva-ness to her, and Leslie has it, but you know, I think Leslie's still growing into the character from the city. Leslie did it differently. Leslie just made it her own thing, which is what you really should do. Don't mimic exactly what Sarah did. And I thought I was amazing. I just, yeah, Sarah was this diva. And Leslie was like that. But that's what I'm saying.

[15:01] Richie Grasso: Yeah. What I'm saying though is when you're a diva, you gotta be a diva. So it's whatever take she wants to play on it. I get that. But there's so many divas out there. You kind of like want her to pick one of the famous divas and just like stick with that embody that like if she was just doing Liza the whole time, or if she was just doing Celine the whole time. Right, I see what you're saying. Well, Leslie stood out with me vocally, she really was doing some cool stuff and making it her own. I thought Michael Urie's comedy, yes, was spot on. I was craving him to be on stage every time he was on. I looked, my eye went to him. And another big standout for me was Ethan Slater. Like Ethan Slater, you're playing like eight roles here. The costume changes you're doing backstage, he's really great. And I just was really blown away by him. Uh, the whole piece was really well done by everyone. I just thought those three were big standouts for me for sure.

[15:55] Jeff Malone: Yeah, I feel like I wanted a little bit more from James um playing King Arthur. I just feel like we've saw we saw him play the genie and it was so out there and over the top. And I, you know, King Arthur is an interesting character, but like I felt like some of the witty comedy he was not fully embodying. Well, it there's moments in Tim Curry did it was very like, oh, I'm the king. He was like in his own world as the king. So he would say, like, he would say, like, um, I don't know, there's like so many like, oh, where are we going now? You know, and instead James tried to do some of that subtlety, but James is not very subtle with his performances of the past. He's usually so over the top. So it was a different character for him for sure.

Um and I think we're so used to him being over the top, and like we like that from him, even though it can get it it can become like a lot. It's still something that you like you want from him and you're expecting it. So when you don't get it, you're kind of like, is this a director choice to play the role this way? And what could he have done really to kind of like he's the diva, yeah, as well.

[17:06] Richie Grasso: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And I didn't feel like I was getting enough diva from him. Yeah. So, you know, it's interesting. And then I also think like Terry Killen was fine. I thought Chris Fitzgerald was fine, Nick Walker, Jimmy Savagula, like all of them were really funny and fine, but I'm just saying who stood out the most to me, Michael Urie for sure, with Leslie up there too. And then he didn't, those were just the standouts for me. And what's gonna be interesting right now is like Terran's only in playing Sir Lancelot for a few more weeks, and then Alex Brightman comes back to do the role again after he did it at the Kennedy Center. So I'm very interested in seeing some video clips of him playing Matt because love him, you know, now that he's done with Shark is Broken.

[17:45] Jeff Malone: Yeah. And then we can kind of dive into a little bit of some of the direction here. We were just talking about this earlier. There is a part of me that feels like, yeah, it was just a re-staging, two-dimensional, stiffer kind of there wasn't anything groundbreaking. Even entrances and exits were very like left, right, left, right, center, left, right, center, left, right, center. It just seemed very like is it city center is like concert-y. It didn't really break in. I feel like I feel like this is a cool, interesting question for you on what his direction is doing. First off, do you think he's faced with any challenges right now with bringing this in back onto the stage with the comedy? Has it aged well, etc.? And also, what would you have done differently with bringing this to the stage?

[18:36] Richie Grasso: I think when you're talking about heightened comedy, uh, you need to okay. I when you look at something like The Cottage, what really worked in that was that like they were able to light a match everywhere in the set, right? The set was so usable, the set was a character. When you look at Noises Off, the set is a character. This is heightened, elevated comedy. The set wasn't a character. The set was like, okay, in a high school production, we need a castle, so we'll just put a castle that doesn't move, and there's like a walkway up on top, and we'll sometimes use the walkway up on top. And I'm like, as a director, I think that could have been more usage of the scenery. And I just thought it would, it just was concert-y to me.

It seemed like a stiffer, even the choreos seemed one line at the end and always look on the bright side of the light. It was like one line kick step, kick step, kick step. That's very high school. Like, I don't know, and even their playing space was small. So when the full ensemble was out, like you don't really have a ton of room to work with because you decided to cut the stage in half. So I don't know. It wasn't the worst thing I ever saw. I just thought it was very uh factory, you know.

[19:43] Jeff Malone: Yeah. Or would you have done something differently?

