Monty Python and the Holy Grail was released 40 years ago. Monty Python played the Hollywood Bowl 35 years ago. Monty Pythonâs Spamalot opened on Broadway 10 years ago. Itâs a season of anniversaries that Eric Idle is celebrating by appearing as the Historian in three performances of Spamalotat the Hollywood Bowl this weekend. Or the Bollywood Hole as heâs fond of saying.
âItâs been extraordinary,â he says during rehearsals for the show. âHoly Grail was our first film. We made another film previously, but this was the first film where we were in charge. The two Terrys were directing. It was hard to find the money. And it was only $400,000. Thatâs what the film cost. We spent that on lawyers for Spamalot.â
Idle thinks the film still casts a spell on audiences in much the same way as a certain film by the Fab Four. âWe were young, we were naïve and we were making things up,â he offers. âWe were just trying to be funny. I always think of it a bit like A Hard Dayâs Night. Young people with enthusiasm not quite sure what they were doing. Itâs a very silly film.â
Along with collaborator John Du Prez, Idle turned his âsilly filmâ into a Broadway musical called Monty Pythonâs Spamalot. The show opened on Broadway in 2005 and ran for over 1500 performances. It also won the Tony Award for Best Musical. âThe nice thing about the play, when I read it, itâs a series of short sketches. âWell, Iâm not dead yet,â thatâs clearly a song,â he says with a laugh. âThe hardest thing to adapt was because we played 98 different characters. How to put it on stage? I collected all the parts played by John Cleese and made that one person. All the parts played by me and made that one person. That was the way to be able to do it.â
For these three performances, Idle will be essaying the role of the Historian. But it isnât his first time in the show. âI actually once popped on stage in Chicago when we were doing the tryouts, because my plane was stuck by snow and I was really angry,â he reveals. âSo I said to Christian [Borle], âlet me go on stage for you during act 2.â So I went on stage as him and I thought they wouldnât notice. Of course they went crazy.â
Idle is not just the historian for the play, heâs the historian for Python. Does the cast come to him for guidance? âThey all come a little bit,â he says. âThey say, âjust let me know.â They know Iâm watching. Today Jesse [Tyler Ferguson] was doing a part I did, the guard, and he made it his own. And he asked if it was okay. I said, âAbsolutely, youâve got make it your own. Otherwise itâs not funny. You have to inhabit it. You have to be in it.ââ
Although heâs a pescetarian, Idle had no qualms celebrating canned meat. âI always say, itâs not for eating, itâs just for comedy,â followed by another robust laugh. âBut of course, when we grew up in the 1950s with rationing, Spam was what America shipped abroad. Tins of Spam to starving people in Europe. There were recipes for Spam: how to make Spam fritters, how to make Spam in a basket, Spam wings.â
If the Bowl sells out all three nights, Spamalot will be seen by as many people as would have seen 35 sold-out shows in New York. Does that intimidate Idle? âI love the Bowl. Itâs fun. Because people have their bottle of wine and they have their dinner and they are in a very good mood. Thereâs an excitement in the bowl before the curtain goes up.â
With all the concurrent anniversaries, Idle ponders why people rally around this work. He recalls the first cast of Spamalot. âThey bonded. Itâs been true of any company around the world, they bond. I donât know if it is Python or itâs silly or whatever it is, they always have a great time. The comedy musical is king. I donât want to see people with plates on their faces and Andrew Lloyd Webber. Good luck and nice music. I think âmake âem laughâ is the secret to comedy musicals.â
Photo Credit: Ed Krieger