Spamalot (2012, 2013)

Synopsis The Production Photographs Reviews


Synopsis

Audiences all around the world have been roaring with laughter since Monty Python’s Spamalot, by Eric Idle and John DuPrez, won the Tony Award for Best Musical in 2005.

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 too expensive) not to mention cows, killer rabbits and French people. The show features the hilarious songs 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 2009) – Always Look on the Bright Side of Life.

Text from spamalotontour.co.uk


Announcements:
First annoucements that Steven Pacey’s had been cast as King Arthur in the Spamalot regional tour appeared on the Spamalot Twitter Feed and Facebook Page, and on the Musical Theatre Blog on 10 January, 2012.

The Production

Venues:
Steven Pacey appeared in Spamalot between 30th January and 21st April, 2012 at various regional venues:

Venue
Dates
Grimsby Auditorium
30th January – 3th February
Torquay Princess Theatre
14th – 18th February
York Grand Opera House
20th – 25th February
Stoke Regent Theatre
27th February – 3rd March
Glasgow King’s Theatre
12th – 17th March
Edinburgh Playhouse
19th – 24th March
Birmingham New Alexandra
26th – 31st March
Richmond Theatre
2nd – 7th April
Aylesbury Waterside Theatre
9th – 14th April
Sunderland Empire
16th – 21st April

And again, during 2013, between 3 April and 18 May, at the Playhouse Theatre.

Sessions were approximately one hour and 30 minutes, with one 20 minute interval, from Monday – Saturday at 7:30pm, with matinees at 2:30pm Wednesday and Saturday. Tickets were £15.00 to £45.00, sold through the Ambassador Theatre Group.

Cast and Creatives:

CAST
2012
CHARACTER
Steven Pacey King Arthur
Bonnie Langford The Lady of the Lake
Todd Carty Patsy
Robin Armstrong Sir Bedevere, Dennis’ Mother, Concorde, Guard
Rob Delaney Sir Robin, Mayor, Guard
Adam Ellis Prince Herbert, Historian, Not Dead Fred, Minstrel
Kit Orton Sir Lancelot, French Taunter, Knight of Ni, Tim the Enchanter
John Robins Sir Dennis Galahad, Black Knight, Prince Herbert’s Father
Eric Idle God
Tim Bonser, Rachel Knowles, Hannah Malekzad, Niall Sheehy Ensemble
Amelia Adams-Pearce, Michael Burgen, James Nelson Swings
CREATIVES
Writer Eric Idle (based on the original screenplay)
Music John Du Prez and Eric Idle
Director Christopher Luscombe
Set and Costume Designer Hugh Durrant
Lighting Designer Nick Rickhings
Sound Designer Terry Jardine and Avgoustos Psillas
Choreographer Jenny Arnold
Musical Director Tony Castro


Photographs

Space dictates that we have only included photos featuring Steven Pacey.

Promotional Photographs:

Spamalot West End

New poster for Spamalot at the Playhouse Theatre.

Bonnie Langford, Steven Pacey and Todd Carty in Spamalot.

Cast Promotional Photographs:

Steven Pacey and Todd Carty.
Photograph from The York Press, uncredited.

Photo: Express & Star, uncredited

Spamalot Cast
Photo: tweeted by Sunderland Empire Theatre

Stephen Pacey, Todd Carty and Bonnie Langford arrive in Sunderland to star in the smash-hit musical Spamalot
Photo: Sunderland Echo, uncredited


Reviews

Arthur (Steven Pacey) is a joy to watch, every emotion plays on his face; his singing voice is fantastic and carries well … Pacey’s comic timing was excellent.

Rosie Revell,The Public Reviews

Steven Pacey … excelling as the straightman to the infectious silliness of both characters and plot.

Jane Catterall, The Yorker

Steven Pacey captures the essence of the King perfectly.

Lisa Davidson,Backstage Pass

Steven Pacey makes for a fine buffoonish King Arthur. His heartfelt number I’m All Alone, despite the entire cast thronging the stage is a hoot.

