What's Hot From Spamalot 3/12
Well, that picture above is pretty hot, wouldn't you say?
Are you ready for some hot fan reports? And a hot picture or two? And maybe I can look around and find another item or two because there's always something hot going on at Spamalot!
- Rosie O'Donnell was at Spamalot Tuesday night. According to Rosie's website, she made some really nice comments about Clay in response to questions asked to her on her blog called "Ask Ro", including the following:
faith writes: Saw you at Spamalot tonite Ro, how’d you like Clay Aiken?
Here are some pictures of Clay with Rosie:
Rosie's reply: HE WAS REALLY REALLY GREAT !!!!!!!!!
sheri writes: I keep reading that Clay Aiken is not happy in Spamalot. Any truth?
Rosie's reply: he is very very happy and just wonderful in the role
El writes: Clay Aiken seems like he would be a nice guy in person - was he?
Rosie's reply: yes
- From Clayngel, here is a really great report:
Ohhhhh my goodness! Tonight's show was absolutely amazing!
There was a huge crowd there. Bigger than I have seen on any other week night. I was in the front row and could see that the mezzanine and balcony sections were pretty full and there were people in standing room as well. The audience was very enthusiastic and laughed and applauded a lot for everything. The entire cast seemed to be in a really great mood and were having so much fun with their roles.
Brad Oscar (Sir Bedevere) wasn't there tonight, but his replacement was pretty good.
Tonight I took my mom to the show with me and it was her first time ever seeing it. She's not a Clay fan so it was fun seeing her react to everything. She thought the show was hysterical and that Clay fit in really well with the cast and was funny! She also said that when he first appeared on stage it took her second to realize it was him, especially as Brother Maynard. It was really fun and refreshing to see the show with someone who's never been before because it's like experiencing everything for the first time all over again.
I saw it mentioned up-thread about the Knights of Ni. When the lead Knight does the name-change thing he did in fact sing that mentioned selling yourself or something like that and then said "I'm Governor Spitzer and I approved this name change." The whole place lost it! It was hysterical!!! The audience literally couldn't stop laughing. When it started to die down he said "Not too soon, then?" and that just made everyone crack up all over again! The King was speechless he kept trying to say his line, but when he opened his mouth he just started laughing. Clay could not contain his smile and looked like he was trying sooooo hard not to laugh. I have never seen him break character before during this scene, it was just so funny.
Some smaller details that I noticed tonight:
After the "Knights of the Round Table" song when God comes to yell at them, Clay yelled "What's going on?" and then Patsy I think had a little delay getting to his spot, which is next to Robin, so then Clay yelled "Patsy?!" it was really cute.
Right before intermission, after "Run Away" the Knights are all screaming and Sir Robin runs behind Sir Bedevere and tonight Clay screamed, "Wait for me! Wait for me!"
Clay seemed to be having a little trouble keeping his hat on his head tonight during the first scene and "I'm Not Dead Yet." He kept playing with it and adjusting it, but he totally worked it into the scene and it was adorable!
He just seems to be getting better and better. The audience was literally rolling in the aisles during his drunken guard scene. His dancing is so good too! I love seeing him have so much fun on stage.
There was a huge crowd at the stage door tonight! Again, it was so many more people than I have ever seen on a weeknight. A very nice woman let me squeeze in next to her at the front of the barricade, but I was kind of far to the right so I didn't know if he was going to sign all the way down there. He came out followed by 3 guys with cameras who took a couple of pictures of him signing autographs before they thanked him and left, so there may be more media coverage in the works! He was wearing a blue striped shirt, dark jeans and nice looking black sneakers. His hair wasn't slicked back tonight, it had more of the "shaken" look. He's gorgeous! He went down the line and luckily did sign where I was. He stopped a few feet down from me. I had my OFC Tote for him to sign and I told him he did a great job, while he was signing it. He smiled, thanked me and said that I was a familiar face! Ahhhh he actually recognized me. I am still in shock. It's so amazing to have someone you look up to as your hero know who you are. I never even thought he would ever know that I existed! I feel so fortunate and happy tonight. He's just so amazing. - From d4kkks, another fantastic report:
What another "Spamalot" getaway!!! I was the first on line at the backstage door last night. Thanks to the kindness of my Claymate friend. Clay came to me right away. He took my playbill. He asked where to sign. I pointed at him the part of insert JN Tie. This gave me the guts to say " You master your roles already". He looked at me smiling so sweetly and said " It's about time". Followed by" you came prepared" talking about my JN Tie nicely insert for him easy to autograph. I am in cloud9 again.
