Tonight's the night that a gay Sir Lancelot, a legless Knight, a cart of dead bodies, and a killer rabbit may make or break the future of Broadway shows in Vegas. It's the opening night of previews for Monty Python's 'Spamalot' musical at the Wynn, and King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table never imagined in their wildest dreams the zany madcap way they'd be cavorting through a casino with coconuts on the search for the Holy Grail. Theatrical transplants from New York to Sin City have not fared well in facing competition from, the Cirque du Soleil spectaculars and we've had 'Avenue Q' and 'Hairspray' amongst the casualties. I've seen the Tony Award winning production created by madman mastermind Eric Idle, under the direction of Mike Nichols on Broadway's Great White Way, and as crazy and wild as the show is, I predict solid success with its outrageous humor here on the Strip!LUXE LIFE talked with Eric, his star John O'Hurley and hotel tycoon Steve Wynn about the show that's won record numbers of awards in both New York and London. Eric explained that Steve had seen 'Spamalot' about two years ago and immediately wanted to bring it to Vegas. "About five minutes into the show, he whispered in my ear 'this would be great in Las Vegas.' He liked the show, he laughed and he sang along and he enjoyed it and at the end he said it reminded him very much of the '60s when he went into Broadway and he had gone to see Nichols and May. Those are my two collective heroes and the reason I went into Python. This musical is of course lovingly ripped off from the movie 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail,' which was made in 1975 for about $400,000. On the musical, that is less than the lawyers cost but to come to the stage it needed quite a bit of changing. We did about 17 drafts over 4 years but it made it's money back after six months on Broadway, it was the big winner in London and we have a touring company that is really doing well everywhere"
John O'Hurley (seen above with Eric) who was a regular on 'Seinfeld' and will play King Arthur in 'Spamalot' told me: "I thought it was an extraordinary show and I thought it was so funny. I had not laughed as hard at a Broadway musical since the first time I saw Noises Off back in the 80's. I described 'Spamalot' as the show that if you laugh too long, you miss the next joke. It just doesn't stop and that is why I wanted to do it. I wasn't thinking about Vegas. And lo and behold they said we are opening up in Vegas and they asked if I would be in it. I thought what a dream. When my wife and I were in New York I went to see every other show because I really wanted to see what else was out there. I circled two roles and I said to my wife I have got to do these roles. One was the lead in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, which closed before I got a hold of it, and the other was the king in 'Spamalot'. So it is easy to hop over to the executive airport and go home in LA in just 45 minutes. This has been an extraordinary thing and I'll be full time through the summer here in Vegas but then I go back in September and film. We are shooting Family Feud again. I'll also be doing a new NBC show and believe it or not there's even a new one too but I can't talk about that one yet. So in some cases I will be leaving Vegas at midnight flying back to shoot the next day and then flying back here to do the 'Spamalot' show again that same night. These are the gravy years, this is the time you do the things to give you greater freedom later in life so while the opportunities are there I am going to embrace them."
Resort owner Steve Wynn jokingly told us why he picked the wacko musical for his casino: "Much has been written that maybe Las Vegas is not the place for comedy and musical theater. The people come here from the Midwest and around the world and they want spectacle. They want big exciting things and maybe the musical theater isn't right for Vegas. Over a period of years we have learned from the press and so we said why not face the inevitable and let's end it. So we looked for the perfect piece of material to put a final chapter of theater into Las Vegas."
But turning serious Steve continued: "There is a reality to these hotels in Vegas. There is a certain amount of space and there are certain things you can do. We said well if we could do 'Spamalot' in the Grail Theater where Avenue Q was, we would be able to preserve our convention and meeting space instead of building a third theater. I must confess that I am ashamed of myself that I did it because of the money and the planning; the decision was taken to abbreviate the stay of Q. We wanted to bring to this city something that hasn't really been done before. We believe that Vegas is a rich and mature enough community to also exploit wit and this theater was built to be that place in this city where humor and wit prevail. I said to Eric the night I went to 'Spamalot' for the first time 'this is the easiest entertainment decision I have made in 40 years.' Las Vegas would understand it and they would love it. We are committed to the show for as long as the public likes it."
Eric told me that Steve is so much in love of the show's it-song 'Always Look on the Bright Side of Life,' that he plays it every 20 minutes to the dancing fountains in his new Wynn hotel casino in Macau! I asked what he'd removed from the Broadway version to cut the Vegas show to a fast 90 minutes. "We removed the intermission and 15 minutes of material," he said. "Only a couple of songs went: 'All For One' which we needed because we had a costume change for all the girls to get ready for the 'Spamalot' number. That is gone and then Runaway, which none of us ever liked in the first place. So now we have to solve the costume change or they'll just be seen doing it by the audience!
"I was very nervous about opening in London: I wasn't sure which way they would jump. But we got seven nominations; the largest number given in British history, so that was a wonderful surprise. In New York we got 13 Tony nominations and ended up with three wins including the one that we all really wanted for best musical! I like Vegas and I know it is a crapshoot here but it will be a very funny show here. That wonderful moment is for the cast to rehearse it and the first time they hit the audience they go 'oh my gosh' because they get these huge laughs and nothing prepares them for that. It is such fun to be in the theater: I rediscovered the fun of being onstage and entertaining and in America I was astounded to find out that everybody knows 'Spamalot.' It is a step forward into the futures of Python.
