In the musical “Monty Python’s Spamalot,” a bunch of ridiculous medieval knights are on a quest to find a holy grail, which brings them to the enchanted city of Camelot. They also encounter the mystical and waterlogged Lady in the Lake, who encourages their journey with one of the key songs in the first act, “Come With Me,” then in the second act hilariously complains that she no longer has much to do in the show, singing “Diva’s Lament (Whatever Happened to My Part?).”
Amanda Robles will be playing the Lady in the Lake, the lead female character in the first national tour of the recent Broadway revival of “Spamalot,” when the show visits The Bushnell for eight performances Dec. 9-14. For her, the Bushnell stop is not a quest, it’s a homecoming.
Robles grew up in Orange and went to Amity High School in Woodbridge, where she was part of one of the first classes to benefit from the school’s greatly enhanced musical theater program and a new auditorium. She appeared in “Grease” and “Rent” at the school.
She grew up loving musical theater and saw touring productions of many Broadway musicals at Connecticut theaters, including The Bushnell, but Robles said she never saw it as an option for her as a career until she received encouragement at Amity.
She also had relatives in the arts. The Hartford-based Curtis Brothers, Zaccai (the Grammy-winning pianist who appears on the just-released local holiday music EP “Hartford Unwrapped”) and Luques, are Robles’ cousins.
In 2019, Robles played Carla, one of the beauticians in the Lin-Manuel Miranda musical “In the Heights” at Westport Country Playhouse. “I had a great time there,” she said of her only other professional theater experience in her home state. “Some of my best friends were in that show.”
Now based in New York, Robles has been in productions of “Escape to Margaritaville,” “Man of La Mancha,” “Chess” and “Into the Woods” at regional theaters throughout the country, was involved in a workshop of the musical “From Here to Eternity” and the world premiere of “American Mariachi.” She has also performed on cruise ships and at Walt Disney World. “Spamalot” marks the first time she’s done a national tour.
The Bushnell is only the second stop on the national tour of “Spamalot,” which began in Cleveland on Dec. 1 and will visit nearly 30 cities between now and the end of August in 2026. The production is based on the recent 20th anniversary Broadway revival of “Spamalot” and has the same director, Josh Rhodes, whose productions of “Bright Star” and “Cinderella” also toured through Connecticut.
The original Broadway “Spamalot” was directed by Mike Nichols, the legendary film and stage director (and longtime Bridgewater resident) whose other musical theater exploits included helping shape “Annie” into a Broadway hit after its world premiere at the Goodspeed Opera House. Nichols died in 2014.
Nichols’ Broadway version starred Tim Curry, David Hyde Pierce and Hank Azaria. The role of the Lady of the Lake was originated by Sara Ramirez. The 2023 revival of “Spamalot” starred Taran Killam, James Monroe Iglehart, Ethan Slater and Michael Urie among others.
Robles recalled loving Ramirez’s voice on the soundtrack recording of “Spamalot.” For her own performance, “I was able to grab some things from how she did it, and also from Leslie Kritzer in the revival.”
Robles said that whether or not the “Spamalot” cast members and creative team grew up on the film version, the Python style “is very much in our blood.” The trick, she said, is “always trying to stay current” and get genuine laughs in the moment and not because the material is so well-known.
“We’re paying homage, but it’s important to make it our own,” Robles said. “The director, Josh Rhodes, and the music supervisor, John Bell, did a really good job of saying ‘This is what worked for the people doing this before. See how it works for you.’”
Other cast members on the first national tour of the “Spamalot” revival are Major Attaway (who’s played some of the other roles Iglehart played on Broadway, including the Genie in “Aladdin”) as King Arthur, Sean Bell as Sir Robin, Chris Collins-Pisano of the off-Broadway “Forbidden Broadway” as Sir Lancelot, Ellis C. Dawson III (who has toured with “Hamilton”) as Sir Bedevere, British actor Leo Roberts as Sir Galahad, Yale School of Drama graduate Blake Segal as Patsy and Steven Telsey (who was in “The Secret Garden” at ACT of CT and toured the U.S. with “Book of Mormon”) in the dual role of The Historian and Prince Herbert.
“Spamalot” is based on the classic 1975 movie “Monty Python and the Holy Grail,” which itself is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. The film was a collaborative effort among all the members of the Monty Python comedy troupe. All six members received writing credits on the film and two of them — Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones — co-directed it. The musical theater adaptation, however, was the project of just one key Python, Eric Idle, who adapted the script, wrote the lyrics and co-composed the music with John De Prez, the British film score composer who had worked with the Python company on all its films except for “Holy Grail.”
When Robles spoke to the Courant just a couple of weeks ago, the show was still in rehearsals and the performers had not yet done it before a live audience. But Robles herself has been a great audience for her castmates. “I can’t watch these guys anymore,” she said. “I’m cracking up all the time.” At the same time, she was bursting to put these live routines before a live crowd. “The audience is as much a character as anyone onstage, because they’re in on what Monty Python did in the first place. My scene partner is the audience,” she said.
Robles feels the time is just right for a show like “Spamalot” to be on tour.
“Today, people are craving human connection. They also need to laugh,” she said. “It’s like Josh told us in rehearsals: Silliness is close to godliness.”
“Monty Python’s Spamalot” runs Dec. 9-14 at The Bushnell, 166 Capitol Ave., Hartford. Performances are Tuesday through Friday at 7:30 p.m., Saturday at 2 and 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 1 and 6:30 p.m. $36-$162.50. bushnell.org.