In case you’ve been living in a cave somewhere, let me quickly bring you up to speed here. There’s a new musical opening on Broadway tonight: “Spamalot” .
A project that features the very apt subtitle “Lovingly ripped-off from the motion picture, ‘Monty Python and the Holy Grail,’ ” “Spamalot” is a ridiculously hot ticket right now. “How hot?,” you ask. So hot that the Broadway run of the play is already sold out for months in advance. And that’s before the sure-to-be glowing reviews come in from the New York papers later tonight.
Now, you’d think that — what with somebody else’s show about to be the new hot ticket in NYC — that the guys over at Walt Disney Theatrical Productions would be somewhat jealous. Envious, even. But that’s not really the case.
As one WDTP insider that I spoke with on the phone yesterday explained it to me:
Having a hot new show on Broadway that’s really hard to get tickets to is actually a good thing for a select number of older shows in the city.
You see, if people can’t get into “Spamalot,” they’ll usually then just opt to go with their second choice. Which — typically — is another hit show that used to be really hard to get tickets for. Which — these days — describes “The Lion King,” “Mamma Mia!,” “Avenue Q,” “Hairspray” & “The Producers.”
So — in the weeks after “Spamalot” initially opens up — we’ll actually probably see our box office numbers for the New Amsterdam go up rather than go down. As “The Lion King” becomes someone’s default choice.
Which is why Disney Theatrical is perfectly happy to let “Spamalot” become the hot ticket in town. At least for a while. After all, “Mary Poppins” blows into town in 2006. Followed by “Tarzan” and “Mermaid.” So we’ll be back on top again soon enough.
Besides, Eric Idle is a really nice guy who’s been really good to the Walt Disney Company. So we’re happy for his success.
What’s that you say? You’re shocked hear that someone at Disney could be that gracious to a person that the Mouse would typically view at competition? Well, you have to understand that Eric Idle really is a very nice guy. At least in Disney’s eyes.
“How so?,” you query. Well, picture this: You’re the Walt Disney Company. You’ve just spent over a million dollars on the development and preproduction of a new 3D movie for your theme parks. But the day before you’re supposed to shoot “Honey, I Shrunk the Audience,” the actor that you hired to play Nigel Channing (I.E. The head of the Imagination Institute in the film) suddenly falls ill and can’t take part in the shoot.
So what do you do? Obviously, you have to recast. But — meanwhile — the clock’s ticking. And each day that goes by when film isn’t moving through the camera means that hundreds of thousands of dollars is going down the drain.
A situation like this is every producer’s worst nightmare. But — thankfully for Disney — “Honey, I Shrunk the Audience” only lost a single day of shooting.
How come? Well, You see, the day that the cast got the call about production being postponed, Marcia Strassman (You know? The actress who plays Diane Szalinski in the “Honey” movies?) stops by the lounge in her hotel. And who does she discover seated at the bar but “Monty Python” vet Eric Idle.
Copyright 1994 The Walt Disney Company
So Marcia walks up to Eric and introduces herself. These two thespians strike up a conversation. And — after a couple of drinks — Strassman casually mentions what happened to the actor who was originally slated to play Nigel Channing.
And Idle thinks for a moment, then says: “Well, I’m not doing anything tomorrow …”
Strassman quickly gets on the phone to “Honey” ‘s director, Randal Kleiser. Kleiser — in turn — calls Thomas G. Smith, the producer of this Theme Park Productions production. Smith gets ahold of someone much higher in the Mouse House food chain (I.E. The money guy). Who — in turn — calls Idle’s agent. And a deal is quickly reached.
Which is why — 36 hours later — Eric Idle finds himself on set, dealing with mice cloning devices and over-sized sneezing dogs …
This one gracious gesture on Idle’s part (I.E. Stepping in at the last possible moment. Saving the company tens of thousands of dollars) bought him years of good will from the folks working at Disney. Which was why — when the folks at Disney Television animation were looking for new celebrity voices to use in the “Hercules” direct-to-video sequel, “Zero to Hero” — they immediately gave Eric a call. As did the crew that produced the “Mickey Mouse Works” TV show, when they were looking for someone unusual to play the voice of Pluto’s conscience in a “Minnie Takes Care of Pluto” cartoon.
Copyright 1997 The Walt Disney Productions
And let’s not forget about Idle’s vocal performance in Disney’s “102 Dalmatians.” Where he did the voice for Waddlesworth, the macaw that thought he was a rottweiler.
Obviously the folks at WDI also love Eric. Otherwise, why would they have called him back to play Dr. Nigel Channing not once, but twice? (I.E. First in the dismal “Journey into Your Imagination” ride. Which initially opened in October of 1999. Then in the revamped version of this same Future World attraction, “Journey into Your Imagination with Figment.” Which opened to the public in June of 2002.)
Yeah, Idle has sort of become Disney’s go-to guy when it comes to adding additional whimsy & fun to some fairly troubled projects. It was Eric who helped give “Ella Enchanted” a little extra oomph by agreeing to become that film’s on-screen narrator. Idle also helped raise the profile of a Disney Channel Original film (Thereby making it okay for parents to sit & watch this cable flick with their kids) by playing Coffin Ed, a disgraced Revolutionary War soldier, in the 2002 made-for-TV movie, “The Scream Team.”
Even the folks at Disney Publicity love Eric Idle. Back in the summer of 2003, when they needed a little extra star power for the world premiere of “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl” (After all, who wants to battle traffic all the way out to Anaheim just to see a movie that’s based on some theme park attraction?), the Mouse’s PR department made a call to Idle. Eric graciously accepted Disney’s invitation. Which is how Idle, his wife, Tania and their daughter, Lily found themselves on the red carpet.
