The Book That Goes Like This: The Spamalot Diaries Takes Fans Behind the Curtain of the Broadway Hit

You want to know how Eric Idle brought Monty Python and the Holy Grail on broadway?

Diaries of Spamalota compilation of the diaries and email exchanges of former Monty Python member and comedian Idle while working on and producing the Tony Award-winning musical Spamalothe arrived. A new book tells the full story of how Idle, 81, and Mike Nichols brought the iconic 1975 British comedy troupe to life. Monty Python and the Holy Grail to the stage in New York, from the production’s opening table in April 2004 to the 59th Tony Awards on June 5, 2005, where Spamalot it won in three categories, including best musical.

The original Broadway production starred Tim Curry as King Arthur of Britain. Sara Ramirez, Hank Azaria, Michael McGrath, David Hyde Pierce, Christopher Sieber, Seve Rosen and Christian Borle also star; the musical was later revived on Broadway in 2023.

Here are the biggest discoveries from Diaries of Spamalot.

Eric Idle praised his working relationship and friendship with Spamalot director Mike Nichols

Eric Idle and Mike Nichols during the 71st Annual Drama League Awards at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City.

Bruce Glikas/FilmMagic

Diaries of Spamalot is dedicated to the late Mike Nichols, who directed the original Broadway production. Nichols was a famous film and theater director, as well as a comedian himself, known for directing films such as Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Bachelor and Birdcage.

Idle raves about his friend’s 15-year work ethic, dedication to production and enthusiasm for the material throughout.Diaries of Spamalot. Nichols was the first person he thought of for the production, and while the pair naturally disagreed a few times during the production of the musical, the author “deliberately left those moments in because they show that it’s possible to disagree with someone and still happily work together.”

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John Cleese says he ‘hated and despised’ Monty Python Costar Eric Idle ‘Was a Joke’

Idle further jokes in his introduction that his journal “solely attributes the blame for the success” to Nichols, as well as producer Bill Haber, choreographer Casey Nicholaw and John Du Prez, who co-wrote the series’ music.

“It was the best working relationship I’ve ever had as a writer,” he added of working with Nichols.

Eric Idle reunited with the surviving members of Monty Python in the SpamalotPremiered on Broadway in 2005 for the first time since 1998

Michael Palin, Terry Jones, Eric Idle, Terry Gilliam and John Cleese attend the opening night of “Spamalot” at the Shubert Theater on W. 44th St. Idle wrote the Broadway musical based on the movie “Monty Python and the Holy Grail.”

Richard Corkery/NY Daily News Archive via Getty

Spamalot proved to be a solo effort for Idle, who had not worked with the rest of the Pythons since the group broke up after their 1983 film. Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life. (Graham Chapman, one of the co-founders of the group who portrayed King Arthur in Grail film, died in 1989 at the age of 48.)

While Idle remained the lone Python to adapt Grail for the stage, John Cleese visited the production in October 2004 to record a voiceover as the Voice of God, which appears once in the musical.

John Cleese says he ‘hated and despised’ Monty Python Costar Eric Idle ‘Was a Joke’

Idle emailed the other Pythons at least once during the pre-production and rehearsal process to suggest they “stop by” the rehearsal and spend time with the production. However, in December 2004, he wrote that he did not believe the presence of the rest of the group would have helped the show, as the other Pythons “did everything they needed to do to make it work, including staying away.”

The surviving Pythons were finally reunited on March 17, 2005, when the play premiered on Broadway. On that date, the group took their first photo together since 1998; Idle wrote that hanging out with his former collaborators felt “strangely familiar” and that going on stage with them after the show proved to be a “historic moment”.

Eric Idle worried about how he’s doing Spamalot It affected his relationship with his wife Tania Kosevich and daughter Lily

Eric Idle and wife Tania Kosevich at the 38th AFI Lifetime Achievement Awards honoring Mike Nichols on June 10, 2010 in Culver City, California.

Frazer Harrison/Getty Images

Idle worried that his almost constant work on the production during 2004 and 2005 could negatively affect his relationship with his wife Tania and their daughter Lily, who was a young teenager when the production was in development.

He remained in New York to work on the second act of the series rather than travel with his family to Chicago for Thanksgiving in 2004; his daughter was the first audience member to receive the Holy Grail during the series’ world premiere in December 2004 in Chicago.

10 days before Spamalot opened on Broadway in 2005, Idle wrote that Lily was hospitalized after a mental illness emergency. Although Idle wrote that his daughter was feeling better in a few days, he initially reacted in his diary by wondering if he was to blame for his daughter’s ill health. “Of course I feel responsible. I’ve been away these months, creating a musical. What a terrible price to pay for success,” he wrote at one point.

Diaries of Spamalot it is available now, wherever books are sold.

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Source: HIS Education