Eric who has been commuting from his LA home to the downtown rehearsal studios added: "I don't think we have added more Vegas elements to it just because we are in Vegas. I realized that we couldn't improve or change the show because it's so big and gross and over the top already. We can only stay true to what we already do well. That is part of the charm of it. I am sure our Vegas audiences will laugh like they've never laughed before. I find for me that it is more fun to work on Python that anything else. I tried to do a live reunion here in 1988 and we got very close. We got an offer; dates, a hotel and then Michael Palin at the last minute said 'no' he didn't want to do it. It is scary to go back into the world of silliness but its essential to keep challenging yourself. Now though I don't think it will ever happen, and that's why 'Spamalot' is so alive and well and keeping Python alive and well too!"
Steve continued: " The material is wacky and absurd, irreverent, and politically incorrect, which is how you would describe Las Vegas actually! Nevertheless the success of this show lies with ticket prices. The truth is that a pair of tickets to other shows on the Strip is now $250 and that makes it tough on folks who are here for three nights. We want to give people a chance to see the show so we are pressing ourselves to lower the price of entertainment and give everybody a chance to see it. Here in Vegas, since the millennium, a whole new industry has sprung up; the club scene. You fully know about Tryst, Light, PURE and other places. These are extravagant places that are grossing close to 400-500 million dollars a year. This is an entirely new industry that didn't exist before 2000. This is competing with the shows. I think it would be a mistake if we let entertainment in any way get subordinated here in Vegas. So again, here is another reason to see how low we can hold prices and still keep the theaters viable. We are sitting in a newly remodeled theater, it was 1,200 seats and now it is 1,500. We increased the size of the theater to allow more people to see the show and then in turn lower the price. I understand how tough that is to do, but we have to keep an eye on our prices. I would much rather have the people than that money. Those of us at the top end must never forget how to think like a customer. I don't want it to get to the point where all the average person can afford is one show while they are here in town. I want to make it impossible for anyone not to come here. We are making sure that the future of Vegas is bright and safe and the way to do that is to focus on the parts and focus on the customer. I hope that we all figure out how to keep prices at a minimum. That's got to be the new Vegas as we go forward into the future. We're really healthy and growing now- and we mustn't let anything harm that. Our job is to keep being flexible and forward thinking to ensure we remain #1.
After the run of previews starting tonight, the show itself will premiere early April and Eric says his former Pythons John Cleese and Terry Gilliam will be there for opening night, and he'll have them come up on stage during the curtain call!
TAO TABLE TURNERS
Top chart girl-group Danity Kane made a midnight arrival at TAO nightclub in The Venetian for a party and even though they held court at a dance floor VIP table they thrilled fans by climbing onto the catwalk to dance to their 'Showstopper' hit. Next night hotel tycoon George Maloof took rocker Tommy Lee to dinner in the TAO restaurant and I'm glad to hear they quaffed Dom Perignon champagne as they sampled the sushis, sashimis and satays! Now the Motley Crue drummer loves his smokes so every time he went to the bar for a cigarette he did more shots with the other smokers!
STRIP SCRIBBLES
There's such a shortage of labor for jobs on the Vegas casinos being built in Macau that talent scouts for the Venetian have traveled as far afield as the Philippines to recruit workers willing to be gondoliers. They will sing and steer the gondolas on the duplicated Venetian canal rides similar to those here on the Strip! ... Wild and controversial fight-prone talkshow host Jerry Springer just might come to town on March 17 when 'Jerry Springer The Opera' gets its first ever USA production on the heels of its West End success story in London. Yes, I did say OPERA and it's a fundraiser for the Golden Rainbow HIV/AIDS charity. ... The only 11PMStrip show that plays 7-nights a week is the racy-comedy 'Hypnosis Gone Wild' with Michael Johns and Terry Stokes. Audience members at the Empire Ballroom's cabaret showroom opposite the Monte Carlo who go on stage to be hypnotized wind up with a DVD copy of their wild antics while they're "out cold."
TONIGHT'S TIPS
Even though all ears and eyes will be on 'Spamalot' opening in previews at the Wynn country heroes Brooks & Dunn settle in at the Hilton, Tom Jones continues his Welsh P-elvis antics at MGM, Bill Engvall entertains at the Orleans through Sunday and my personal favorite soul-music group of all time, Earth Wind & Fire return yet again to the Luxor. Their popularity and sell-out crowds are making them superstars all over again becoming almost- regulars at the pyramid!
TOMORROW'S TEASE
NASCAR with its thrills, chills and spills of high-speed drama is upon us. This is the weekend for the two biggest races of the year and the Las Vegas Motor Speedway has a whole new look in time to kick off its 10th birthday celebrations. LUXE LIFE has the amazing and extraordinary photos!
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