Alan Chadwick,STV

Steven Pacey was glorious as King Arthur, the song, I’m All Alone was a highlight of the show.
… if you can catch with Langford and Pacey in the cast, you’re sure of a real treat!

Jolyon’s Theatrical Reviews

Steven Pacey is, perhaps, surprisingly cast as King Arthur; being a ‘proper actor’. His plausible delivery, though, was the perfect antithesis for the bizarre caricatures of the supporting cast. His timing was impeccable, particularly in the quick-fire scene where he meets Dennis Galahad (Jon Robyns) for the first time.

Cameron Lowe, UK Theatre Network

Pacey has a strong delivery, his wonderfully befuddled “nice-but-dim” King Arthur a beautifully crafted creation.

Edinburgh Evening News

Steven Pacey’s lead turn as Arthur carries things along with fine voice and comedic touch.

Bruce Blacklaw, Edinburgh Evening News

Steven Pacey as King Arthur covers all aspects of the role, commanding at times but mainly chief source of amusement with special mention for the stage fight scenes.

George Clayton, Edinburgh Guide

Steven Pacey as Arthur has a fine singing voice and stage presence.

Selwyn Knight, The Public Reviews

Steven Pacey sparkles as King Arthur.

Paul Marston, Coventry Telegraph

Steven Pacey (Spooks, Pie in the Sky and Lovejoy) who stars as Arthur, King of the Britons, played the part with panache – with a giant ego and surprisingly good singing voice to boot.

Victoria MacFarlaine, Bucks Free Press

Steven Pacey was brilliant as King Arthur.

Vicki Newman, The Shields Gazette

… strong performance from West End veteran Steven Pacey as King Arthur.

Ross Robertson, Sunderland Echo

Steven Pacey … provided the exact dryness, comedy and slight stupidity to the role with which we are all familiar.

Debra Fox, Evening Chronicle

Steven Pacey holds the show together as King Arthur, with a fine voice and the Midas touch of comedy.

Helen Brown, The Northern Echo

Steven Pacey is both clown and commander as King Arthur.

The Journal


DATE SOURCE REVIEWER STAR RATING
1 February
Grimsby
This is Grimsby; Grimsby Telegraph Joan Darnell not rated
2 February
Grimsby
Lincolnshire Today not rated
21 February
Torquay
Jolyon’s Theatrical Reviews not rated
21 February
York
The Public Reviews Rosie Revell *****
22 February
York
The York Press Emma Cooke no rating
29 February
Stoke-on-Trent
This is Staffordshire; The Sentinel Kelly Edington not rated
1 March
York
The Yorker Jane Catterall not rated
1 March
York
Nouse
The University of York’s Student Newspaper
Lydia Mihailovic ****
13 March
Glasgow
Backstage Pass Lisa Davidson not rated
13 March
Glasgow
STV Alan Chadwick not rated
14 March
Glasgow
UK Theatre Network Cameron Lowe not rated
15 March
Glasgow
Edinburgh Evening News not rated
17 March
Glasgow
Musing Mends the Soul Lauren not rated
18 March
Glasgow
Daily Record: Sunday Mail Steve Hendry not rated
20 March
Edinburgh
Edinburgh Evening News Bruce Blacklaw *****
20 March
Edinburgh
Edinburgh Guide George Clayton not rated
nd
Edinburgh
The British Theatre Guide Seth Ewin not rated
26 March
Glasgow
The Skinny Antony Sammeroff ****
27 March
Birmingham
The Public Reviews Selwyn Knight **** 1/2
27 March
Birmingham
Express & Star David Lumb not rated
28 March
Birmingham
Coventry Telegraph Paul Marston ****
28 March
Birmingham
The Birmingham Press Terry Wills not rated
29 March
Birmingham
What’s On Stage Kieran Johnson *****
31 March
Birmingham
Behind the Arras Roger Clarke ****
6 April
Richmond
West End Wilma Wilma not rated
nd April
Richmond
Theatre Showcase Evan Rule not rated
10 April
Aylesbury
Berkshire Life Chris Gladstone not rated
11 April
Aylesbury
Bucks Free Press Victoria MacFarlaine not rated
11 April
Aylesbury
UK Theatre Network Vicky Poole not rated
16 April
Sunderland
R&R Andy Barker not rated
17 April
Sunderland
The Shields Gazette Vicki Newman not rated
17 April
Sunderland
The Public Reviews Gemma Wilson **** 1/2
17 April
Richmond
BLOG: My Life Abroad and Its Consequences Elwingda not rated
18 April
Sunderland
Sunderland Echo Ross Robertson not rated
18 April
Sunderland
Evening Chronicle Debra Fox not rated
18 April
Sunderland
The Northern Echo Helen Brown not rated
18 April
Sunderland
The Journal not rated

