Following the Pythons' incredible 10 night sell-out run at London's O2 Arena, it is announced today that Monty Python's Spamalot will gallop back out on tour from January next year, to bring the West End production to theatres across the land (to the sound of banging coconut shells). Joe Pasquale will reprise his much loved role of King Arthur alongside Bonnie Langford as The Lady of The Lake and Todd Carty as Patsy, (making up the Spamalot Dream Team). Joe Pasquale, Bonnie Langford and Todd Carty will appear in the Spamalot 2015 UK Tour up to and including the Woking dates at The New Victoria Theatre. Further casting and tour venue announcements to be made soon.
Having first played King Arthur for a successful West End run last summer, comedian Joe Pasquale is pleased as punch to be back in the role (he would be pleased as Holy Grail Ale, but it's not really got the same ring to it). He will star alongside West End legend Bonnie Langford, who played The Lady of The Lake previously on the previous UK tour and then during the show's hugely successful West End run at The Harold Pinter Theatre and The PlayhouseTheatre. They will be joined by Todd Carty, who starred as Patsy from the very start of this production both on tour and in the West End run.
Eric Idle says of the show: 'Spamalot is fun. The new production is funnier, it's more like a Python show. There are new costumes and new sets and a new director (Christopher Luscombe), so it's just got a whole different spirit to it.'
Joe says: 'I loved my time as King Arthur in the West End production. I am very excited to have been asked to return for the new UK Tour. I will be joining a fantastic Spamalot cast and can't wait to get back on my invisible horse as we search the land for The Holy Grail.'
Bonnie says: 'Having played The Lady Of The Lake both on tour and in London, I'm thrilled to be able to slide into her sparkly gowns again in the 2015 tour that will bring Christopher Luscombe's brilliant West End production to theatres across the UK for everyone to enjoy!'
Todd says: 'I'm dusting down my coconuts as we speak, so that Patsy can go on a new adventure with King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.'
Joe Pasquale originally won the part of King Arthur through a truly unique casting process as Bonnie and Joe had both appeared in ITV1's Dancing on Ice and starred together in Pirates of Penzance, so she contacted him on Twitter, invited him to see her in the show and suggested to the producers that he'd be a great King Arthur (she was proved right!). Joe's performance has been described as "being Joe Pasquale at his very best", having a "loveable quality" with his "comic touches and ad-libs work perfectly in the fast-paced dialogue".
Bonnie Langford first played The Lady of The Lake during the 2010 - 2011 Spamalot UK tour (playing at venues across the land, but fortunately not Swamp Castle), and returned for a successful run at The Harold Pinter Theatre throughout the 2012 Olympics and then again when Spamalot moved to The Playhouse Theatre in 2013. She starred alongside a host of famous King Arthurs in addition to Joe Pasquale, including Marcus Brigstocke, Jon Culshaw, Stephen Tompkinson and Les Dennis. As the West End's favourite leading lady, Bonnie will now sparkle, shines and shimmer her way back on to theatre stages during the 2015 tour, ensuring audiences across the country will get to enjoy her incredible voice and hilarious comic abilities. Bonnie's performance in the role has received plaudits and great reviews from theatre-goers and critics alike, with The Times describing her as "brilliant" and "Bassey-esque" while Time Out proclaimed her "a sensation".
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 latest tour, which is directed by Christopher Luscombe, follows hot on the heels of the can't- believe-how-successful-it-was-with-the-first-show-selling-out-in-40-seconds Monty Python Reunion at The O2 and 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 get the opportunity to do so too! During the West End run, there were 21 onstage moustache incidents, three suspected cases of swine flu (French pigs!), three outbreak of nits and 92 pairs of coconuts used.
15 - 24 January 2015 - Manchester Opera House (no performance on Sunday 18th January)
26 - 31 January 2015 - Richmond Theatre
02 - 07 February 2015 - Birmingham New Alexandra
09 - 14 February 2015 - Oxford New Theatre
16 - 21 February 2015 - York Grand Opera House
09 - 14 March 2015 - Woking New Victoria
16 - 21 March 2015 - Edinburgh Playhouse
23 - 28 March 2015 - Stoke Regent
30 March - 04 April 2015 - Brighton Theatre Royal
13 - 18 April 2015 - Aylesbury Waterside
20 - 25 April 2015 - Bromley Churchill
11 - 16 May 2015 - Liverpool Empire
18 - 23 May 2015 - Sunderland Empire
01 - 06 June 2015 - Glasgow King's Theatre
08 - 13 June 2015 - Wimbledon Theatre
15 - 20 June 2015 - Milton Keynes Theatre
22 - 27 June 2015 - Bradford Alhambra
06 - 11 July 2015 - Torquay Princess
