Spamalot and Camelot Joust for Broadway Domination

A stage musical version of the classic film comedy Monty Python and the Holy Grail, written by Eric Idle and to be directed by Mike Nichols, is scheduled to arrive on Broadway in 2005 but may now be facing a name change.

The show’s working title is Spamalot (taken from a lyric in the original film) but, according to reports in various media outlets, an attorney representing a revival of the 1961 Alan Jay Lerner-Frederick Loewe musical Camelot that is also planning to open in 2005 has requested that Idle change the name of his musical to avoid confusion between the two shows. Idle’s show will be based on the original screenplay by Idle, Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin, and the score will be written by Idle and John Du Prez. The creative team also includes choreographer Jerry Mitchell and set designer Tim Hatley.

Camelot contains such familiar songs as “If Ever I Would Leave You” and “How to Handle a Woman.” The original production ran for 873 performances and the musical has already had three New York revivals.