Absolutely, definitely, Clay artistically mastered his Broadway gigs. Never any moment, even he was in the shadow, did he stop acting. As Tower Guard, his attention to coconut (while playing his Helmet tie) than to become a Knights seems so real. As Dead Guard, I like to hug him as being not so brave Sir Robin. I like to hug him again because of his cute dancing routine with Sir Lancelot and Not Dead Fred. Not so brave Sir Robin, soiling his pants is so convincing, when he got scared. I enjoy the "All for one" and "yodeling". I wish he finished it before Sir Galahad interrupted him.
I like the head moves when everyone singing "The find the grail end" act1, Clay did some extra dancing moves. He is so cute in this scene. How can he smile with open mouth and with wide open eyes and still look happy while doing his cute dancing routine before the Piano playing? The "haying" is more powerful with his big voice.
What a sight, the foot stumping with vengeance looked of his face. The wide spread of his legs, to avoid kneeling of his skirt. While singing the part "Papa can you hear me", the first time I saw him shaking his shoulder. The coconut dancing is so charming (the looks, and his body movement) to watch. These are for me the most memorable scenes tonight.
tidbits;
6:45pm since it's a getaway show, I got the last SRO ticket.
7:45pm While waiting in front of the Theater, I saw a Greyhound Bus unloading more than 25 passengers going to watch the "Spamalot"; I saw a white stretch limousine unloading 10 passengers; I saw another Greyhound Bus unloading more than 50 passengers; when the Bus passed in front of me , I read a "Quebec" sign; More group of Broadway goers coming; Lots of men than women.
7:50pm I went inside the Theater, I was one of the last people who checked in. I saw Jerome inside obviously because he was tall. I was standing in Aisle 1, instead of standing at the other end, so I can see Clay at the Tower scene better.. One of the usher guy recognized me at the stage last Thursday. He was happy for me. I told him it was also my Birthday. Another sold out show. Even the box seats are taken. As the show started, some latecomers were coming. I saw Jerome walked in front of me followed by the Ladies (this gave the sense that these two Ladies were Rosie & company). I never heard any commotion about them until I read in this thread. The mere that Rosie spends time, money? and effort to come to see the show and Clay? Is a good and positive gesture. Clay did not come to them, they come to him. It's just proper to give the hospitality that they deserve. - GrammyJ gives us this report:
Raleigh1 called me during intermission. She was there for the opening show, and said she could not believe how Clay has mastered his rolls since then. She said he has added so much to each character that it is hard to put into words how good he is now. Right before the opening scene she could see Clay standing on stage waiting to move to his position in the tower. She will be seeing more shows this week, so it will be interesting to see what she has to say.
- Austenfan talked with some ladies from Finland, and I love what they had to say about the fish:
Cute part...there were some lovely young ladies standing next to me. It turns out they were from Finland. They said 'Yes, we really do slap each other with fish'. It was so sweet. I heard a group talking as they were leaving the theater. One said 'Clay Aiken was good' with emphasis like they were surprised and impressed. Then another said 'He was VERY good. Then the next person said 'He was REALLY good'. Like they were wowed. I figure if there was a fourth person in the group we would have gotten an 'Astounding'. But hey, it works for me.
One more Austenfan report:The audience was great. The show had an amazing energy. For a week night there was a great crowd and it looked really full. Clay got big laughs on just about every phrase during the tower scene. His timing was spot on. He and Lancelot (Rick Holmes) and the King (Jonathan Hadary) had great timing together. Clay had his boots back on as last show I remember he didn't wear the boots over his pants. I guess when the pants are perfect you want folks to see -em. Clay was really dancing and jumping tonight. There was a great 'bounce' to his step. Makes me think things are going well for him.
There was a standby playing the role of Bevedere and he was really good. Actually I think he got more laughs than the original guy. It infused some new energy into the show. The Knights Who Say Ni did a song about looking for women on the street and Client #9. The audience went wild. And then he said 'This was paid for by Elliot Spitzer and people just lost it The audience wouldn't stop laughing and the King could not get control of himself to do his line. He kept starting his line and breaking up. Clay was laughing a bit but held it together. But the king was doubling over. Finally one of the actors just says 'We were doing Spamalot' and people cracked up even more. Finally they got it together and went on with it. But it was so much fun. People were ecstatic from the joy of it all.
