Monty Python’s Spamalot gallops off
Last performance on 12th April at Playhouse Theatre
with Jodie Prenger starring as Lady of The Lake
Monty Python’s Spamalot ends its current run at The Playhouse Theatre on 12th April after two very successful years in the West End, with actress and singer, Jodie Prenger, reprising her role of The Lady of The Lake for the final two weeks.
Having previously played the role in 2010 during the Spamalot UK tour (which travelled the length and breadth of the land and through large and very expensive forests), Jodie Prenger is best known for winning the BBC1 TV series I’d Do Anything in 2008 and playing the role of Nancy in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s production of Oliver! in 2009 at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane (very impressive!). As well as previously playing The Lady of The Lake in Spamalot, Jodie Prenger has also appeared in One Man, Two Guvnors at Theatre Royal Haymarket.
Jodie says: “It was a joy to play The Lady of the Lake on tour. Having loved performing on the West End stage in Oliver! and One Man, Two Guvnors, I’m very much looking forward to treading the boards again, but this time in the glittery blue dress alongside the brilliant Spamalot cast at the Playhouse Theatre.”
Jodie follows in the (small but perfectly formed) footsteps of the hugely talented Bonnie Langford and Carley Stenson who have both played The Lady of The Lake at the Playhouse Theatre. During the run, a whole host of stars have kept audiences laughing with their portrayal of King Arthur including Stephen Tompkinson, Jon Culshaw, Marcus Brigstocke, Dick from CBBC’s Dick and Dom, Les Dennis and Joe Pasquale. Warwick Davis, Todd Carty and Dom from CBBC’s Dick and Dom have also appeared in the show as Patsy (deftly wielding their coconut shells across the stage).
They have been joined by a range of celebrity Gods who have performed in 2D on screen as part of the Spamalot Charity Gods season (giving Eric Idle a well-earned chance to head off down the pub), raising money for a wide range of charities over the past year. Celebrity faces who appeared as God include Michael Palin, Michael Ball, Hugh Bonneville, Barbara Windsor, Professor Brian Cox, Gary Lineker, Brian May, Larry Lamb, Bradley Walsh, Simon Callow and Christopher Biggins.
Spamalot started its current West End run at the Harold Pinter Theatre in summer 2012 before moving to the Playhouse Theatre in November 2012, where it has played to packed houses and a lot of laughs ever since (that’s nearly 900 performances in total, which has certainly kept our Knights of the Round Table busy, not to mention our killer rabbit, The Enchanter, those pesky French guards and the Knights Who Say Ni!).
Lovingly ripped off from the classic film comedy Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Spamalot is a kind-of new musical with a book by Eric Idle and an entirely new score for the new production, (well, almost) created by Eric Idle and John Du Prez.
Spamalot tells the legendary tale of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table and features a bevy (or possibly a brace) of beautiful show girls, witch burnings (cancelled due to health and safety) not to mention cows, killer rabbits and French people. The show features fantastic tunes more magical than a Camelot convention, including He Is Not Dead Yet, Knights of the Round Table, Find Your Grail and of course the Nation’s Favourite Comedy Song (Reader’s Digest Poll 2010 – before it went bust), Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life.
The new season at the Playhouse Theatre, directed by Christopher Luscombe, followed Eric Idle’s acclaimed performance of ‘Always Look On The Bright Side of Life’ at the 2012 Olympic Closing Ceremony – the world sang along, and Spamalot audiences have had the opportunity to do so too!
During the run, there have been 25 onstage moustache incidents, three suspected cases of swine flu (French pigs!), one suspected case of bird flu (beautiful bird, the African swallow – lovely plumage), one outbreak of nits and 93 pairs of coconuts used.