Spamalot


Interview:

Marion McMullen
Coventry Telegraph
Mar 23 2012
Verbatim Transcript

“Leamington’s Steven Pacey is New King of Spamalot”

ALL hail the new king of Spamalot. He has the golden crown, legendary sword Excalibur and even a trusty steed … well, Todd Carty equipped with a couple of coconut shells.

Tim Curry, Phill Jupitus, Matthew Kelly, Sanjeev Bhaskar and Marcus Brigstocke have all plonked the backsides on the Spamalot royal throne and now it’s the turn of Leamington’s Steven Pacey.

The former Blake’s 7 actor once had the universe at his fingertips in the BBC 1 sci-fi series, but he is now the ruler of all he surveys as King Arthur in Monty Python’s medieval spoof.

He is touring the country with the hit show which sees Bonnie Langford as the Lady Of The Lake and Todd Carty back as the king’s loyal servant Patsy.

So how is Steven coping with knights of the round table, killer rabbits and beautiful show girls?

“It’s been a bit of a test not to laugh on stage,” he admits with a grin. “The boys in the cast can be a bit naughty and there is a bit of ad-libbing going on. The Knights Of Ni certainly keep me on my toes. I have been known to be a victim of corpsing.”

Steven says he laughed out loud when he first read the script for Spamalot and couldn’t wait to put on the crown.

“There’s just waves of laughter from the audience during the show. It’s wonderful to hear. I remember seeing Monty Python sketches when I was growing up and thinking the naked man playing the piano was very rude and naughty. How times have changed.

“We sometimes even get audiences saying the more famous punchlines along with us, but you don’t have to be a Monty Python fan to enjoy the show. It’s just classic comedy.”

Spamalot has had audiences all around the world roaring with laughter and there have been productions in America, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Canada and across Europe.

Eric Idle, who says he lovingly ripped off Monty Python And The Holy Grail for Spamalot, even makes a special screen appearance and Steven says songs like Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life are always a hit.

The Olivier Award-nominated actor has appeared on TV in dramas such as Wallander, Taggart, Doctors, Foyle’s War and Spooks and has recorded more than 300 radio plays and 200 audio books.

He also played Graham Norton’s other half in the West End in stage hit La Cage Aux Folles and says: “He was wonderful, so professional. Of course, he trained as a actor and he was great to work with. Shows like La Cage Aux Folles and Spamalot are just a joy to do.”

Steven’s family originally came from Yorkshire and his father was a builder. He jokes that his parents were working their way down the country in search of good weather when they reached Leamington and he was born.

“We left when I was a babe in arms and ended up in Brighton, but I now know Coventry and Warwickshire a lot better because my twin daughters Jessica and Laura both went to Warwick University.

“They studied history and classics and now work in publishing so they haven’t followed me into acting, thank goodness.”

He laughs: “As they say, don’t put your daughter on the stage Mrs Worthington. All the poison I dripped in their ears about acting must have paid off. They are doing well without my help, but will come and see Spamalot at some point on the tour.”


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