Beyond the Nest Reviews RBTL's Spamalot
By Carol White Llewellyn
In the late '60s and early '70s, Monty Python‘s Flying Circus took British, then U.S. TV by storm. Known for zany, surreal humor that followed little structure, the show and its performers are often credited with influencing other sketch comedy series such as Saturday Night Live.
The troupe’s subsequent 1975 film, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, cemented its legacy, and later served as the inspiration for the 2005 Tony Award–winning musical Spamalot, now catapulted to life in this Broadway revival tour.
SPAMALOT, onstage at Rochester Broadway Theatre League through Sunday, January 18, captures Monty Python at its most iconic: anything-goes absurdity, executed with razor-sharp comedic timing and impeccable use of the pregnant pause. King Arthur clip-clops across the plague-ridden English countryside, assembling a ragtag band of knights to grace the round table of his decidedly Vegas-style Camelot—complete with showgirls and the Lady of the Lake reimagined as a lounge singer. Amid the merriment, Arthur receives a divine mandate from God himself to find the Holy Grail.
What follows is a quest strewn with wildly improbable antics, preposterous pratfalls, and crazy encounters, culminating in the revelation that the knights are, in fact, trapped inside a Broadway musical (despite the fact that such a thing has not yet been invented). Escape requires three conditions: involve Jews in the production, find the Holy Grail, and stage a wedding. Along the way, audiences are treated to cavorting almost-dead men, taunting French knights, the indomitable Black Knight, the Knights Who Say “Ni,” and, of course, the deceptively fearsome, decapitating white rabbit.
Hats—or heads—off to this immensely talented cast, whose evident joy fuels the production’s high-octane energy. Many performers shine, but Major Attaway anchors the show with a hearty King Arthur who is both commanding and absurd, pairing confident vocals with a knowing embrace of the character’s comic foolishness. Amanda Robles, as the Lady of the Lake (eventually revealed to be Guinevere), rightly laments her limited stage time; her extraordinary musical-theatre voice soars with brilliance and dives into rich, comic expressiveness, making each appearance a show-stopping delight. The knights, tasked with seamlessly morphing into a parade of additional characters, each bring their own flair, collectively sustaining the show’s relentless pace and humor.
The production is brimming with affectionate send-ups of other musicals, contemporary pop songs, and even current politics, adding layers of humor that reward in-the-know theatergoers.
Monty Python and the Holy Grail has been heralded as one of the greatest comedy films of all times, and as its musical incarnation, SPAMALOT offers a rare opportunity to relive the film’s legendary humor—bigger, bolder, and even more outrageous—through song, dance, and unapologetic silliness.
SPAMALOT is onstage at Rochester Broadway Theatre League January 13-18, 2026. Click here for tickets.
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Top photo courtesy of RBTL by Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade.