What's Hot In Spamalot 4/02

After a few days off, "What's Hot" is back with lots of hot news and pictures for our readers. Sometimes real life gets in the way of writing for Clay's Daily Double. Something I wish would never happen. But, today I've got a lot of hot Spamalot stuff to report!

Everyone would love to be the peasant called up on stage. Kd4clay from The Clayboard was lucky enough to be just that. Here's her expciting report:
Peasant March 29th Matinee #645 [-]

I hope I'm not too late with this. I'm a newbie to posting on boards. I'm not sure this is the correct area to post this. Could you please move it if I wrong?

My wish came true. Yes, I was the chosen peasent, D101, for the matinee on March 29th. I knew the time would be approaching soon. I'd been to 2 previous shows. A girl sitting 2 seats from me asked me if I was excited. I tried to stay cool. My sister, Angela, had forgotten about the peasant seat. I wanted it to be a surprise for her, so I answered, Why? Now my heart is really starting to beat quickly. Well the grenade hit and sure enough there was D101. Still trying to stay cool!!!! Before I could think Patsy was coming down the aisle towards me. Told me to stand up. There was the "Grail" on my seat. Patsy told me to sit back down which I did. Clay says bring the peasant on stage. Everyone's clapping. OMG!!! Here we go!!! Up the steps, I hear King Arthur say something like "Oh what a beauty". Ok let's stay calm---searching for Angela. Yes, I can see her in the dark. Really can't see the audience. Then King Arthur says something like, "Dressed very nice for a peasant". I think I say "Oh well you know". What kind of an answer is that, I'm thinking. He asks me my name twice. I want to make sure he hears Dor ish. Sometimes people think I say George. Ok so far so good. I haven't fainted. Everyone on stage is hoping that I will be chosen for the award. I think King Arthur is giving me the middle finger of each hand. My eyes get wide as I'm looking at him. I'm presented with the "King Arthur Award". I remember rolling my eyes as I'm walking over to where Clay is. Eveyone is singing. I hold up the "King Arthur Award". Did I mention it's a foot with the big toe sticking up??? Clay is on his knee facing me. What the heck!!! I can't see his face. I'm thinking. Dear God, move your hands away so I can see your face, but he doesn't. The flash goes off. It's obvious where I'm looking on the photo and it's not at the camera. OK I did it!!!! My heart is returning to normal. I wanted to get to the stage door as quickly as possible. Dashed out and got a great spot. Someone comes out and says he's not coming out. Doesn't feel well. Oh well. That means another trip to NYC. Got to get the photo signed.

I purchased my tickets in January. I had no clue of the peasant seat. This was a birthday present to me from my sister. Birthday 2/25. I searched to find a date that was convienent for both of us and also good seats.When D101 & D102 came up I grabbed them even though it was a month after my birthday. As time went on, I found out about the peasant seat. lgforclay kept a log of the peasant seats chosen. Everyone in my group(PAClayfans) had their fingers crossed. I still can't believe it!!!! It was meant to be. Did you know that the address of the Shubert theatre is 225, same as my birthday.
From Lilred at The Clayboard:
April 1
from BFS at CV!
QUOTE... back from the show...

....Lets start with stage door, it wasn't just raining when we came out it was pouring...torrential down pour and just minutes before according to some who were already out there it was barely misting, go figure...so what do the Clay fans do...they huddle under umbrellas hoping against hope that Clay will wave from the door or something. It actually did stop raining in fairly quick order, but by that time Clay had already left and security came out and took down the barricades ...don't blame Clay one bit it was raining hard and showed no signs of slowing ...

Okay some random thoughts...

tonight's peasant was AllyKat...she couldn't stop staring and this was her one and only show...she was too adorable...

Had a substitute King tonight-Thomas Cannizzaro...I really enjoyed his performance...he is younger more sprightly version ....he is normally one of the French Taunters...

Anyway instead of scatting with the Lady of the Lake he did ABCDEFG, I can't wait to sing...it was too funny...he is also a bit lighter on his feet than Jonathan...one really cute thing was when he did the whoa entering the Knights of Ni forest he did a cute slide and a whoa...it was very funny...and I squealed a bit ...from SRO...so if you were wondering who did the squeal it was me....sorry....

Galahad...Bradley Dean...my first time seeing him and I was pretty impressed...He isn't Chris, but he is playing the role his own way...I think he plays a bit more gorgeous dude than Chris, but it was still very enjoyable...more later about his interaction with Clay...He did hold out his hair during the slo mo horse scene to make it look like his long golden locks were blowing in the wind...pretty funny

Rick, Hannah and Tom are sheer perfection they are hysterical and Tom's Prince Herbert is so freaking hysterical with his little gestures and faces... I swear the man has jello for bones....

Okay some Clay observations...my favorite kind...
He has become so mocking in the coconut scene...he is so hysterical...tonight he calculated the air speed and velocity of the sparrow on his hand using his strap as the pencil...

He continues to do the sing song...bored stiff anyway...which is hysterical...

Slo-mo horse was gorgeous as ever...lots of tongue

Clay had a slow and deliberate dismount from his pony tonight and his good steed got some extra petting tonight...

Clay has perfected his lecherous looks and is now bending down so low that his hair almost hits the floor when he goes to look up the skirts....He is shimmying with the best of them ...and appeared very thirsty tonight drinking lots of his drink...

When LOL came out and does her Knight striptease...after she throws her first glove...Clay says off mike...throw it to meeee...she didn't, in fact, sailed over everyone's head....

Clay got a very nice reaction to Idol of the Ages tonight

there were lots of NJU and at least one school group at tonight's show.

Knights of Ni...did the red phone in the White House and then said ahhh, who cares you're not the President, you were the Governor of NY and you like spending $4000 a night to party with hookers/prostitutes....and he did a little dance and then said paid for by Eliot Spitzer...

Clay has so perfected soiling his pants his gestures and motions leave no doubt in your mind what has happened and it is very funny...

I think from what I have heard that Clay and Brad's guard scene has come a long way...tonight Clay was very taken with his Pike and was staring up at it watching it kind of catch the reflection of the light...which has the effect of slowing Brad down b/c he doesn't have Clay's full attention...at one point Clay was twisting the ribbons on his wedding decorated Pike...it was quite funny...

Once again when Clay died his pike landed on the lights and Clay ever so carefully moved it out of the way...

I must say it has been a joy to watch Clay continue to grow in his character and more fully develop it.

And Clay's solo was excellent tonight...I especially like when he is taking a bow and then realizes that the piano is there and basically tells the audience to hold off on the applause and runs to the piano...

His bottle dance is deliberate and very lethal in it's intensity...

It was a fun night and I must say that i was very impressed by the Tom C. King...he was different, but very enjoyable...
Craving Clay gives this report:
Just got off the phone with Tiggy52winkle. She said Clay is really "on" tonight. Young guys in front of them are laughing like crazy. There are people in back of them from SC seeing the show for the first time. She thought lots of fans there. Looks pretty full but doesn't know if sold out.

During the tower scene he held his helmet strap and kind of snapped it between his fingers when the other guard was talking about carrying the cocanuts on a line. During Find Your Grail, Sir Robin said, "Its the lake lady!"

He yelled "stop it, stop it" to the can can dancers.

He did a "major" horse dismount right in front of them. They are in Row C, left side on the aisle.

The replacement for King Arthur is wonderful. Not sure who it is but NOT Anthony Holds. She likes the new Galahad although he doesn't have much of an English accent. Says he has very white teeth, even whiter than Sir Robin's.

They got the Playbill with the CD ad.
Bbandit31 came all the way from Singapore to see Clay in Spamalot. You can tell by her report how thrilled she was and how worth it it was to make the trip! Here's her great report:
I'm back from my week in NYC and I'm missing Clay badly already. Someone said that we leave a little of ourselves with him everytime we see him. And I can't agree with that statement more. He has my heart and I love him dearly. I know many others played Sir Robin before Clay took on the role, but speaking personally, I can't imagine anyone else doing the role like our Clay. He was, for want of a better word, Phenomenal. I loved every move, every line, every expression, every note he sang. After reading so many recaps before I left to see the show myself, I went expecting Clay to blow me away with his performance. But nothing could prepare me for how much more in love I would be after I actually saw him with my own eyes. No recap, no clack, no photo can capture the true talent, beauty, sexiness of the man. Yes he is major major sexy. (Clay you can stop protesting.) Especially so when he dances. He flirts with the audience. You see it in his smile. When he does the dance with the coconuts, when he walks across stage singing "all for one", when he does his YDSOB dance, and especially in his white suit. WOW.

The trip from Singapore is long...and expensive...but it is so worth every cent. I would do it all over again if I could. I would fly there right now. If you can get there but choose not to - just go. You won't regret it.....

...Stagedoor 27 March -
Clay's sharpie had run out of ink while signing halfway and he asked aloud if anyone had an extra sharpie. Note the lady who gives him her sharpie. She stood in front of me on Friday 28 March and asked Clay a question about the tour and she got an interesting answer.

