MONTY PYTHON'S SPAMALOT Returns to Washington, DC, 4/10-14

The Tony Award-winning Best Musical of 2005, Monty Python's Spamalot, will return to the fair city of Washington, D.C., for a final one-week only engagement April 10 through 14 at The National Theatre.

Tickets, starting at $50 (plus applicable fee and service charges), are on sale now at The National Theatre box office, through Ticketmaster.com, and via phone at (800) 745-3000. Box office hours are Monday through Friday, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. For information, call (202) 628-6161 or visit nationaltheatre.org.

Lovingly "ripped-off" from the internationally famous comedy team's most popular motion picture, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Monty Python's Spamalot is the winner of three 2005 Tony Awards including Best Musical and Best Director (Mike Nichols), as well as the Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards for Best Musical.

Washington's sordid love affair with Monty Python's Spamalot began in 2006, when the First National Tour played to sell-out crowds at The National Theatre, breaking the existing box office record. The show returned to the nation's capital twice more, earning rave reviews and legions of fans. Now after seven years, Monty Python's Spamalot comes full circle, back to the theater where it all began for D.C.

Two local actors who were here last year with Monty Python's Spamalot return to say farewell: Arthur Rowan, who plays King Arthur, and Adam Grabau, who plays Sir Lancelot and three other roles. Rowan attended high school in Vienna, Virginia, and has worked with Folger Theatre, WSC Avant Bard, Scena Theatre, Horizons Theater, and American Century Theater, among others. Grabau, a native of Howard County, performed in Signature Theatre's Helen Hayes Award-winning Les Miserables. He has also worked with Studio Theatre, Olney Theatre Center, Toby's Dinner Theatre, and Rep Stage.

The original cast recording of Monty Python's Spamalot won the 2006 Grammy Award for Best Musical Show Album.

Based on the Tony Award-winning direction of Mike Nichols and the riotous choreography of Casey Nicholaw, Monty Python's Spamalot features a book by Eric Idle, based on the screenplay of Monty Python and the Holy Grail by Monty Python creators Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin, with music and lyrics by the Grammy Award-winning team of Mr. Idle and John Du Prez.

Telling the legendary tale of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, and their quest for the Holy Grail, Monty Python's Spamalot features a chorus line of dancing divas and knights, flatulent Frenchmen, killer rabbits, and one legless knight.

Monty Python's Spamalot is produced by Stephen B. Kane, Michael McFadden and Phoenix Entertainment.

Mike Nichols has been acclaimed as one of the great American directors in film, theater and television. He has won the Academy Award and eight Tony Awards. He received the Directors' Guild of America Award for Lifetime Achievement as well as a DGA Award for the direction of the HBO adaptation of Angels in America.

Casey Nicholaw's outstanding work on Monty Python's Spamalot earned him nominations for the Tony Award, the Outer Critics Circle Award and the Drama Desk Award. He recently won the 2011 Tony, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle Awards for his work as co-director of The Book of Mormon. His other Broadway credits include Elf and The Drowsy Chaperone, for which he earned numerous nominations as director and choreographer.

Aside from his work with Monty Python in films and on TV, Eric Idle has written a West End play, Pass the Butler; three novels, including The Road to Mars and The Rutles - A Mockumentary; and many songs too rude to mention. He has sung opera, acted in movies, appeared on television and crossed America performing comedy on The Greedy Bastard Tour. His diary of his 15,000-mile journey by bus was published by Harper Collins, and his long awaited sequel The Rutles2: Can't Buy Me Lunch was released by Warner Video. There's no saying what he might do next....

John Du Prez has composed over 20 feature film scores including A Fish Called Wanda, A Private Function, The Meaning of Life, Personal Services, UHF, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles I, II & III. He has worked with Eric Idle since 1978.

Monty Python isn't a person, but a group of British actors and writers (and one American) that performed their famous comedy show Monty Python's Flying Circus on the BBC from 1969 to 1974, with subsequent international fame and success.

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