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Video: SPAMALOT Cast Finds Their Grail on Opening Night
May 16, 2024
The company of Spamalot has lots of reasons to look on the bright side of life today! The Tony Award-winning Best Musical Comedy just celebrated its opening night at the St. James Theatre last night, November 16.
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0:00
Come on
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Always look on the bright side of light. Let me hear. Always look on the bright side of light
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Anthony, talk of me. Come on. Hello, I'm Richard Ridge for Broadway World
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The Tony Award winning best musical, Monty Python's Spam A Lot, is back on Broadway
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And we're here at the St. James Theater on opening night to celebrate with the company
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How does it feel to be back? It feels very, it's wonderful
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I mean, it's kind of like a great gift, you know. I mean, it's like, wow, really
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And to be just, you know, I mean, I didn't have any much to do with it
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I mean, they've done it, and it's been to see it and see them hitting it out of the park
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It's been a great delight for me, because they're all great. It's a wonderful company, and they're funniest shit
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And they made me laugh. So what more can you ask for some, you know, I know the text pretty well
0:56
And they did most of it. We were literally across the street at the Schubert Theatre when you first opened, Spamelot
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and now here you are at the St. James. What does this new production mean to you
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It means to me that a whole new generation of actors are now like taken on the torch
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You know, they've learned from those guys, those wonderful people who did it first time around
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but they're making it their own. And there's about four or five of them who just grabbed the roll by the throat and go with it
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You know, it's like they're not kind of, they're making it their own. I just love that
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And there's a whole new young energy in it. And I'm thrilled, absolutely thrilled, you know
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There was a beautiful blueprint that was made by the Hankazarias and the David Hyde Pierce and all And Sadda Ramirez yes Yes And of course Mike McGraw
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Yes. God rest his soul. And the wonderful Mike Nichols. So, you know, I mean, I just wish they could have been here to see it
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It is opening night. How do you feel tonight? It's very emotional. I love the show. I love the people in this show so much
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I love our cast. I love our creative team. I love the staff and the house, house staff of the St. James
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I've worked here before. But when you come back and you work someplace like this and you're close with people
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they all remember me and I remember them. So it's really like a family atmosphere here
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Also, we're bringing a revival comedy to New York. I feel like the world needs this right now
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And we're giving that to them. And I'm just so, I'm so honored, you know
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I never thought I would do this show. I just never thought I would do it
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And so here I am. It's just quite an honor. How do you feel tonight? I am ecstatic
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I mean, we get to do spam a lot. We get to do this fantastic, amazing revival
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And also, we get to make people laugh tonight. And I think that's what we need right now
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And you know me, I love making people happy and making people smile, but this show really, really does it
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So I'm so glad. And this cast is fantastic. What's made this so special with working on this show
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The entire cast, the entire crew, the people. I know that's such a boring generic answer
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but it is so sincerely honest. I'm only here because Nick Walker believed in me
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and he vouched for me and he said, hey, I feel Taryn would be good at this
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and he was right. I'm extraordinary. No. No, but that kind of faith and trust
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and sticking your neck out has only been rewarded by the gifts and support of everyone involved in this production We all like each other a lot and it makes doing the show a real party too
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It makes it joyful every eight times a week. I love everybody in this building
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I mean, that is not a BS line. Everyone in the show is so generous, so kind, so funny
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I learn things from every single one of the actors on stage. The ensemble included, the swings included
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It's just, it's the most talented group of people I've ever worked with
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It's like recess. It's just, I'm, I'm every day just allowed to kind of go and play with a bunch of my friends
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And Josh, our wonderful director, tells us when it's time to come in for our broccoli and vegetables
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But until then, we're just kind of giving free reign to play. And that is such a gift, especially on a Broadway stage, to just be like, oh, my God, yeah, go out and be that kid again
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For as ever, for however long you can. Like, I do not
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take this for granted at all. It's just amazing. You have perfect timing with your coconuts
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Well, I play with my coconuts a lot and so yeah, when you
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play with your coconuts a lot, you can get really good timing
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No, but I'm serious. I should have said you have perfect rhythm with those
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coconuts. I do have a very good rhythm with my coconuts. You know, the props
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guys tried to do it. They can't, they can't get the right rhythm. The secret
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is, it's only three sounds. but it up but a da da da but it up but really that would be a three-legged horse wouldn't it
4:57
watching the audience fall in love with this show all over again what that means to from a second they walk into the theater
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it really special it and and it scary when you do a comedy in a rehearsal room and there no response because everybody who in that room has seen it 450 times And then you get into a theater and you see how people love it and how much it means to be
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It's beautiful. It's a little scary every night because it's a little scary just the case
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You don't really know what's going to happen, but it's been beautiful every moment. And a huge relief
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You feel the ancestors of this piece. Like, I can feel Eric Idol
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David Hyde Pierce. I can feel John Cleese and Hankisaria. I can feel the pythons
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I can feel the people who have done this musical, Mike Nichols. There's a lot of ghosts
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And it's really wonderful. And I feel like what we're doing is an homage to the film
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an homage to the original production. It's our own new thing, our own spin, our own take
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I think we're marrying it all in a beautiful way. I feel like I'm a part of something much bigger than myself
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What's made this so special for you with working on this? I think the actors
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I think they're just so special. And I really feel like we're really featuring them
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And I think this is a time to lift them up in the way that I keep saying
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it's just like early days Carol Burnett where people are going to see these clowns and these comedians
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and say, oh my God, that skill set is so. so monumental of what they can do in just 10 feet of space to make an audience laugh like that
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I'm very proud of them and I'm excited for everybody to see what they can really do and for
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people to really love them again, you know, love them more because they're just such a great group
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