THEATER REVIEW

‘Spamalot’ more than a romp, less than a riot

Laugh-wise, Friday’s opening-night performance of “Monty Python’s Spamalot” at Little Rock’s Wildwood Park for the Arts was more than a romp and less than a riot.

Wildwood’s more-thanable cast sang — and oh, what a collection of voices! — and hoofed its way through nearly two dozen songs (music by John DuPrez and Eric Idle, book and lyrics by Idle, “lovingly ripped off from the movie ‘Monty Python and the Holy Grail’”), extracting as much, or more, laughter from the audience as could possiby be expected.

But there were parts of the second act that dragged and that vim, verve and Moriah Patterson’s excellent choreography just couldn’t quite save.

Kudos all around to Matthew Tatus as King Arthur, Caitlin Secrest (oh, what a voice!) as the Lady of the Lake, Cory Olson as Sir Galahad, Tommie Tinker as Sir Bedevere (and Galahad’s mother), Michael Goodbar as Sir Robin and Adrian Hinojosa as Sir Lancelot (and even better as Tim the Enchanter) and particularly Michael Phillips, who does more than yeoman service as Patsy, Arthur’s faithful and highly supportive steed, and who gets one of the show’s premiere solos, “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life” (an Idle speculation which, of course, he “stole” from “Life of Brian”).

And let’s not forget the supporting ensemble, including the half-dozen Laker Girls, not quite half-a-dozen minstrels and a bunch of folks shifting from the Camelot casino cadre to a rabble of French stereotypes. Director Bevan Keating interpolates bits and other Python pieces, right down to the Historian’s silly walk.

All the king’s horses, all the king’s men, the grail, the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch and, oh, and that killer rabbit, return to the stage at 3 p.m. Sunday and March 12 and 8 p.m. March 10-11 at Wildwood, 20919 Denny Road. Ticket information is available by calling (501) 8217275 or at wildwoodpark.org.