Broadway dreams realized: Asolo Rep director Josh Rhodes stages revival of ‘Spamalot’
Artists never know when one job might lead to unexpected opportunities.
Director and choreographer Josh Rhodes, who has been staging acclaimed musicals at Sarasota’s Asolo Repertory Theatre for more than a decade, was hired to lead a production of the Monty Python musical “Spamalot” at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., last spring. He had no idea it would take him back to Broadway, where he had previously choreographed “Cinderella,” “It Shoulda Been You” and “Bright Star” and danced in a half dozen other shows.
During a run-through before the Washington opening, Rhodes said producer Jeffrey Finn pulled him aside and said, “It’s so good, I’m getting the rights holders to come see this. I think it should come to Broadway.”
Rhodes added, “I’ve heard that a thousand times. I’ve heard that for almost every show. We had two Broadway producers who wanted to move our ‘Sound of Music’ from Asolo Rep but they couldn’t get the rights.”
He credits Finn, who is vice president of theater producing and programming at the Kennedy Center and artistic director of the Broadway Center Stage series, with pushing for a move.
“He got people coming to see it, all the theater owners. He was sure we’d go to Broadway. It’s all him, his tenacity. I don’t know what kind of dance you have to do to get a theater from all the people who have been waiting for a place like the St. James Theatre to become available, but all of a sudden, we got it.”
Rhodes’ excitement about making his Broadway directorial debut was tempered by the realization that the Nov. 16 opening of “Spamalot” would mean he couldn’t direct and choreograph “Crazy For You” at Asolo Rep, which was scheduled to open Nov. 18. (Rhodes most recently staged “Cabaret,” “Evita,” “Hair” and “The Sound of Music” and choreographed the world premiere of “Knoxville” at Asolo Rep.)
The most difficult call he had to make was to Peter Rothstein, Asolo Rep’s new Producing Artistic Director.
“The theater takes a chance on you and builds their season around you and here’s Peter in his first season and his first show, things have to change,” Rhodes said. But Rothstein quickly put him at ease.
“He said, ‘Josh, first, congratulations. Let’s talk about the good part.’ He was so cool about it. I was nervous and sad about it. There was a moment where we were going to open (“Spamalot”) earlier and it would work out perfectly, but the dates changed.”
It was Rhodes who suggested that Rothstein look to fellow director and choreographer Denis Jones to take his place with “Crazy For You” and the fall production has been well received by critics and audiences in Sarasota.
A new perspective on a musical favorite
“Spamalot” boasts that it is “lovingly ripped off” from the film “Monty Python and the Holy Grail,” about King Arthur and his efforts to create his Knights of the Round Table and find the Holy Grail. They encounter Knights who say ‘Ni,’ French taunters, living people mistaken for dead and English subjects who have harsh words for Arthur.
Written by original Python member Eric Idle and composer John DuPrez, and directed by Mike Nichols, the 2005 musical featured many of the popular characters and scenes from the film in a production that put the knights in a spoof of the traditions of musical theater.
Rhodes’ production, led by James Monroe Iglehart as King Arthur and Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer as the Lady of the Lake (who gave Arthur his crown), is updated a bit, with more topical references and a bit of self-mockery.
“I think it’s really good, funny material. Most comedies would kill for these jokes,” Rhodes said. “This one is about pleasing Monty Python fans, giving them the movie when we need the movie (or honoring the movie I should say). But the show is, at its heart, a big love letter to Broadway, and you have to give it a big explosion of musical comedy.”
In some ways, it’s built around a series of sketches that become part of the bigger mission.
“I wanted it to feel more like ‘The Carol Burnett Show.’ Someone said it feels more American. I asked the ensemble to be a little rowdier with the material so it all feels a little made up in the moment.”
He let his cast members be loose with the material to see what would happen in the rehearsal room. “It was making sure the evening had a spirit to it and a joy. I feel it’s coming through. Comedy like this is supposed to be an escape from your life, and from the opening moment, you forget about your phone, your job, everything and laugh for a little bit.”
The Washington Post said “Rhodes has mounted the most raucously funny 2 ½ hours you’ll sit through anywhere on the Eastern Seaboard.”
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Expanding for Broadway
Rhodes didn’t have a lot of time to put the Kennedy Center production together. “It’s not like at Asolo Rep where they give me six weeks to craft something, where I had time for a second or third idea. We didn’t have that time in Washington.”
Moving to Broadway gave him the chance to rethink moments, play around with the props, redo costumes and choreography.
“We asked ourselves what we would do differently. I was able to think about it a lot, get in the room with my associates and start from scratch again,” he said.
He describes the last six months as something of a whirlwind from the rehearsals and opening in Washington to the Nov. 16 opening on Broadway.
He does get a kick seeing his name out front on the marquee. “That’s very different. Sometimes as a choreographer, you’re kind of anonymous. A lot of people don’t know what a choreographer does. All the stuff with music, I staged.”
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Now that the show is open and audiences are responding, Rhodes is still involved. He staged cast appearances in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and NBC’s Today show. He will be responsible for maintaining the quality of the show during its Broadway run, with the help of his colleagues. And he’ll be busy with the first replacement cast member. D.C. cast member Alex Brightman, who played Sir Lancelot, is returning to the show after completing a run on Broadway in the play “The Shark is Broken.”
If the show does well, there could be touring productions that would keep him busy.
“A lot of my job at this point is maintaining, casting and recasting,” he said. Rhodes is not sure yet what impact one Broadway hit could have on his career. He’s booked for some readings, and he hopes to be able to return to Asolo Rep.
“I’ve always loved it there. I was so upset and nervous about having to drop the show, but I got a flood of emails and text messages from people being so excited for me. That’s a great feeling.”
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This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: ‘Spamalot’ marks Broadway directing debut for Asolo Rep veteran
