This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:06] Gordon Cox: Welcome to Stagecraft, Variety's Theatre Podcast.

[0:10] Gordon Cox: Your backstage pass to revealing conversations with stars, creators, and industry leaders.

[0:14] Gordon Cox: On Broadway, off Broadway, and beyond.

[0:17] Gordon Cox: I'm Gordon Cox. On this episode of Stagecraft, I'm talking to the actors James Monroe Iglehart, Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer, and Michael Urie, three of the stars of the new Broadway revival of Spamalot'.

[0:29] Gordon Cox: All three of them starred in the show earlier this year at the Kennedy Center, where it turned out to be so popular that it got picked up for a Broadway run, with Iglehart, Kritzer, and Urie now appearing in the show in New York, alongside new additions like Terren Killam and Ethan Slater.

[0:42] Gordon Cox: Iglehart, who won a Tony for his role in Aladdin on Broadway, stars as King Arthur, with fan favorite Kritzer, recently on Broadway in Beetlejuice, playing The Lady of the Lake.

[0:51] Gordon Cox: Urie, seen earlier this year on Apple TV's Shrinking, and last on Broadway in Chicken and Biscuits, plays Sir Robin.

[0:58] Gordon Cox: All three are in the virtual studio to tell us about how all the stars aligned for the run, how some of the punchlines are improved, and just how hard it is for everyone on stage to keep a straight face.

[1:15] James Monroe Iglehart: Thanks for having us.

[1:16] James Monroe Iglehart: So I was saying to Leslie and James before you hopped on, Michael, that I had seen the show, I saw the show the other night, and it had been the first time I had seen that show probably since the Broadway run and had such a great time.

[1:28] James Monroe Iglehart: But it also seemed like you all were having a really good time, and so I wondered, is it as much fun as it looks?

[1:35] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Yeah.

[1:36] Michael Urie: Yeah.

[1:36] James Monroe Iglehart: Yeah.

[1:39] James Monroe Iglehart: I think one of the fun things about our cast is that everybody's extremely talented. That's a given.

[1:46] James Monroe Iglehart: And everybody's a star in their own right by themselves. There's not a person on our stage that couldn't handle the stage by themselves.

[1:53] James Monroe Iglehart: But put us all together, and everybody's really sweet and everybody's really nice. And I think because everybody is so gifted, everybody puts their egos at the door and just comes to work ready to just have a good time with each other.

[2:05] James Monroe Iglehart: And so what you're seeing on stage is literally all of us having the best time. We are all fans of each other, and we laugh and we make each other laugh by the things that we do, and we all kind of wait for moments. We all wait for moments to laugh at each other of what we're gonna do.

[2:22] James Monroe Iglehart: So yeah, we're having a good time. It's pretty fun.

[2:24] Gordon Cox: That was my next question, actually, is how hard is it to keep a straight face for the show?

[2:30] James Monroe Iglehart: It can be really challenging. There's a moment in the show where Chris Fitzgerald just stares at me. We're on stage, he's not supposed to be, he's just staring at me for the express purpose of making me laugh.

[2:46] James Monroe Iglehart: And I know what's happening now, and so I'm doing my best to not look at him, but he's just standing there staring at me, and it's like just a moment where the audience isn't looking at us, they're looking at other things.

[2:56] James Monroe Iglehart: So he's, you know, that's manipulative, and that's, uh, but we have trouble. I mean, there's things that happen every night that are slightly different that are funny. There's this part where Ethan Slater is as a mime is miming dropping a baby off of a balcony, and it makes me laugh every night.

[3:16] James Monroe Iglehart: Last night, I won't give away what the prop was because it's a bit of a spoiler, but a prop started to roll into the pit, and King Arthur himself, James Monroe Iglehart, leapt to the ground to stop it from rolling into the pit, and it turned into—and then Terren Killam did like a, you know, three-minute riff on James diving to the stage, and everyone was in hysterics.

[3:41] Gordon Cox: Yeah, and what how that actually leads me into my next question, which is how much of what you do is improv night to night? Like how much flexibility do you have to kind of switch up what you do?

[3:54] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: A lot.

[3:56] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Well, we, uh, yeah, we I think there's certain parts of the show where we feel they're built in. They're kind of pre-planned, but like I have a bit that I won't spoil at a certain part of the show where I've sort of, I kind of craft something every night, and we're still like Taryn also has that with James, and we I think we sort of are trying to figure out what's our A, B, and C options sometimes, because you know, we can do it now, like make them up all the time, but after a while we're gonna get tapped out.

[4:28] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: And we know like when we do these things, if they're like winners every time, then we can use them multiple times, they'll always land, so we can just get into the grip of the show. But it's been so fun to kind of, especially now during previews, try to run jokes out like the other night when the SAG-AFTRA strike ended.

[4:45] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: I did the joke a lot of people in the audience didn't even know yet because it had just come out on our phones.

[4:49] James Monroe Iglehart: Oh wow.

[4:49] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: So I texted our spam group, which is all the boys and me, and I said, "Who's gonna do the SAG joke?" And Taryn's like, "You should do it." And so I was like, "Okay, what can I say?" And I did it and it killed. But you know, I'll probably do that for one more night and then it's time to move on.

[5:04] James Monroe Iglehart: And then you're right, right.

[5:05] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: And then you'll swap out with another current event or—

[5:05] James Monroe Iglehart: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[5:08] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: And then there are moments which was really funny. Our show is built to the—I should say our shows, because it's Monty Python, our show is built where with the performers that we have, if something happens, everybody is good enough to be able to riff on it.

[5:23] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: It's not what we're planning to do. We're not supposed to, it's not like we're told not to, but if it happens and it's there, you know, you just take the ball and run. Everybody's a yes-and actor, and we just keep going, and then we always find our way back to the script and just keep going with the story.

[5:39] Gordon Cox: Right.

[5:39] Gordon Cox: And how is it any easier to keep a straight face this time around than it was at the Kennedy Center? Or does it get harder as it— or it's exactly the same?

[5:50] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: It's like I think it's hard.

[5:51] Michael Urie: Especially with Chris.

[5:52] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Yeah.

[5:53] Michael Urie: Yeah.

[5:53] Michael Urie: So now, Chris, we have Chris and he'll like you, similar, Michael. He'll look at me during Grail. I'm singing, and he's like crossing his eyes like at me.

[6:02] Michael Urie: Because he knows.

[6:03] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: He seems like a troublemaker, Chris.

[6:06] Michael Urie: And I absolutely love it. I absolutely love it. I also can't break because I'm singing. So there's actually no choice in the matter.

[6:13] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: You also don't realize that what's funny with Patsy's character, he doesn't say much. And every when he does speak, it's very important. But because he when he doesn't say, because he doesn't have to say much, he has more time to look at people and make moments to try to get people.

[6:30] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Like he's enjoying, he observes so much. So he's having a great time. The great thing, I'm saved from Fitzgerald because he's always behind me.

[6:40] Michael Urie: But I'm looking, I'm looking at the same direction he's looking, and I'm watching someone across me breaking, and I'm like, he's doing something.

[6:47] Gordon Cox: For listeners who may not remember the show, Patsy is the character with the coconuts behind King Arthur. And so he is, as you say, often behind you. As you have alluded to, there are moments where you add stuff in. There are clearly moments that are kind of updated from the original production, which premiered in 2005. How did those evolve? And how much is that in conversation with—like how much leeway do you have from the original creative team to like really go wild with it? What's the—how tell me about sort of that process of how the show has grown?

[7:20] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Well, when we did it in DC, you know, I think it was such a quick gig. Like we had like two weeks to throw it up and we only did it like 10 shows. And so I don't think it was really necessarily a check-in with the creative team or, you know, the original creators every moment. It was more like let's get the show up and see what happens and listen to the audience and trust them and if they like it that it's working.

[7:45] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: And then I know that, you know, the powers that be saw our version or at least saw, you know, an archive or whatever of our version, or, you know, had their spies and seemed happy enough to like let us go to Broadway. So I think there were a few things, little things here and there that they were like, "Okay, don't do that, you can keep that, you can do that." But it has been a kind of an organic process.

[8:10] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: I would say I don't have that much that's new, a few little things. I think that we created our show in so sort of the same spirit that they created the original, which was who do we have and what can they do? And let's cater to those people. Like, you know, if Ethan Slater can do a backbend, let's let him do a backbend. If Leslie and James can scat their brains out, let's let them do that.

[8:40] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: And it seems to be working and they seem to be happy. I mean, I think that the audience is such an important element to this show, and they're the ones who tell us what's working and not working.

[8:54] Gordon Cox: For all three of you, this is your second time around with this production. Yeah, all three of you were in it at the Kennedy Center. And so rewinding back to then, what was your relationship to Monty Python and to the movie, the original movie? And then had you seen the show, what was your relationship to the musical itself?

[9:12] James Monroe Iglehart: When I was in college, you know, if you're in college theater, there's always these a couple of conversations that happened in the college green room. It's always Sondheim versus Lloyd Webber and Monty Python versus whoever anybody else thinks is funny. And so I came from the household of Mel Brooks, and so some young man, I'll never forget it, he walked in, he was like, "Monty Python's great!" I was like, I didn't know who Monty Python was, I thought it was a dude.

[9:39] James Monroe Iglehart: And so we got into this big argument of why my—why Mel was better, and then he finally said you need to watch this. So I watched the Holy Grail movie, and I was like, "Well, I actually I think they're equal in their own right," and that's how I became a Monty Python fan. But seeing the show, I was in a show, I was in my first Broadway show, and I was so broke I couldn't see anything. But I was doing this reading, and this friend of ours named Kevin Covert was in Spamalot', and he was like, "You want to see the show?" And I was like, "Man, I ain't got no money to see the show." He's like, "Don't worry, I'll take care of you." And he got me a ticket, and I went and saw the show, and Clay Aiken was actually playing Michael Urie's part.

[10:14] James Monroe Iglehart: And I laughed my face off because I was like, "Oh right, this is like the movie," and I had so much fun. So that's my relationship with the actual show. But because of college, I became a fan of the Monty Python and the Flying Circus and the TV show. So I would watch it and occasionally and like just see it. Also, all those guys became like these amazing movie stars in America in like the eighties and nineties. So it was really kind of cool to watch it, but that's my relationship with it as far as the show was concerned. I got to see it that one time, and never in a million years did I think I'd be a part of this. But I'm definitely glad I am now.

[10:47] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: What about for you, Leslie? Did you know Monty Python?

[10:49] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: I mean, I had seen the movie growing up once, but I was, it wasn't again, like James said, I wasn't a Monty Python household. I, you know, I definitely we, you know, my parents, we always had stand-up comedians, like that's, you know, I grew up listening to Robin Williams and Eddie Murphy and like the best sitcoms ever and some of the funniest movies, and again, the stars of Monty Python were movie stars, like I knew them more in that regard.

[11:18] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: But Monty Python itself, I saw the movie once, and it, you know, I'll be completely frank. I'm a woman and it was a lot of male humor. So there wasn't a Lady of the Lake in the movie. So it didn't resonate in the same way it does now. Now, I saw the show 20 years ago with Sada in the back of the Shubert, and I was like wowed by her and the show. But really, my takeaway as a woman, I was like, "Oh wow, like Lady of the Lake's everything." I think a lot of people, you know, when they see that character, it's kind of like, "Whoa, it's so surprising." And she's not in the movie. But then coming into the show, going, "Oh, you know, because so many people have played this part." I think for me, I just come in and I go, I didn't want to watch the movie again, didn't want to listen to the recording. I just come in and I go, "Who are the people that I get to play with in the sandbox and the director?"

[12:11] James Monroe Iglehart: Everyone was so warm and open. We didn't have time to think. We threw this thing up and we said, let's give the best of what's in our toolbox and our tricks. And the audience loved it. And I think that's also a testament to the fact that it's a really well built show. And we just got to add our talents to that. So I mean, to be now on Broadway is like, what? I still look around and like, wait, are we not? Are we is there the green room? Where's the green room at the Eisenhower? Because this is crazy that we're doing it here. But I feel very lucky.

