What's Hot From Spamalot 2/18

Today at "What's Hot", we have a ton of really hot pictures of Clay at The Stage Door taken by several fans. Included in these pictures are some of Quiana, who was in town. These pics of Quiana were taken by mustbeeme on Sunday:



These pictures are taken by toni7babe and can be seen at The Clayboard.



Madison228 at The Clayboard has a great review from both Sunday shows:

I went to both shows yesterday (Sunday 2/17, matinee and evening) and had such a wonderful time! I saw the show on the Saturday night of opening week - Clay has grown tremendously in his role since then. The biggest difference is that he is SO much more comfortable with the dancing now. He looks totally at ease up there now, which I think makes it easier for him to do more ad libbing/reacting throughout the show (which is hard to do when you're still so focused on what you have to do next!).

For the matinee I was sitting in the back of the orchestra, surrounded by NJU. I saw no empty seats in the orchestra, and all the SRO slots were full. I did get one good laugh as two older couples were walking down the aisle to their seats - one woman turned to her husband and asked "is this a comedy?". How the HECK do you pay hundreds of dollars for theater tickets to see Monty Python's Spamalot and yet have no idea whether it is a "comedy" or not?!?!? (Reminds me of a time several years ago when I saw Baz Luhrmann's "La Boheme" on B'way and the guy sitting next to me was surprised to discover that it was an opera....)

The audiences for both shows were great, but Sunday night felt especially enthusiastic. It's so fun to be in a theater surrounded by people who are laughing and enjoying themselves - the actors on stage must really thrive on this kind of energy from an audience. I was in the front row for the evening show, surrounded by Clay fans. I actually don't think these are the best seats to see the show from, but you certainly do notice certain things up there that you can't see from farther back!

So, a bunch of random observations from both shows.

When Clay enters the guard tower for his first scene, he spent a minute or two looking out of a little slot (which is below the window where he does his scene) at the audience. I wondered if he was looking to see where Quiana was sitting! As others have mentioned, when he's in the window doing his lines he is playing with the strap of his helmet. At the part where they're talking about the sparrow using a "line of creeper" to carry the coconut, he holds the strap like he is demonstrating how the sparrows could do it.

The Bring Out Your Dead scene is just outstanding. Clay is so cute with his dirt smudges and his excitement about enlisting at Camelot so he can "dress up and dance". Something I didn't notice before: when Not Dead Fred jumps up off the cart and starts his "I'm not Dead Yet" number, Clay gives Lancelot his money back again! Also during this number, Clay is playing a triangle, hitting it with a metal stick with a hole at the end. When he sings the line about "keeping an eye on Lance", he looks through that hole in the end of the metal stick. Very cute.

During the All for One number, when Clay starts singing his little bit, he hands his chicken to Patsy. What I never noticed before is that Patsy (who has started a little fake campfire that they're all gathered around) puts the chicken on a stick over the campfire, as if he's cooking it.

The Camelot/Knights of the Round Table number is great - Clay is so much looser in this scene. He's dancing up a storm, and really reacting to what is going on around him. Others have mentioned him mimicking the girls when they are waving those fake mace things around; he was also mimicking the nun and monk when they're doing their big dance number. I thought this was very in character for Sir Robin who is really into the whole "singing and dancing" part of being a knight!

I have to say that the men sitting around me found the French taunter scene to be one of the funniest parts of the show - they seem to love that potty humor!

(Meant to add that during the matinee I was sitting behind five 30-somethings. One of these gals was a huge Monty Python fan and seemed incredulous that Clay Aiken was in the show. Needless to say she was laughing like a maniac and cheering for him by the end of the show.)

I didn't realize that David Hibbard (Patsy) also plays the "Mayor" (lead singer during the opening "Finland" number) and the second guard with Clay during the guarding Prince Herbert scene. He has a very loose physicality about him that is most apparent during the charming "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" number which is such a homage to Singing in the Rain - he even does some of those signature Gene Kelley slide moves during the dance!

You Won't Succeed on Broadway was a show stopper both times yesterday - he got huge applause, well deserved of course. The only difference I noticed from opening weekend was that the pause between the end of the first part of the song and the time he sits down at the piano was shorter. And he didn't seem to be in so much pain during the bottle dance!

