The Aporia · Even Stephen Curry’s King Arthur can’t save stale Spamalot, plus other new shows this week

Even Stephen Curry’s King Arthur can’t save stale Spamalot, plus other new shows this week

Read the original at The Sydney Morning Herald ↗

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Shand, J., & Cunningham, H. (2026, October 16). Even Stephen Curry’s King Arthur can’t save stale Spamalot, plus other new shows this week. The Sydney Morning Herald. https://www.smh.com.au/culture/live-reviews/even-stephen-curry-s-king-arthur-can-t-save-stale-spamalot-plus-other-new-shows-this-week-20261016-p6164a.html?ref=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=rss_feed

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

Quick Summary

At Sydney Event Centre, the Australian production of "Spamalot," a musical based on Monty Python's "Holy Grail," opened on October 15 and runs until October 18. Starring Stephen Curry as King Arthur alongside an enthusiastic ensemble, the show features dated humor and derivative music that fails to engage audiences beyond die-hard fans. Drew Anthony directs with a design concept combining low-budget props with digital effects but struggles to elevate stale material despite competent performances.

Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-16, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

Spamalot, a musical adaptation of Monty Python's "Holy Grail", opened on October 15 at the Sydney Event Centre in Australia, running until October 18. Despite its comedic origins, reviews have been mixed, with critics questioning if the show still resonates after its initial success. Produced and directed by Drew Anthony, it stars Stephen 'The Castle' Curry as King Arthur alongside an enthusiastic ensemble cast. The plot follows King Arthur's quest to find the Holy Grail as commanded by God, recruiting a diverse group of knights for his mission. While some aspects like costumes and props are praised, overall reception suggests the show may be losing its charm over time.

Written for “Broadway Reviews This Week” on 2026-10-16, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

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How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

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Claims extracted

sentences that state something as happening or true

Uncertain

0 of 20 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")

Leaning

not political

takes no side on a contested political question

Publisher signals

61/100

The Sydney Morning Herald's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.

Outlets on this story

Entertainment

Same framing elsewhere

articles that frame the event the way this one does

Analyzed 2026-10-16 · how these are computed

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Article leaning vs. publisher reliability

Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

The Sydney Morning Herald · 3817 article(s) · 10 correction(s) detected

Running correction rate · 10 correction(s)

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Who wrote this

John Shand

4 article(s) here · 0 carrying a prediction

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Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.

Harriet Cunningham

1 article(s) here · 0 carrying a prediction

The only article under this byline in the corpus.

Topics

Australian England France Spamalot Sydney Event Centre

Subjects

Arthur PERSON · 4× Spamalot GPE · 2× Australian NORP · 1× Drew Anthony PERSON · 1× England GPE · 1× Eric Idle PERSON · 1× Lancelot PERSON · 1× Monty Python PERSON · 1× Stephen ‘The Castle’ Curry PERSON · 1× Sydney Event Centre ORG · 1×

Narrative

The costumes are straight from the dress-up box, and dad made the props, while the backdrop (by Travis Badge of Aquixel) transports us to rolling hills and luxuriant forests, and even provides a fully digital cast member, the Black Knight, yelling “’tis but a flesh wound” as it spurts bloody pixels.

framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-16

2026-10-16 · The Sydney Morning Herald

Even Stephen Curry’s King Arthur can’t save stale Spamalot, plus other new shows this week · assertive framing

Claims (20 extracted, 0 hedged)

There’s a scene early in Spamalot, where a man wanders the streets of a plague-ridden town in medieval England pushing a cart piled with lifeless bodies, shouting “Bring out your dead!” asserted

man → ’ → dead

Lancelot enters dragging a body, which struggles out of his clutches crying “I am not dead yet”. asserted

I → enter → clutches

“I’m not dead yet” is one of those classic Monty Python lines, greeted by laughs and cheers by a hyped-up fandom on the first night. asserted

’m → ’m → night

I’m not convinced. asserted

I → convince → ?

Spamalot, subtitled “A new musical lovingly ripped off from the motion picture Monty Python and the Holy Grail”, was created by Monty Python original Eric Idle in 2006. asserted

Spamalot → subtitle → 2006

It had a successful Broadway run, scooping up a fistful of Tony Awards. asserted

It → have → Awards

This Australian production, produced and directed by Drew Anthony, is a competent rehash starring Stephen ‘The Castle’ Curry as King Arthur and an enthusiastic all-singing, all-dancing ensemble. asserted

production → produce → Arthur

God commands King Arthur to find the Holy Grail. asserted

God → command → Grail

Arthur recruits a motley posse of knights and, after a glow-up at Camelot, they grab their coconut shells (clip-clop, clip-clop) and set out. asserted

they → recruit → shells

The quest takes them to France, where they meet flatulent locals, knights who say “Ni!”, and a Black Knight who is harder to kill than a cockroach. asserted

who → take → cockroach

But do they find the grail? asserted

they → find → grail

Curry is not an obvious choice as lead but makes a good fist of the preening role of Arthur, despite his tortuous English accent. asserted

Curry → make → accent

His sidekick Patsy, played by Jamie Rolton, who also choreographs the show, frequently upstages the king with his well-timed quips and genial stage presence. asserted

who → play → quips

Marney ‘Titanique’ McQueen sings her heart out as Lady of the Lake, leaning into the diva energy of Whatever Happened To My Part?, while Gareth Isaac as Sir Robin bubbles with showtime glee while singing You Won’t Survive On Broadway Without Jews. asserted

You → sing → Jews

it → dress → pixels

It’s not the cast’s fault that this show fails to dazzle: the gags are desperately dated and the music is derivative. asserted

music → ’ → ?

That is not a guarantee of failure in itself – lots of musical theatre shows thrive on in-jokes and self-parody – but the many compromises, including canned music and a terrible venue, do nothing to lift the raw material out of its nostalgic soup. asserted

compromises → thrive → soup

Without the bite of up-to-date satire and the zing of in-the-moment comic improv, Spamalot has no teeth. asserted

Spamalot → have → teeth

This one’s strictly for the fans. asserted

one → ’ → fans

Spamalot also shows at Coliseum Theatre, Rooty Hill from October 22-25. asserted

Spamalot → show → October