Review: New ‘Spamalot’ Broadway tour proves to be a huge winner

Any production of “Spamalot” is only as good as its Lady of the Lake.

Fortunately, the production Bay Area theatergoers currently have the chance to see boasts a really great Lady of the Lake in Amanda Robles.

Robles repeatedly steals the show — as the best Lady of the Lakes do — with precise comic timing and delivery, impressively and intentionally over-the-top vocal work (which would given even “Songbird Supreme” Mariah Carey a run for the money) and an ability to both spoof and embrace full-throttle divadom.

Yet, Robles is only one of the many reasons to catch the current Broadway touring production of ever-hilarious “Spamalot,” which runs through March 22 at the Golden Gate Theatre in San Francisco. (For tickets, visit https://us.atgtickets.com/whats-on/san-francisco/.

Major Attaway, a Broadway vet known for his role as The Genie in “Aladdin,” is another massive highlight in the role of King Arthur in this Camelot-inspired tale focused on finding the Holy Grail. Attaway manages to make the part his own, nicely mixing the kingly with the comical in ways that delight scene after scene. He’s a master of turning small moments into big laughs, using slight physical comedy — and big facial expressions — to captivate a crowd.

Overall, the cast is fabulous — nary a weak link in the bunch — with each of the actors thriving in the trademark chaos, fun wordplay and abundant miscommunication that this play has been serving up ever since it debuted on Broadway back in 2005.

Yet, it’s doing so in some clever new ways these days.

What we witnessed on opening night of the San Francisco run was not the original production, which went on to be nominated for 14 Tony Awards and ended up winning three — including for Best Musical.

Rather, this is the tour of the 2023 revival, which — under the guidance of acclaimed director and choreographer Josh Rhodes — modernized the musical by upping the pop-culture references and stage designs while still keeping the storyline firmly set in medieval times.

Of course, this is not a play that requires much tinkering. It was brilliant right from the start, especially in the way it — as the play’s tagline proudly boasts — “(loving) ripped off” the 1975 British comedy classic “Monty Python and the Holy Grail.”

Yet, unlike so many of the dreadful film-to-play productions that have followed over the last two decades, “Spamalot” never came across like merely a stage adaption. Instead, it was more like “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” was more of a launching off point for something that felt wholly — well, OK, partly — original.

Pretty much all the best gags that you’ll find in the movie are still in the play, which Monty Python’s brilliant Eric Idle wrote the book and lyrics for as well as co-wrote the music with veteran film scorer John Du Prez (who we otherwise know from the underrated 1990 movie “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles”).

Yes, that includes Not Dead Fred (“I’m not dead. I’m getting better!”); those infuriating taunting French soldiers; the Knights Who Say “Ni!”; the “most foul, cruel and bad-tempered” bunny of all time, etc.

And all these bits work, especially when they are often set to (or lead into) songs that are as ludicrously funny and wonderfully self-aware as the plot twists themselves, as we follow King Arthur and Knights of the Round Table on their quest.

The musical runs roughly 2 1/2 hours (with an intermission), yet it doesn’t feel nearly that long. Credit that to a storyline that keeps things zippy and songs that work on so many levels. In many ways, it’s even more of an ode to Broadway itself than it is to a straightforward take on the classic Monty Python film.

And maybe that’s why the Lady of the Lake character is so incredibly vital to the success of the musical. She’s the one who is at the lead for so many of the best in-jokes about Broadway, whether that’s by combining forces with Sir Galahad (played by Leo Roberts) for the goof on cliche over-the-top anthems with “The Song That Goes Like This” or bemoaning a lack of stage time on “Diva’s Lament.”

And Amanda Robles nails all of it, which is quite an accomplishment for someone who is making her national tour debut. Given what we saw on opening night at the Golden Gate, however, it’s easy to picture Robles scoring many more prime Broadway roles in the years to come.