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:

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

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.”