[19:46] Richie Grasso: Would I have done something differently? I just think uh I just would have used more set pieces. I would have, I would have did added different levels. I would have used the space more. I'm always about use the space. You have this huge stage, use it more. Maybe put stuff in the aisles, maybe pull things down more, maybe open the castle up at the end and reveal this big large stage. I don't know, I would have done the things differently like that.

[20:11] Jeff Malone: Yeah, I agree with that.

[20:13] Jeff Malone: And I will say one thing that I think really supports this show overall that keeps its roots is the music. The score is really great. I do really love the score. The score is really great. The lyrics are funny and well written. You know, they have a lot of comedy in them. It's like a lot of stupid humor as well. But I find with this is it takes the story, it elevates the story, it continues the story, but it also has no filler. So I think it's really nice when you can look at something and you're saying, why is that song in here? And like, I don't get that with this show. I'm more like, oh, I want more music. That's and I think that's a good problem to have with a show because it leaves you craving more music.

So yeah, it's super catchy and it's super fun. And then you look at it, it kind of becomes like staple musical theater stuff, some of this score, right? And I think when you take a step back and you look and you say, we say we asked this earlier on the podcast, why is the show back on Broadway?

[21:23] Richie Grasso: Let's jump back into things.

[21:24] Jeff Malone: And I say to myself, it's interesting how this kind of came back so quick. Like, why, you wonder, is this Kennedy Center trying to get their feet wet back on Broadway and using Kennedy Center as a launching pad for shows into New York as an out-of-town tryout of sorts? Is that what we're doing? Maybe. Was this always the goal, or was this something like, whoa, it did so well last year with all these Broadway people in Kennedy Center in DC? Let's bring it back. It is kind of tourist trap-esque. It is something that will get tourists into the holiday season. Will it last a long time? I don't know. I think it's selling till the spring. We'll see. But my question to you would be: why is this being revived again?

And would we see this again? Like, could this close next year and come back in another 10 or 15 years and we do it again? You know? Maybe it's all about demand. You know, it's all about demand. And I think when you look at something with Broadway right now, there's certain genres that are in demand on Broadway. Comedy being one of them. I know that the actual Broadway community doesn't usually reward comedy or like fully invest itself into comedy, but Broadway fans do when you have the successes of like The Producers and Spamalot and shows that we've liked where you see like Shucked or Something Rotten, and like they're good and they're funny, and people like it. And Book of Mormon. I mean, hello, look at how long Book of Mormon has been running on Broadway.

There's not enough comedy though on the stage. So you look at something and you're like, oh, there's a demand for it. It's the same thing with like children's theater. Besides Disney being on Broadway, there's nothing else for kids. And it doesn't make any sense to me because hello, family, dollar sign, dollar sign to And Juliet is the family show right now. And look at it, it's falling in a million dollars every week. So it's like when you see these shows, you have to say, what's in demand right now? And right now we're getting a lot of like new stuff that's all kind of in the same boat when you have like The Notebook and Harmony, The Outsiders coming, Water for Elephants. I was like, it's movie after movie after movie.

[23:41] Richie Grasso: Yeah, I mean, let me ask you this question. Why does the Broadway community, and this is something talked about for years, why are we craving an Aida revival? Why are we craving a Chess revival? Why are we craving a Secret Garden revival? Why are we, why did it take us 50 years to get a Funny Girl revival? And then we've seen Fiddler four times, Les Mis four times, like Cabaret four times. It's interesting how the community is like begging and craving certain revivals. And I'm not saying this with any disrespect, but no one really asks for a Spamalot revival. It's not like for years we're thinking, please bring Spamalot back. But then it instantly came back and it's working and it's great and we love it.

But I'm just wondering, like, why are we sitting here like, oh come on, Aida, please? We want Aida back. We want, and for years we're just gonna keep saying please bring Aida back, but then like up here's Cabaret, and maybe we'll have Fiddler again. Fiddler's at Paper Mill this year, right now, you know, like Fiddler's in the area. Like, I'm just, these are great shows, but if I said to you, Jeff, oh, Jeff, they're doing the fourth, fifth revival of Fiddler next year. Would you be like, okay? You know what I mean? But then when I said, oh, they're bringing Aida back, you'd be like, oh, I don't know, right? I don't know. Or Cabaret. I don't know. I would be like, oh, because I want to see it.

But then if I said, oh, they're bringing Gypsy back. Okay. I would say, who? Well, I would say, who are they putting in the role, right? So that's, or like, if there's, you know, some shows work so well, but then like, I don't know. It just Music Man came back. Okay. Oh, wait, Hugh Jackman's on. Fun. Oh my gosh. I don't know. I just think a lot of it comes down to some shows we get so excited for, some shows we don't. It just depends, but some shows you don't see a revival for so long, and I wonder why.

[25:26] Jeff Malone: Yeah, but look at Spamalot though. They're putting this on Broadway again in as a revival with a bunch of names of people that people know. When you have like Leslie Kritzer and you have Michael Urie and you have James Monroe, and even Taran Killam. It's like, oh, okay. They have to put names, they're not just putting Spamalot on Broadway, they're still putting Spamalot on Broadway with a cast full of people that are gonna sell the show. And then let's talk about selling this to kind of wrap this up here with marketing. We talk about marketing a lot. I know you love to look at the eye of that. This is the exact same logo of the original. They're using the exact same blues and yellows from the original.

All of their marketing is essentially the exact same as it was. I don't see much difference at all. Fonts, colors, catch lines, imagery. So when I, is that working or not? When I look at it, I think it's slightly smart. And here's why. I look at it and I say, give them what they know. Give the people what they know. So the marketing was so successful originally with Spamalot. Let's just put it back at them. Because you want to know why? We didn't really change much in the show. It's just a new cast of characters coming to play the roles. So we don't have to reinvent ourselves for here. And like, look, let's just put the same logo that everyone knows. You know how many people probably don't even think that this is a revival and that Spamalot has been playing for 10 years?

Do you know how many people I talk to that are not theater people and they're like, oh, I really want to go see, um, I really want to go see like Les Mis? I'm like, Les Mis, like has that comes and goes. Like, people probably still think Phantom's running for all we know. Like, I don't know. I think people really think like, because Wicked sits forever, Chicago sits forever, and people just assume things are sitting there, you know.

[27:15] Richie Grasso: Right.

[27:15] Jeff Malone: And it's like a quick topic here of just revival in general, and what I really do think, okay, so that there's an issue though, because I think Broadway's so expensive to put up a show, so and if people are gonna be putting money behind this, they obviously want to make the money back. But the show, I wonder from like a financial aspect of this, does Broadway work for people when they create this show? Put it on, take it off, put it back on, take it off, put it back on, tour it, and like does that work? Of course it does, because it recreates demand. So there's a recreation of demand. So if you've closed something, the dust settles, you bring it back with a new cast, and then when people say, oh my gosh, I gotta go see it again because so and so's doing it.

How many community theater productions have we seen of The Music Man and movie after movie and revival after revival? And if this was The Music Man with no stars, okay, but the demand came when stars went in it. Oh wow, The Music Man. So that's how theater kind of works in a way, you know.

[28:26] Richie Grasso: Of course, you know.

[28:28] Jeff Malone: So there we are. That's the revival. We're just about running out of time here. Time is flying by. Let's kind of wrap up our thoughts here. Overall thoughts on the Spamalot Revival on Broadway, Jeff. Go.

[28:43] Jeff Malone: Overall thoughts, and who is this for? I do think that this is for, you know, people that are looking for a good time, comedy lovers. They just, they don't want to think when they go to the theater and they just want to have fun. And I think that this checks the box of giving that kind of escapism for two hours, and you go check it out, and then you leave, and you know, you just feel good. So you look, you're gonna laugh, you're gonna have fun. We have fun at the end of the day. We're being very nitpicky here with some of the small things because we always just want things to be better, right? But I think this is fun. It is definitely a tourist trap feel. We were at the third or fourth show after opening, maybe the second show after opening.

We're right there at the beginning of this run, and there seem to be a ton of tourists there. So I just feel like there's a lot of out-of-towners going to see this, but it's for the native New Yorker too. It's fun, you're gonna have a good time, you're gonna laugh, go with a friend, go with a family member, and go laugh if you're looking for a good laugh. I think it's funny. We had a good time.

[29:45] Richie Grasso: Well, that does wrap up our discussion for this episode today. We do hope you enjoyed our deep dive into Spamalot, the revival on Broadway.

[29:53] Jeff Malone: Yes, and don't forget we want to hear from you. Continue the conversation with us on Instagram and TikTok at Half Hour Podcast. Let us know your thoughts on Spamalot and any other Broadway or off-Broadway shows you'd like us to discuss.

[30:04] Richie Grasso: And if you enjoyed our show, please leave us a review. Your feedback helps us bring more Broadway to you. Remember, you can listen to our past episodes. Stay tuned for upcoming ones as well. And until next time, I'm Jeff.

[30:14] Richie Grasso: And I'm Richie saying ta-ta for now.

[30:17] Jeff Malone: Bye.