Rick Holmes, who plays Lancelot, the French Taunter, the Knight of Ni and Tim the Enchanter, is also very talented. He dances up a storm during his big "His Name is Lancelot" number (which others have referred to as a tribute to La Cage Aux Folles but I see as a spoof of Hugh Jackman in The Boy from Oz, right down to the costumes!). At the matinee, his Knight of Ni made reference to independence for Kosovo (as others mentioned, midtown was full of loud honking cars and flags, celebrating the event) which really cracked up the King, who couldn't speak for almost a minute. In the evening, he quoted Roger Clemens, saying that he never took steroids/human growth hormone. There must have been some kind of inside joke there, because one of the other Knights of Ni was laughing so hard his body was shaking, and Tom Deckman (as one of Sir Robin's minstrels at that point) had to look away and then bite his hand. It's fun to see them having so much fun with each other on stage.

I've got to give some kudos to the dressers. There are a LOT of very quick costume changes during this show. I don't know HOW they manage to switch wigs on Clay so quickly when he goes from Sir Robin to Brother Maynard and then back to Sir Robin again, all in a matter of minutes! And they have his head mic to worry about too. (I did notice that he keeps his "mail armor" suit on under his Brother Maynard robe...)

The coconut dancing in the scene before Tim the Enchanter appears is just excellent - Clay looks like he is having so much fun!

Both of yesterday's peasants seemed very surprised to be called up on stage and they were VERY discombobulated as the actors were moving them around, singing to them, handing them things, asking their names, etc. But it was very funny when Clay (who is the Knight furthest away from the peasant on stage) went to shake the guy's hand (during the evening show) and the guy didn't notice him. He (Clay) did this very funny look like "ok then" and stepped back, but it was totally in character and very cute!

The finale is another great number. When Clay comes out is his tux and green sparkly vest his eyes are so shiny and beautiful and so very very GREEN! At the end of this number, Clay and David Hibbard/Patsy are over on the left. At one point it looked like Patsy would do a funny little dance move and then Clay would imitate him.

Clay got huge applause during both of his curtain calls, but especially the Sunday night performance. I'm so proud of him!

One final thing, at the stage door after the matinee, a girl near me mentioned that she had been there on opening night and had seen Roger Ebert in the audience with his wife. She had been told that his wife is a Clay fan. I hadn't heard this before - anyone else see him that night?

All in all it was a wonderful weekend, worth the 8+ hour round trip bus trip!

I forgot to mention that Quiana looked fantastic at the stage door after the matinee. At that point she hadn't seen the show yet (she was at the evening performance). She spent time talking with several fans. The girls behind me couldn't figure out who she was (not a member of the cast) and why so many people seemed to know her!

Edited to add another funny little thing I haven't seen mentioned in other recaps (since it doesn't involve Clay!). At one point during the big Knights of the Round Table number, the chorus guys come out carrying shields. Each shield has a letter on it. They line up and the shields spell out "MOLECAT". Ooops, not right, so they rearrange themselves and spell out "CAMLTOE" (which gets a big laugh). Oops, so they rearrange again and finally spell out "CAMELOT".

Madame President from The Clayboard also has some gorgeous pictures for us:





Here's another review from Clayzthe1 at The Clayboard has a review from Sunday, 2/17:

My oh my what a day yesterday turned out to be! I went to NYC from Virginia for the weekend and caught my first Spamalot play (Sunday) at the matinee show. I had never seen Monty Python before, and I knew very little about the storyline. I must admit, I read all of the wonderful reviews here, but I was very excited to finally see the play for myself to make my own observations.

My friend and I did not have center orchestra seats. We sat in right orchestra six rows back. We were able to see most things that were occurring on stage very well. Except for the occasional actor that would walk over to the far right corner of the stage, the view was great! It was exceptionally great for Clay's opening scene as the guard in the tower. His mannerisms and gestures are so funny! He is 100% believable in all of the roles and I found myself laughing for most of the night!

I did hear him say "come to daddy" quite clearly during the ogling/flirting scene. It was very entertaining to watch! I also thought that it was fantastic when the Knights of Ni alluded to the flag waving going on outside. The audience loved that...the theater roared with laughter for an extended length of time.

When the Best Peasant was picked and went up on stage, she did not shake Clay's hand. She didn't mean to exclude him, but it was comical to watch the way that Clay played it off. It was seat D101 that was the winning seat for the matinee. It was a younger girl that appeared completely unsuspecting! As the play was coming to an end, I heard people (NJU's) around me and beside me that said..."that American Idol guy is really good." That was music to my ears. The fact that Clay is being recognized for his talents and hard work is a wonderful thing, regardless of where they remember him from.

After the show, I headed out to the stage door and managed to get the 2nd to last spot on the rail. I was able to see Clay walk out and down the line very clearly. When we all saw Quiana, it was a welcomed surprise! I saw her take a picture with someone and she smiled/waved at all those that recognized her. What a great day that won't be soon forgotten! I can't wait to do it all again in a few weeks!

And here are some really nice pictures of Clay that Clayzthe1 took at The Stage Door: