Idle confirms Python musical

The Monty Python stage musical is to have its world premiere in Chicago on December 21, it has been announced

Spamalot, based on the 1975 film Monty Python And The Holy Grail, will run for a month in the city's Shubert Theatre before heading to Broadway.

The show, which creator Eric Idle says is "officially ripped-off" from the original, will be directed by Micke Nichols, who also helmed The Graduate movie.

It will feature three songs from the film - Brave Sir Robin, He's Going to Tell, and Knights of the Round Table plus 25 new songs and a new score composed by John Du Prez

Idle told Playbill magazine in the States: "I always had in the back of my mind that 'The Grail' would make a good musical.

"It keeps coming to points where it should absolutely have always had a song, like 'I'm not dead yet.'

"We recorded some songs and we sent it to the other Pythons and they loved it and said 'Yes, absolutely, go ahead.'"

Producers are now looking to cast the show, with six people playing all the Python roles.

If all goes well in Chicago, Spamalot should transfer to New York in March 2005.

The only authorized stage version so far, of the original Monty Python material were the sketches performed at last year's Edinburgh Fringe ­ in French.

Published: 4 Mar 2004