[12:43] Michael Urie: Michael, were you a Monty Python fan?

[12:45] Michael Urie: Yeah, well, uh, when I was, you know, a teenage boy, I was, you know, the perfect audience for Monty Python's Holy Grail. It's, you know, it's the fart jokes and the word play. It appeals directly to a 12-year-old nerd like me. And so I was really into the movie, but then it was um my taste sort of changed as I got older and I, you know, got into high school and I started to really love, you know, theater and musicals and um and I've always been really good at when I see a musical, seeing a role that I'm capable of, because you know, like I'm not I can't do a lot of things vocally or physically, um dance-wise. And so when I see a part, I'm like, oh, I could I could sing that, I could play that part.

And I remember seeing Spamalot' on the West End. Um and I remember thinking, oh, I could I could play Sir Robin, I could sing that stuff. I could and I could play I could play that part. And I knew that like David Hyde Pierce had done it, and then I saw Clay Aiken do it on Broadway too. And of course he can sing so beautifully, but it's you know, that's I had my eye on it, and then I weaseled my way in when I found out when they announced, um, I think it was the first announcement of the Kennedy Center was James and Leslie and Alex Brightman and Rob McClure, and I was like, are any of those guys playing Sir Robin by chance? Um, and if not, could I please be in that? And I asked. I asked to be in it.

[14:15] Gordon Cox: Is that how it happened?

[14:16] Michael Urie: Yeah.

[14:16] Gordon Cox: Are you serious?

[14:17] Michael Urie: I asked.

[14:18] Gordon Cox: Yeah.

[14:18] Michael Urie: I had no idea, Michael.

[14:20] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Oh my god.

[14:21] Michael Urie: I was like, let me look at those dates. I saw that all those guys were doing it, and I was like, let's get into it. And um, and they asked, and I had worked there before, so they knew me at the Kennedy Center, and um, yeah, they said yes.

[14:35] Gordon Cox: Okay, that's cool as hell. That's so cool, Michael. That's actually, I was gonna ask, I mean, uh Leslie, as you pointed out, there's sort of no other role for you in this particular musical. And Michael, you clearly had had your eye on the one. Um, James, theoretically, you could have played any of the other guys in the show. What was there a role? Was King Arthur the one that you were thinking about? Or like what how did you gravitate toward that?

[15:00] James Monroe Iglehart: Um, I can honestly say that Spamalot' was never on my radar. Never on my radar. I never I you know, when I saw it, I thought it was funny, and I thought it was great, and I really, really enjoyed it, but it never occurred to me that someone would call me for that show. What happened was I had just done Guys and Dolls with the Kennedy Center right a few months before. And then I get a call. They were supposed to do one show, and that fell through. And I get a call and they were like, hey, they just got an offer for King Arthur. And I was like, well, no, actually, what's funny is they had announced that they were doing Spamalot', and Leslie's husband, Vadim, who was my musical director for my first show on Broadway ever, he texted me and he said, Listen, uh, they're doing Spamalot' and they want Leslie, and you know, like, do you think she should?

And I'm like, oh my god, she's gonna have a great time. Go ahead, just I mean, great. And then Rob McClure calls and says, Man, um, uh, you just did the Kennedy Center. Is it fun? I was like, Oh, you're gonna have a great time. It's so much fun. And I told my wife, I was like, Man, they calling all the cool people for this show. I was like, we need to go. We need to go and see this. And like the next week they called for me, and I was like, wait, um, would I just talk to them? Oh who play? King Arthur? Yeah, I'm there. Forget it. I'm in. If they're going, I already told them to go, so yes, I'm in. That's exactly how it happened. And I had to go back and like, you know, look at the script and like look at the movie because like I said, I knew it, but it had never crossed my mind to play the role. So I know but I'm so glad they called.

[16:26] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Yeah, yeah. It's magic how it all it really is. It's really magical how every all of these people who, you know, all of us get, you know, calls, we're busy, whatever. That we were all available in that window of time, and here we are. Like, that's the that's it's uh what did they say? Bescher't. It's Jewish Besharts. And when I when when she says that window of time, that's what made it so funny because all of us had exactly those three weeks to do it. That's it. This is before the strike, nothing, everybody was everybody was work, everybody was signed to something else the day after it closed at the Kennedy Center. So the fact that we're on Broadway with it now is like, what? How did this happen? So weird.

[17:13] Gordon Cox: I'll have more with James, Leslie, and Michael right after the break.

[17:26] Gordon Cox: Welcome back to my conversation with the Spamalot' actors, James Monroe Iglehart, Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer, and Michael Urie. That super brief sort of both rehearsal and performance. It was like what, 10 performances? You said Michael?

[17:39] Michael Urie: Like it was like 10 days or something, like nine days, even. Like it was it was a very it was a very short time. Is it similar to Encores in that kind of uh structure in terms of like bang crashing it through total ego?

[17:55] James Monroe Iglehart: Yeah, it's just like very similar.

[17:57] Gordon Cox: Yeah, and so how much of what was on the Kennedy Center stage? How much does what we're seeing on Broadway look like what happened on the Kennedy Center stage? Just the um like like is the set similar? Is the all that stuff?

[18:11] James Monroe Iglehart: The set's pretty similar. The orchestra was um on stage with us, um, on top of the castle at the Kennedy Center, and now they're in the pit. That's the biggest difference. And then we have a bunch of projections in um DC, but those have been I mean, everything's sort of enhanced and improved. Yeah. Um but it's it's very similar. And and I mean, you would have been shocked at how much we did in 10 days. Uh it was they're extremely ambitious, and and you know, theater is a miracle, and it's a miracle any I mean every night, every night I'm like, how do we do this? How do we get 2,000 people in here in their seats, and then you know, 200 some odd people performing it, yeah, like making it happen.

Like it's just it's a miracle, but those are real miracles because they're big productions. Jeffrey Finn, who runs that center stage um program at the Kennedy Center, he's a very ambitious guy, and he makes magic happen, and he gets people in that are insane, and he he gets them to do these big shows. And this was a big show. We had yeah, lots of costume changes, lots of set pieces. It was the biggest. I mean, I had done one other for them and one on course. This is definitely the biggest of any of those shows. Um, and they'll probably just keep getting bigger because we keep pulling it off. I think that's the other thing. Um, some of the people that the people that end up doing these concerts like Encores or uh center stage at uh Kennedy Center, there is a certain mindset.

You kind of come in knowing it's those professionals who who've done Broadway and love it, but also we still have that summer stock feel of like, sure, we could do a show in one day, that makes sense. But yeah, let's go, fine, whatever. And everybody just goes in, like just ready to go, and everybody, like I said, puts their ego out the door and goes, okay, so what are we doing? And it's amazing to watch these folks create because it literally just happens. It literally just happens on the fly, and next thing you know we're in the audience, and then we're done. So the fact that we actually get to take that magic that we created at Kennedy Center to bring it to Broadway, and we get to kind of refine it and iron out the wrinkles. We're like, oh snap, this is now we got something. This is really cool.

[20:19] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Yeah, yeah. Was the Broadway run and the dates was your availability facilitated by the strike? I imagine it was. Was that part of um part of the magic that made it help helped pull it together for those this uh this return?

[20:35] Michael Urie: I mean, to an extent, I think well, also you know, the the whole Broadway game is is uh real estate. Yeah, it's all about real estate. You know, what theater's available when, when sh what shows are still open, how long are they gonna be? I mean, it is kind of also a miracle that we got a theater because things, especially in the the landscape of now with Broadway and how people buy tickets, they you know, do they buy in advance unless there's a star? What kind of shows, you know, you don't always have a Daniel Radcliffe or a Hugh Jackman? So like everything is still post-pandemic getting like it's all sort of getting still figured out. So I think, you know, people obviously we had as my brother says heat on us you know coming from the Kennedy Center he's like you guys got heat um so we were we were definitely the one of those shows where people were like yeah and I think you know to Jeffrey's credit and thanks to the Jamsons and Ambassador Theater Group, they were like, you know, uh this could be your next home and you know we of course New York New York we felt terrible that they were closing because we love those love those guys too but we all all of us on here have been in shows that have opened and closed or have taken over a space and that's just sort of the thing. We really did look out. We really did.