Sometimes when the laughter is that strong the audience can need to recover so it can quiet down the next scenes. But Clay and the other actors just took the great reaction and built on it. Clay's put some 'body english' into his 'musical' theater line and got huge laughs. The audience burst into applause after the first part of 'You Won't Succeed On Broadway'. Again Clay got a laugh on every phrase. He was so animated and every inflection was perfect. And we got a huge, full, all out, couldn't get any better 'raising of the tunic'. What a lovely scene....and I was pretty far from the stage so Clay really 'projected'. Clay's voice on the 'Oy' notes was amazing. He sang so full and rich and strong. Yet he was so funny.
I think after the extended laugh from the Knights of Ni the actors tried to go through the Tower and Guard scenes a little more quickly. Or maybe it was just the high energy. But wow...the audience was rolling on the floor from the Guard scene. The Diva's Lament is focused more on singing so the audience got a bit of a chance to recover there. And Clay has added so many laughs to the Brother Maynard bit. He added this thing where he adjusts his glasses alot as he's reading the book and he gots loads of laughs from that. Very British Clergy....delivery which I think adds so much. He reads the number part with pauses in all the right places and it's working so well. The physical comedy part of that character is just growing by leaps and bounds.
Also Clay's soiling scenes are so funny. The audience is bursting into big applause for them. His reaction is both realistic and broad at the same time if that's possible. His expressions are just priceless. Another cute bit is when Clay dismounts the 'horse' at the French castle and mimes tying up the horse and petting the horse. Sweet. And his 'quail' 'boat' 'dinner cruise comments' got great reactions. Perfect sense of confusion there. There's a kindness to Clay's Sir Robin. The entire audience stood up at the end of the show and they were cheering wildly. Just a great show all around. - d4kkkks posted this picture which is from kimyie at the Clackhouse. It is of Wednesday night's peasant (love the look on Clay's face!!):
- MonicaJuliet saw Spamalot for the first time and gives us this report:
WOW, WOW, WOW!!! Just got settled into our hotel room after seeing Spamalot for the first time. Clay was SO amazing, I was literally grinning for the whole show. I also laughed so hard for the full 2 hours that my stomach muscles are killing me right now! Since it's getting late and we are getting up early again tomorrow, I won't post a full recap till I get back this weekend. But, I must say that Clay can definately dance! His moves are so smooth and he is flawless in all of his roles. He seemed so comfortable on stage. His solo number in the second act is fantastic. He got great applause throughout the show and I'm pretty sure he looked at me a few times! Eeeeee! We got a very big tunic flip tonight! One thing I noticed that may have been different tonight was Clay's piano playing during his solo. I have the soundtrack to Spamalot and the song that Sir Robin plays was a lot different. When Clay sat down he didn't play right away, he looked at the keys for a bit and then started playing chopsticks. I have never read of him playing chopsticks any other night. It got a great laugh though!
The Knights of Ni scenes were hysterical! Tonight their name was made up of some funny noises and then a song. I can't remember the exact words, but it had something to do with, "I pick up girls on 34th and 9. I pick up girls 'cause I'm client number 9". I'm not sure if those are the exact words, but it was all about Elliot Spitzer. The crowd completely lost it! Everyone must have laughed for a good 5 minutes. The Knights of Ni could barely control themselves and Clay was turning around with his back to the audience because he was laughing as well. King Arthur could barely say anything and the Knight of Ni kept opening his mouth to move on, but just laughed instead. Then he said something like, 'We are doing Spamalot now, remember?' which got even more laughs. LOL.
Not too many people at the stage door tonight, about 3 deep, only 2 deep where I was standing. Clay came out pretty quickly in his blue Carolina hoodie, beige coloured track pants and sneakers. Not too many screams or lots of talking and Clay went by pretty quickly. His hair was messy (not slicked back) and he looked great! His eyelashes... I got aa few good pictures and will try to post them soon. Can't wait to see the show again tomorrow!
ETA: There was only one substitution tonight. It was for Brad Oscar who plays Sir Bedevere. Anthony Holds played his role tonight.
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