[Regia-NA] [Fwd: *WH* Now for sompthink new end completely different...]

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Kim, What are the filming dates?

Magnus the amused

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: *WH* Now for sompthink new end completely different...
Date: Sun, 14 Sep 2003 19:25:33 -0700
From: Kath Dudek
References: <20030914023234.60569.qmail@web41405.mail.yahoo.com>

Poster: Kath Dudek <>
Katerina thought some Atlantia pipples be interestit in followink
message forwarded to Katerina:

By Josh Grossberg

And now for something completely different on
Broadway, that is.

Mike Nichols, legendary director of both stage and
screen, has signed on to helm Spamelot, a musical
adaptation of Monty Python's wacky 1975 cult film
Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

The project is the brainchild of Python alum Eric
Idle, who wrote the book for the musical based on the
script he did with fellow Flying Circus members John
Cleese (news), Michael Palin (news), Terry Gilliam
(news), Terry Jones (news) and the late Graham Chapman
(news).

And according to Idle, the musical's moniker is about
as permanent as the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch.

"I like the title Spamelot a lot," Idle said in a
press release, "but I was thinking it might be smart
to ask audiences on my upcoming U.S. tour if they
liked it as much as I do. After all, they are the ones
who will be paying Broadway prices to see the show. So
there's a good chance the title may change."

Somewhere Rodgers and Hammerstien are rolling over in
their graves.

For those in need of refresher, Holy Grail was loosely
based on the legend of King Arthur, following his
coconut-clopping highness and his mostly gallant
Britons (minus, of course, the brave Sir Robin) on
their silly quest for the famous cup. Along the way
they deal with the likes of Tim the Enchanter, a
killer rabbit, evil Frenchmen, the quixotic Knights
Who Say Ni, a documentary film crew and the
Bridgekeeper, aka the Old Man from Scene 24.

The shrubbery-ready musical will feature a new score
and lyrics by Idle and John Du Prez, in addition to
two songs from the film. Choreography will be supplied
by Jerry Mitchell, who provided the footsteps for this
year's Tony winner Hairspray, as well as the current
revival of Gypsy and the upcoming Never Gonna Dance.
The set will be designed by Tim Hatley (Vincent in
Brixton, Private Lives).

Nichols, who won an Oscar for directing 1967's The
Graduate, is a six-time Tony winner who's no stranger
to improvisational comedy, having formed Chicago's
landmark Second City comedy troupe and for years
teamed with Elaine May (news) on a clever nightclub
act that played on the Great White Way back in the
late 1950s and early 1960s. (Nichols is one of the
handful of celebs who have the Big Four awards--Oscar,
Tony, Emmy and Grammy--to his credit.)

After splitting up with May, he directed several
successful Broadway comedies, including The Odd Couple
and Barefoot in the Park, before moving on to film.

Spamelot will certainly be a welcomed return to the
boards for the filmmaker, whose last venture on the
Great White Way was directing the Airel Dorfman drama,
Death and the Maiden in 1992.

Nichols recently wrapped production on Angels in
America, HBO's miniseries version of Tony Kushner's
Pulitzer Prize-winning play and is getting ready to
shoot the Columbia Pictures drama Closer, starring
Jude Law (news) and Cate Blanchett (news).

Idle, meanwhile, is gearing up to star in his own
traveling circus, the aforementioned, "Greedy Ba$tard
Tour," which gets underway October 1 in Montreal and
wraps up December 20 in Los Angeles.

If all goes as planned, expect to see Spamelot make
its Broadway debut in the spring of 2005.