Broadway's 'Holy Grail' quest

When "Monty Python's Spamalot" officially opens on Broadway next week, it will mark a first for the Python franchise - and a coup for canned meat.

Directed by Mike Nichols, and starring Hank Azaria (as Lancelot), David Hyde Pierce (Sir Robin), and Tim Curry (King Arthur), the production is as much a splashy party as it is an homage to the 1975 film on which it's based. Even the makers of Spam couldn't resist joining the festivities, producing special "Spamalot" tins featuring a new flavor: golden honey grail.

The idea for the show came from Eric Idle, a member of the six-man British comedy troupe responsible for the film "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" and other productions bearing the Python name. That particular movie - an amusing collection of sketches featuring knights who ride pretend horses and sing about eating Spam - was perfect fodder for a musical according to Mr. Idle.

"It just suddenly occurred to me," he says in a recent phone interview while in New York. " 'The Holy Grail' ... starts off like a musical - you know there are three songs in it - and at every point you could easily burst into song."

Broadway also seemed primed for a visit from Python. When another funny-movie-turned-musical, "The Producers," became a hit in 2001, Idle knew the timing was right. As he puts it, the musical comedy had returned.

"I felt that producers would be ready. You could actually sell them something as silly as 'The Holy Grail' on Broadway, because Mel [Brooks] had done it." (Idle had also had the idea for turning "The Producers" into a musical back in the 1980s, but couldn't get Mr. Brooks interested.)

Like "The Producers," "Spamalot" pokes fun at the very form it's in, with numbers like "The Song That Goes Like This," which mocks the predictability of musicals. That's the ditty that won over the other Pythons - John Cleese, Michael Palin, Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones - who had to give their approval before the show could go on. (Graham Chapman, the other member of the group, died in 1989.)

"It made them laugh and surprised them," he recalls of their reaction to the song he wrote with composer John Du Prez. "That's the essence of Python ... not to be predictable, and always to make you laugh."

Even the actors can't always keep a straight face in this newest Python incarnation. Light on plot, the story follows King Arthur as he recruits knights and goes in quest of the Holy Grail - only now the search includes having to put on a Broadway show. The title comes from a verse in one of the movie's original songs: "We dine while here in Camelot/We eat ham and jam and Spam a lot."

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