Broadway Access Review -
Spamalot

General:

• I did not feel the need to use earplugs for the show

• during the pre-show and intermission the background was super shaky (I think it was just wind)

• everything the Lady of the Lake wears is REALLY sparkly and shiny, causes lots of accidental strobe

• the bottom half of the set has a series of doors that open and close and they are lit behind, I would assume this points at the audience in the orchestra

Act I:

• giant crash noise when house lights are still up before the show - for us it was about 4.5 minutes after technical show time (so 7:04 ish)

• “that you are real” - blue moving light, sorta hits audience at first

• Come With Me: “into my army” - referee whistle, continues through this song; sparkly pom poms; flashing and moving side islands pointed at the stage, also white strobes & moving projections

• The Song That Goes Like This: onstage smoke at boat entrance (after the candles walk on); blue light washes over audience;

• “big to small” - quick light change, followed by about 3 more

• Song when they enter Camelot: neon borders around everything that change color during the song, neon CAMELOT sign above the castle, lots of quick light changes and alternating/moving lights and sparkly things in this number, also when Lady starts scatting the castle projection spins

• the exit at the end of the Spamalot song is followed by thunder & strobe lighting for about 5 seconds

• projection behind the holy grail is stripey and spins for about 5 seconds

• “farewell… farewell” - thunder & lightning again

• “find your grail” & exit is followed by an entrance through the center door and a blue strobe light on them for ~10-15 seconds

• white strobing downlights on the Elphaba “ah” when Lady is on the castle

  after the French come out there is a quick light change

• another big crash right before intermission (it is fairly obvious when it’s going to happen)

Act II: during intermission the stage is lit in blue

• onstage smoke during the opening

• Always Look On…: lightning after they dance in the V, also the background dancers have discs that cause occasional accidental strobe

• lightning & thunder after cheering

• “for now, lads” - lighting & thunder

• “who are these special people?” “well” - downlight spot on quickly with an accompanying thud noise

• You Won’t Succeed on Broadway: neon around stage appears when he’s lifted on the chair and changes colors quickly

  • “lose” - lots of very quick neon light changes

  • they come back after the Fiddler bit but slower

  • bulb lights turn on and slowly rotate through

  • after the star comes down the bulb lights fast rotate until the scene change

• His Name Is Lancelot: 

• after the clothes rip there is a lot of flashing, neon, moving light circles on the ground, a disco ball projection, and side light strobes

• “round table realness” - low bass & more flashing

• after signs come on - moving lights on orchestra

• “he’s gay” - long flash

• “You’re in a Broadway show” - blue light wash over audience

• America dancy bit (I have no idea what that means I’m so sorry) - thunder and about ~7 sec of lightning

• “scary name” - lightning 2-3 seconds

• “painted teeth” - lightning 2-3 seconds

• big boom after hand grenade is thrown

• a seat somewhere in the first few rows of the orch is used for audience participation (like they go on stage), apparently it’s different every night so if you’re worried about this go ask the box office!

• “the Arthur goes to…” - blue light flashes quickly on audience

• camera flash, this one is really obvious 

• blue flash on the audience again as the member exits

• neon outlines come back during the wedding

• “musical theatre!” - bulb lights move quickly and continue until the big guy with the fluffy coat enters

• white strobing downlights at the end of the number

• lights flash on one by one for bows

• confetti cannon after the last long “bright”