[21:52] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Did you have longer to rehearse this time around?

[21:54] James Monroe Iglehart: A little bit yeah well you'd already done that James we we had a little bit of time but James is doing uh what a wonderful world and and we only got him on Mondays he was on Louis Armstrong and so I was oh wow that's he didn't get that's a schedule James rehearsal yeah I was I I all altogether I had uh about six days rehearsal I call I say six days because I had four days four month four full Mondays with him and two uh two half Tuesdays two actually two quarters Tuesdays and then uh it was the put in and then with the audience so it was about remembering what we did in DC watching videos and uh then the rehearsals I have with these wonderful people and you guys I told I tell them as much as I can, the grace and patience that they had with me to be able to come in while they're working their butts off, and I'm doing another show. I'm coming in and doing it. It like Michael said, it's it's a miracle things happen the way the way they do.

[23:00] Gordon Cox: As you mentioned, there's some new additions to the cast. Not everyone from the Kennedy Center could come for the Broadway run. Uh, tell me a little bit more about what they bring to the show. It sounds like sounds like Chris is always trying to crack you up. Ethan is doing backbends, is that it? And uh what yeah, what else is uh what else is how how else has the show sort of changed in the interim?

[23:17] James Monroe Iglehart: Well, it's kind of funny that the way the way that uh our show was put together the first time, it was like you know, friends calling friends, you know, you know, having Leslie call or Rob call. That's kind of what happened with this. Um, you know, because of another wonderful show, we don't get to use until January. We don't get to have the wonderful talents of Alex Brightman, but uh Nick Walker, who was in our show and was very is very good friends with Taryn Killam and was like, hey, you should call. And that's how Taryn got in. Uh Fitzgerald, I think, was a Josh Rhodes call. So I mean, the fact that we and to actually get those two, to get those two again is a miracle because Taryn is just like a freak of nature when it comes to comedy.

He is a comedy um encyclopedia. There isn't a comedy movie he doesn't know or can't recite, or can't and I mean his sketch comedy background is just insane. And then there's Chris Fitzgerald, who also is like a comedy guru.

[24:13] James Monroe Iglehart: He's literally figuring out bits while he's doing other bits, and to get him, it's nuts. And then there's Ethan, and people always freak, people always forget this is Tony nominated Spongebob. This is one of the most amazing physical comedy actors that we have of our generation. And the fact that we have this guy in our show, and Ethan the most switches between characters. You're like, this is insane. He's got a lot of costumes, Ethan. Yeah, and we have that that was one of those moments where we kind of went, Oh, but everybody was it's one of those moments where like the door is supposed to open for those the door is supposed to open for. And when the door opened, these folks walked in and just they fit right in. It was a the puzzle pieces just all fell together.

[25:20] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Wow.

[25:21] James Monroe Iglehart: It's the money. Um I'm just keeping money. The money and the prestige. There's something about people applauding for you that it's like a drug. Like I don't, I don't drink, but something about people clapping. No, I'm just kidding. It's so pure, you know, it's such a it. I mean, the prestige is real too. Like it it there is that is kind of the highest peak. So getting to go to, you know, work on Broadway is always exciting. Getting to walk in a door and have your picture right next to the door you walk in, that is a really nice feeling. Um to me, like it's the like as an artist, it's the purest being on stage. Um, whether it's Broadway or off-Broadway or regional or whatever. It is, it is absolutely the purest.

You're in you, you you're in control of your performance for that period of time. The audience is getting the entire story from you and your colleagues. And it's the the feat of of making a show. It's the feat of like Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer hitting that note just for us tonight. That she does that just for us tonight. Especially with the show like this where she's actually making jokes that she won't make the next night. Um the audience feels very special because they know that that they're getting something completely unique. And and that's something you can't do in a on a on a movie or in a TV show. You know, you're such a cog and a wheel um in in on camera stuff. You you know you don't have control of over anything really, except for, you know, you don't even really have control over your your takes because they might use a different take or they might not be on you.

You know, I mean I've it's happened to me so many times where I I have this great idea and I have this whole plan in my head of what uh how it's gonna look, and then they don't use it and and I'm off camera for you know, that big bit I had and um or that big idea that I had, or they use a some weird version or the director comes in at the last minute is like, why don't you try it this way? And I'm like, Oh, I don't want to do that, but I do it, and that's the one they use. In theater it doesn't work like that. It's really we are really we have a lot of control over our own performance night tonight. And of course we're collaborating with director, choreographer, music director, and uh a cast and uh and creative team, but um but w we're in the driver's seat and uh and the audience knows that we are and knows that what they're getting is unique and special.

[27:45] Michael Urie: Yeah, I'll just quickly add to that. Um both I mean I think it is exactly what you said. It's the purest form of a communication, especially now, like we're always on our phones, or and now more than ever. I feel like to be in a room with people to have that immediate reaction, that immediate connection, it's what I, you know, I grew up always loving that since I was did the crocus that wouldn't bloom in you know first grade, and I played the caterpillar that played the that became the butterfly. It's the same, the same thing, the relationship that I had, the immediacy, that energy, that whatever's in the air, uh, you know, it is um it's special also to walk into that theater every night, it never gets old.

The St. James, all of the theaters, everyone sometimes we'll talk, we'll go, what's your favorite theater? What's your favorite theater? When I walk into the St. James, you feel like you're like, oh, I'm walking into like a home. You know, this is our home. We're the home team. This is our home base, and this is you know, the front of staff, everyone says hello, we're hey, hey. It's it's amazing family in the building. The way that theater works and Broadway works, but really anywhere, but especially Broadway, because you you're in for the long haul, there is a sort of lifestyle. And, you know, that is really special. You won't kind of find that anywhere else. Um, where you know, you're just in a building with these people all the time, and then you're giving away on stage every night, but also the dynamic in the building is really special.

And um, and when it's over, you miss that. You miss, hey, stopping by this person's dressing room or this person, or you know, snob on Saturday nights or those things. It's um it's not just the out on the stage, it's behind the stage too. And so, yeah.

[29:40] James Monroe Iglehart: Why do you think Spamalot' is landing as strongly uh as it is right now? What do you feel like people are really responding to in this moment of about what Spam-Alon offers?

[29:52] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Joy, I think I think it's the joy. There's so much going on in our world and has been for like the last six years. And it's just getting worse and and and we're all getting, I mean, I feel it. And I, you know, I I feel myself getting worse. I was just before I hopped on this, I was on a customer service um chat with, and I was getting so angry, and I was saying things, I was like, this isn't me. I'm not like this, but the world is so um it's so divisive. And this this show from the moment it starts, the very first thing is it it shakes you. The very first thing that happens in the in the theater is you get shook to laugh. Um, and then almost literally, like you are startled into laughter, and then it's just funny.

Eric Idol comes on and tells you to turn off your cell phones in a funny way, and then the music is fun, and then funny things start to happen, and you're taken away. This show, like like like no other, takes you immediately. Um, and I think people really appreciate that. They really appreciate getting swept away and not having to think, not having that there's no chance for someone to think, I wonder what's on my phone. I mean, you think about how much on TV when you're watching when you're watching TV or a movie, you think about your phone, and you think about what what what what happened has anything happened on my phone? And this show doesn't let you do that. There's no time for you to for you to stop.

There's too many things happen. Too many people coming in and out, and it's so fast, and it's so loud and so bright. And I think I think people want that. People don't want a chance to think about their lives, and this show doesn't give it to them.

[31:43] Michael Urie: Yeah, I also think people just want to laugh.