Stagedoor 28 March -
I was sitting in seat A1 again on my final night watching Spamalot. That's way over to the left which makes it really hard to get to the stagedoor and get a good spot. I found myself to the extreme right with hardly a view of our hawtsexysingerman. But I stuck my hand vertical and managed some shaky and blurry shots. ...I had one hand trying to film him, another holding out my playbill (which he missed) and the rest of me was trying to hear what he was saying to the lady in front of me (the sharpie lady from the previous night). After he left, I asked her what she asked him and what he said and she said she told him to come out west for his summer tour in july. He said something like - I don't know what you're talking about. She said your summer tour, it is all over the media. And he said - when's the last time you trusted the media?

Now I don't know what to make of that. He didn't seem to be joking from what i saw of his face when he spoke to her. If you listen real carefully, you can barely hear him say the words "I don't know what you are talking about". But the rest...well...i can't hear it. So I can only report what she told me.

I would like to thank all for your kind words. I hope my recaps and stagedoor video brought Clay closer to those who can't make it there. And for those who were there, I hope you enjoyed it as well.

Special thanks to Clayharmony, Clayniac24, d4kkkks, NYcityClayfan for taking me under your wings in NYC. Claymates rock!!!

ETA - someone upthread asked about the silver sharpie? Well i printed another copy of his CD cover and managed to get in front for him to sign. I held out the photo in one hand and the silver sharpie in another like he asked me to the previous night. But with all the people pushing playbills at him, he signed my photo with the black sharpie he had in his hands and missed my silver sharpie altogether. It doesn't matter. It may be hard to see his signature, but I know he signed it and that is all that matters. Besides, he spoke to me and that alone made my year. NO....made my century!!!
From Wildcard24 (this report is long long long, but very interesting and informative. Don't miss reading it!!):
Spamalot Recap: 3/27 (Thursday) and 3/28 (Friday) Sorry if it's long, I tried to shorten it. Feel free to scroll--

The line-Tons of people in line. I got to the theater early on Thursday, a bunch of teenagers were in line, they're from a high school in Wisconsin on a field trip (nice to see this). I met 2 fans from Wisconsin next to me in line (not a part of the field trip). I also met Clazyglue and d4kkkks (the regulars). The theater doors opened at exactly 7:30 and 3 ushers placed a scanner at the table in front of the 3 entrance doors. The tickets scanned very quickly and the crowd got ushered in pretty fast (no wonder they only allowed 30 minutes prior to the show).

The show-Funny, funny, funny! Every detailed had been reported. It was my first show but in spite of all the recaps I read, I was still in denial that I was watching and listening to a new Clay Aiken. The man has flawless accent LOL Clay as Robin and the other tower guard was so indifferent to the king that they discussed the improbability of a swallow carrying a coconut instead of being impressed that a king was talking to them. The king and Patsy left exasperated, the other tower guard asked Robin how'd he knew that was a king. Robin responded something like, he didn't have sh*t all over him LOL

The solo YWSBIYDHJ was awesome! Clay looked imposing, tall and strapping, dancing and singing solo onstage, until the ensemble joined him onstage. The stomping of his foot and the wriggling of his body just before the bottle dance was alone worth the plane fare to see him. If there is one thing that I could improve on this scene-that is for Robin to sing his 2 glorious notes in front because at this scene, he was behind all the people dancing and singing up front and I almost missed to watch Clay back there on top of the piano with all the fun commotion going on in front.

Drunken guard scene-- made me laugh until tears were streaming in my eyes. I thought I would hyperventilate since I have a habit of covering my mouth when I laugh in theaters or movies. I failed to cover my mouth half the time because Clay was so funny in his facial expressions, I was laughing pretty much the whole time. Herbert's father wanted him to guard Prince Herbert but Clay as the drunken guard kept repeating the instructions incorrectly followed by a hilarious doubting facial expression if he got it right alternating with a smug look of I think I got it LOL For example, Prince Herbert Dad would say, and don't let anyone in except me, and Clay would repeat, and don't let anyone come in unless it's you or anyone else! complete with a firm nod of his head, a roll of his upper limber body (he's drunk) followed by a rolling eyes upward with his mouth puckering to the side. He'd done this with all the instructions with different facial expressions. It's my favorite scene, especially Prince Herbert (Tom) was equally hilarious in this part. When Lancelot killed the guard (Clay) he fell right in front of me, his face averted towards the stage so he wasn't facing the audience, his tunic flipped during the fall and folded to his stomach, and I didn't look at the rest of him, and look at his hand holding the spear instead

The Peasant--Sir Robin was very enthusiastic when he told the king that maybe the peasant should be rewarded. D101 was a guy and he was wide eyed about the whole thing. At the stage door, he was let in at the end of the barricade to go to the backstage. Apparently one of the cast knows him, I couldn't remember who it was that came out and asked him in, it was too fast, I might be wrong but I think it was Rick Holmes who let him in.

Stage door--D4kkkks got me a second row spot at the stage door and she left that spot as soon as I took it (what a darling she was!). There were tons of people there already even though I was able to exit quickly. I was able to shoot a pretty good stage door video with a few close ups but I don't know how to turn that into shareable clack.

I went alone but sat between fans. I was in 2nd row center B103 right in front of Clay!!! To my right were 2 ladies from Boston, to my left were 2 from Indiana. Next to these ladies was Regaled by Clay whom I told that, omg I think Clay is an actor, a real actor! The lady from Indiana whom I abused by hitting her arm a few times didn't get mad at me because she was busy laughing as I was, and I think she got a kick seeing me laughing so hard seeing the show for the first time. The woman sitting beside me from Boston I think lost it. She laughed the hardest!

The second night 3/28 I find as enjoyable as the first night. I couldn't say which night was better as a nuance I saw the first night that wasn't in the second were replaced by other small nuances present that were not in the first. The scantily clad dancer who served Clay and Galahad a drink slapped Clay's butt on Friday but didn't on Thursday but Thusday Clay shimmied with that dancer and didn't on Friday so, just little things. The huge steel looking helmet worn by lady of the lake was tossed perfectly in front of the guy who picked it up the first night, and was tossed a bit on the right and rolled some towards the audience onstage the second night. Like I said, little things that would not make me choose one night over the other. I enjoyed both shows tremendously. Both nights were packed though I did not see a sold out sign on the ticket window.

The other Peasant--Friday's D101 winner was another guy. The 2 men were seated while the narrator already begun. They looked like businessmen with their business long coats and their suits and ties. The guy who won removed his jacket before sitting. We were seated across him on the 5th row on the right. He absolutely looked like he didn't know he'll win the peasant of the night by sitting there. It was so funny the way they talked about the clue once it was uncovered. One said it was Die Oy! Lancelot said it was something you said when dumb like Doi! With another saying that was not doi but Duh! The king asked for a clue and a big hand pointing down at the audience came down from the ceiling. Patsy came down to D101 and ushered the confused looking guy in his late twenties to the stage, the king said he like peasant in tie, ask for his name and last name and they sang to him paused a second all looking funny to their right for a Polaroid shot, Clay handed the photo to the winning peasant and Patsy ushered him back off stage. Lucky guy!!!

Saturday, I walked by myself around the theater district and Times square, and decided to check on Spam attendance. I went to the ticket window-there were only 4 left-one seat on the left box (no view of Clay as tower guard), 2 on the last row of balcony (obstructed view), and the very last seat of row T last row in Orchestra to the right. All for regular price!

Stage door the 2nd night was packed before I exited even though I was lickety quick. There were people there already before most of the audience got to exit. I found a place in 3rd row deep in the crowd, more people piled behind me later on, the tall guy and his wife in front of me moved as soon as they got their playbill signed but accidentally caused a commotion when both left and the woman in red coat lightly leaned on the barricade due to the movement-that little movement was enough for Clay to put his hands up and skipped the rest of us wanting his autograph. The guy meant well by leaving so others can be upfront but movement like that in a packed tight space was not good. The only reason I mentioned this is so that those who have not gone yet can tell the people in front of you not to move, being still is more helpful so the people behind can extend out their playbill and Clay usually reach for those and sign. Out of the 3 of us, one got an autograph so we were happy. I called joyclay as soon as I arrived home Sunday evening and told her that we got her an autograph. She wasn't able to go so we did this for her. She was happy!

It was a great show and the walk at Times Square at night plus the city tour with my clayfriends made our trip another one to file under my Fun Fan Events! Cheers!
And last but not least, Zippy888 (who was peasant one night 2-3 weeks ago) caught the bridal bouquet when The Lady of the Lake through it into the audience! Here's her report:
I'm back from the matinee show this afternoon for a bit. Want to know what happened? I caught the bridal bouquet! Catching the bouquet was the last thing on my mind, functioning with only less than 3 hours of sleep! It went straight up into the ceiling and came right down into my hands! I squealed and screamed with delight amidst crowd cheers and applause. I waved the bouquet at Hannah during the ALOTBSOL sing-a-long and she did a finger wave back at me and acknowledged my bouquet wave. I saw Clay smile when I was waving the bouquet in the air!!