Copyright 2003 The Walt Disney Company
And if the rumors that I’ve been hearing lately are true … The post-Weinstein version of Miramax Pictures may soon be making Eric Idle’s acquaintance as well. Several sources at the studio have recently told me that Disney execs feel that — on the heels of “Spamalot” — the public will probably take a renewed interest in “Python” related projects.
Well, as it turns, Eric Idle has written a movie that he’d dearly love to get made: “The Remains of the Piano.” This is a feature length parody of all those oh-so-proper British class struggle films like Merchant Ivory’s “Howard’s End,” “Room with a View” and “Remains of the Day.” This motion picture came within inches of being filmed in the Summer of 2003, only to to have its financing fall through at the very last moment.
Anyway … In many of his pre-opening interviews for “Spamalot,” Idle has mentioned that he wants to try & get “The Remains of the Piano” off the ground again. And this seemingly casual comment has not gone un-noticed back in Burbank. Given that Miramax’s Dimension Films’ division made a buttload of money off of feature-length parodies like “Scary Movie” & its sequels, the thinking now is that — once Harvey & Bob are gone — that “The Remains of the Piano” might be just the sort of movie that Disney would want to make with its new version of Miramax / Dimension.
So the plan (As I understand it) is that — during “Spamalot” ‘s post-opening hoopla — a senior official from the Disney corporation will contact Idle to offer the company’s congratulations on the musical’s enormous success. And then — as the conversation unfolds — this Disney rep will then bring up the topic of “The Remains of the Piano.” And what happens next … Well, that “Remains” to be seen …
Anyway, getting back to “Spamalot.” What makes this new musical so exciting to so many Python fans is that their favorite bits from “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” are now being acted out live on stage. In fact, I’ve been hearing that — at some previews of the show — some members of the audience have actually been calling out punchlines ahead of the performers. As if “Spamalot” were the second coming of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.”
(Well, I gues that’s what you get when you cast “Rocky Horror” vet Tim Curry as King Arthur. Anyhow … )
Me personally? I’m really looking forward to seeing “Spamalot.” Particularly with its current cast (I.E. Tim Curry, Hank Azaria, David Hyde Pierce et al). I’m just not sure when I’m next going to get down to NYC to see the thing.
But even so … I’m betting that my very favorite “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” gag didn’t make it into the musical. Why for? Well … Because this particular gag didn’t even make it into the finished film.
To explain: Were you to pick up a copy of the “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” screenplay (Which Metheun was nice enough to reprint back in 2002), you’d find that this book actually contains two separate drafts of the script. The first draft — which was originally entitled, appropriately enough, “Monty Python’s Second Film” — was a movie that kept shifting back and forth from medieval & modern times. Which — at one point — had King Arthur & his Knights of the Round Table searching for the Holy Grail inside of Harrods department store!
By the time the second draft of the script was complete, most of “Holy Grail” ‘s sidetrips to modern times had been cut from the screenplay. Along with one really wonderful gag. Which went something like this:
Picture — if you will — King Arthur and his knights assembled at the top of a wind-blown heath. They’re all about to depart on their quest to find the Holy Grail. To cover as much ground as possible, Arthur has decided that each of his Knights of the Round Table should head off toward a different point on the compass.
KING ARTHUR: You, Sir Lancelot, to the North. And you, Sir Gawain, to the South.
LANCELOT: Oh, couldn’t I go South?
GAWAIN: Yes, and I have some relatives in the North.
KING ARTHUR: Shut up.
Given how long & treacherous this search is sure to be … No one knows if — or when — they’ll ever see each other again. So there is much roman handclasping as well as a heartfelt speech by Arthur. Who thanks his good knights for agreeing to take part in an enterprise that is sure to be fraught with hardship & peril. And yet it will also be a glorious campaign on behalf of God & country.
With the film’s soundtrack creating this beautiful underscore to the speech that the King is giving, Arthur wishes them all Godspeed. With a fanfare of trumpets, the knights all turn and — each heading out in separate directions — set off on their certain-to-be long quests.
As the music swells, the camera pulls back as Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table all ride triumphantly out of the shot. The camera holds on the now-empty windblown heath for a moment. There’s the briefest of pauses. And then …
GALAHAD: (Off-screen) Found it!
Arthur and his knights now come stumbling back into the shot. Seemingly incredulous that the object of their sure-to-be epic adventure has been found less that 30 seconds into the quest.
KING ARTHUR: What did you say?
GALAHAD: I found it.
Galahad now holds aloft the Holy Grail. Its other-worldly glow immediately reveals the cup to be the real thing.
KING ARTHUR: The Holy Grail? Just now? Where?
GALAHAD: (Gesturing off-camera) Over there. In the weeds.
KING ARTHUR: “In the weeds”?!
LANCELOT: (Clearly disappointed) Well, that wasn’t much of a challenge, now was it?
No. It probably wasn’t. But — that said — it’s one of my favorite moments that never quite made it into a movie.
Anywho … We here at JHM wish to pass along a hearty “Break a leg!” to the cast & crew of “Spamalot.” We also hope to hear — sometime very soon — that Walt Disney Company has agreed to underwrite the cost of producing Eric Idle’s “The Remains of the Piano.”
And — while we’re cramming in the gratitious plugs here — Eric Idle has written a book about about his recent American tour, “The Greedy *** Diaries.” Which — being a greedy *** myself — I highly recommend that you purchase this very funny volume by clicking on the Amazon.com link that you’ll find at the bottom of this article.
Sooo … Do you folks have any Idle thoughts that you wish to share?