[31:46] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Yeah. I mean, we have you know, I think Broadway has been Broadway, like I always feel like this way with Hollywood. If you watch the Oscars, and like all you watch the Oscars and like all 12 or 25 films that are up for best film, what I always think is too many, um, are like the most serious slit your wrists things in the world. It's it's it's it's racism, it's the Holocaust, it's something bad happening to women. It's uh there's a child that needs to run away from like every every movie is depressing, and then there's this one comedy, and you're like, you know, that comedy's not gonna win. Well, I think our show, I think our show is that palette cleanser, and uh, don't get me wrong, all the shows that are coming into Broadway this season are wonderful, that everybody is trying to make you think and trying to make you feel the realness of what's going on in the world.

And our show is like, hey man, you want to laugh? Come over to our place, come over to come over to St. James and just laugh, just laugh with us. Because tonight, we don't want you to think about what's going on in your life. We don't want to make you reflect on what you've done with what you've done with your life. We just want you to laugh at what's about to happen here, and remember that there is a time to laugh, and there's just a time to be silly with your friends and just have a good time. Have a five dollar can of Pringles, sit down with a 25 dollar beer or wine sippy cup, and just laugh at us at you know, just laugh at us being taking a story that is obnoxious in the first place, and then and then blowing it out of proportion and have fun with us, you know, laugh at things that people say are taboo, and we are take we are taking no prisoners.

We're talking about everybody, we are ripping on everybody, and letting everybody say, Look, we're all silly inside, and we all actually really want to laugh at each other, with each other, for each other, all together. And I think this show does that. So you can go see those of the shows and learn and live and reflect. But our show, you're gonna come out and just have a good time. That's really what we want to do, is just entertain you and let you have a good time.

[33:45] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: And I'll just say, just at the uh just and that's per it's perfectly said that there is a moment in the show where I'm on stage with James and Chris, and I look out on the audience, and I and I and I've said this before like you know, it's fun, you're coming to laugh, and then there is a moment on stage when I'm on stage with that in this moment, and I go, This really matters. It matters because we need to get back to the place where we really can feel joy and love. And that's what's in that theater. That's what I feel in that moment, James. You know what I'm talking about. Just like we're all together, and let's do this together. You know, the show's almost over. Yeah, let's go out with a bang.

But like, we care about each other, and I think that also in this group, it resonates, and I really think it's um that's what happens. We're like, we can't believe that's a Monday night, they're going nuts. And it's because we are, and we are having an amazing time, and we need it just as much as them. And so that's it's palpable, it's really special.

[34:50] James Monroe Iglehart: Yeah.

[34:51] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: I'll spam a lot uh at the St. James Theater on through April. Thank you, all three of you.

[34:54] James Monroe Iglehart: And we'll be on the parade.

[34:56] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: We'll be on the parade.

[34:57] Michael Urie: I don't know.

[34:58] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Oh, and you'll be on the parade.

[34:59] James Monroe Iglehart: Also tune in for the parade.

[35:01] Michael Urie: Freezing, but I'll say me and Mike will be okay.

[35:05] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Poor Leslie.

[35:06] Michael Urie: Yeah, that's a great point.

[35:07] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Yeah.

[35:09] Michael Urie: Am I allowed to drink?

[35:10] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: I mean, I think you're encouraged.

[35:13] Michael Urie: It'll help the scatter.

[35:14] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: I don't know.

[35:15] Michael Urie: Seriously.

[35:16] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: I don't like whiskey, but I'll you know, whatever.

[35:20] Gordon Cox: Thank you.

[35:21] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Well, thank you to all three of you.

[35:22] James Monroe Iglehart: Thanks for being here.

[35:23] Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer: Thank you.

[35:23] Michael Urie: Thanks, Gordon.

[35:27] Gordon Cox: That was James Monroe Iglehart, Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer, and Michael Urie, now starring on Broadway in Spamalot'. If you enjoyed this conversation here on Stagecraft, I'd really appreciate it if you took the time to rate and review us wherever you listen to podcasts. It really does help. Or tell a friend about Stagecraft. Find past episodes and subscribe at all the places you get your pods, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and on the Broadway Podcast Network, a great place to find more theater for your ears. Until next episode, find me on Instagram and Twitter at Gordon B. Cox. You can also check out my new newsletter about international theater. It's called Jake's, and it's at Gordoncox.com. Thanks for listening and see you at the theater.