Arthur Does Sin City

The Las Vegas production of Monty Python's Spamalot opened this evening at the Wynn Hotel. Here's the first review I've seen, which is of a preview performance. According to this piece, only one song — "All for One" — is cut in its entirety. They must have hacked large chunks out of other songs and lost a lot of dialogue to bring the show down to ninety minutes. The version on Broadway runs two hours and 20 minutes, including one fifteen-minute intermission.

Perhaps of interest is that tickets to the New York version run $36.25 to $111.25, whereas tickets to the shortened Vegas version are from $49.00 to $99.00. This is a bit different from The Producers. The full New York version of that show, which closes April 22, charges $31.25 to $111.25, whereas the Vegas incarnation, which was also sliced down to 90 minutes, asks $75.50 for the cheapest seats, going up to a top price of $143.50.

A friend of mine who saw the Vegas Spamalot in previews raved about it and particularly about John O'Herlihy in the role of Arthur. Unfortunately, my friend wasn't there one night when there was a technical snafu. Reportedly, there was a mechanical problem with one of the sets and it was necessary to stop the show for about twenty minutes to fix it. Eric Idle was there and he grabbed a guitar and went out to entertain the audience while repairs were done. I'll bet those playgoers had a good time that evening.