New York and the Holy Grail
Saturday, November 18, 2023 at 9:15 I see that Spamalot, the musical based on the 1976 film Monty Python and the Holy Grail, is enjoying its first revival on Broadway.
It’s had mixed reviews but I want to write about the original production because I was lucky enough to see it during a brief trip to New York in 2005.
It was my first visit to the Big Apple and to say it was a catalogue of woe is an understatement.
I flew from Toronto, where I had some business meetings, and that set the tone for the next few days.
If I remember, the scheduled flight was cancelled after we had checked in and we had to re-book on the next available flight.
However there was a technical problem with the second plane so, having taken our seats, we all had to get off.
Worse, we had to go to the baggage area, reclaim our luggage, and go through security all over again.
Hours later we eventually took off on the replacement aircraft and it was late, and dark, when we finally arrived in New York.
The hotel had been recommended by a top PR exec whose daughter lived nearby. In hindsight I wish I knew then what I know now because although the area was nice and quiet the hotel was … average.
On the first night, for example, the air conditioning didn’t work, which is not great when you’re staying in New York in the height of summer.
Talking of heat (this was in August), it was so hot during the day that even walking in Central Park was a no-no for most people, and the open air theatre was closed because even in the evening it was considered too uncomfortable.
The biggest disappointment though was my failed attempt to meet Audrey Silk of NYC Clash, a New York based smokers’ rights group.
Audrey had been fighting the New York smoking ban and I was keen to meet her. She lives in an apartment in Brooklyn where she grows her own tobacco.
She kindly invited me to lunch and I was looking forward to it.
I jumped in a taxi outside Macy’s, gave her address to the taxi driver, and within minutes we were driving over the famous Brooklyn Bridge. It was like being in a film.
Thirty minutes later, however, with the meter heading north of $50, it was clear the driver hadn’t got a clue where he was or where we were going.
His English wasn’t great and at one point he even rang his brother to ask for directions.
His brother couldn’t help and I couldn’t reach Audrey by phone because my Nokia mobile phone wouldn’t connect to the US network.
After 45 minutes of increasingly aimless driving, I gave the order to about turn and we retreated, defeated, to Manhattan.
I did meet Audrey eventually but not until 2017 when I invited her to speak at GTNF in New York.
Given this context, you can understand perhaps why Spamalot was the highlight of my visit.
Officially the show was sold out but the concierge at my hotel had ‘contacts’ and managed to get me a ticket, albeit well in excess of the advertised price.
Nevertheless, I desperately needed a laugh and Spamalot delivered so it was money well spent and I look back fondly at that evening and the gales of laughter that swept the theatre.
It made me proud to be British!
Reader Comments (1)
Glad you got to meet Audrey: she's pretty amazing eh? :)