Interview by Kilian Melloy
Knights who say “Ni.” A killer rabbit. Incantations over a “holy hand grenade.” An extemporaneous lecture about class divisions and the exploitation of workers. It’s all wrapped up in Arthurian legend, show-stopping production numbers, and the blend of philosophical erudition and left-field silliness that has made British comedy troupe Monty Python an enduring sensation for nearly six decades.
This cornucopia of comedic verve is coming to Boston’s Boch Center Wang Theatre from October 8 – 11 with the touring edition of the musical Spamalot, which is derived — in large part verbatim — from the 1975 cult classic movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail. The musical stage show premiered in 2005 with a production directed by Mike Nichols and starred the late, great Tim Curry. The show took Broadway (and the Tony Awards) by storm, with original Python Eric Idle writing the book and lyrics as well as crafting the music along with composer John Du Prez. This touring edition is directed and choreographed by Josh Rhodes; featured in the cast are Major Attaway as King Arthur, Sean Bell as Sir Robin, Chris Collins-Pisano as Sir Lancelot, Ellis C. Dawson III as Sir Bedevere, Leo Roberts as Sir Galahad, Amanda Robles as The Lady of the Lake, Blake Segal as Patsy, and Steven Telsey in the dual roles of The Historian and Prince Herbert.
The show’s story is straightforward: Charged by God with finding the long-lost Holy Grail — the cup from which Jesus drank at the Last Supper — King Arthur sets about assembling his legendary Knights of the Round Table, transforming mud-spattered peasants into courageous warriors. Among them is the duty-bound (and zealously homicidal) Sir Lancelot. Boston area native Chris Collins-Pisano explained to Theater Mirror why Lancelot, usually depicted as the lover of Arthur’s queen, Guinevere, is here seen in a very different role: That of a sword-happy, and perhaps not overly bright, member of a bro-tastic corps of chivalrous dudes. There’s hardly a woman in sight in this musical — save, of course, for the mythic Lady of the Lake and her dancers, who get a number of standout musical moments. The show is a coconut-clapping gallop through uproarious sketches set in medieval England’s Black Knight-infested forests and castles inhabited by young royals in distress.
Even on Zoom, Collins-Pisano is a larger-than-life presence, bringing an effervescent energy to a fun-filled chat about the show, the timeless appeal of Monty Python, and why this Tony-winning banquet of absurdity is the perfect antidote for the times in which we live.
Theater Mirror: You must be thrilled to be coming back to Boston.
Chris Collins-Pisano: I grew up going to see shows at the Wang Theater every now and then — it’s the craziest thing to be going and performing on the stage where I think I saw some of my first shows ever. I haven’t gotten to spend a lot of time in Beantown since college, so I’m always wanting to get back. I got to do a couple shows at the Colonial Theater last year with another group I worked with called Forbidden Broadway, which was a really lovely homecoming, but this is going to be even more special.
Theater Mirror: How did you first discover Monty Python?
Chris Collins-Pisano: I think Holy Grail really was my first way in. I don’t remember who I watched it with the first time, or who showed it to me…But when I saw it, I think it took about two seconds for me to be completely invested and completely obsessed. I fell in love with the sketches and [the BBC sketch comedy series] Monty Python’s Flying Circus. It was a great boon to be growing up in the dawn of the YouTube age, because you could have so much access to their stuff.
Theater Mirror: Sir Lancelot is different in this show to the classic depictions in the various Arthurian tellings and retellings. What is your notion of who he is?
Chris Collins-Pisano: I’m trying to follow in the footsteps of what John Cleese does in the movie. In the show, they call him “the homicidally brave Sir Lancelot,” and I think that’s kind of the great joke about him. He loves being a knight, and it’s all he’s ever wanted, but he thinks that all that means is to fight and to kill. He says in one of the first songs, “To kill, I will. It gives me such a thrill!” He’s not afraid to do his job, but he never seems to get it right. I am a rather short man who’s not very physically intimidating in any way. I still say in the show I’m big and strong and hot, but that’s just how he sees himself. I think it’s so lovely to have somebody see themselves as something that they’re absolutely not. It seems like a very Monty Python thing.
Theater Mirror: Do you find that audiences throughout the tour are responding differently, and do you find ways to lean into that?
Chris Collins-Pisano: Definitely — even more so than I expected they would. We’re a little more tapped in than I thought we were to the current state of affairs…What I find interesting is the levels to which people get the humor. There’s just so many jokes in the script, big and small, really obvious, really subtle, and [audiences in] different places find different parts of it funny…The writing is like comedic Shakespeare. You don’t even have to put a lot on it. Sometimes I feel like the more we put on the script, the less people get it, because all you’ve got to do sometimes is just say those words, they’re so brilliant.
Theater Mirror: Do people in the cast look at you and say, “All right, Boston boy, what are they going to go for in the Hub of the Universe? What should we play up?”
Chris Collins-Pisano: There’s almost too many things that I want to try when I’m there. I do research on the towns and the cities we go to, and I try to find a really great jingle [of a local company] or a really great commercial. I always try to bring those things into the show, because it’s a great way to kind of bring everybody together and people usually don’t see it coming, which I really enjoy. For Boston, all those jingles for Bernie and Phil’s and Jordan Furniture have been in my brain since I was a child. And there’s some movie quotes I want to try out [from] movies that have been set in Boston.
Theater Mirror: I was so happy the show includes the bits from the movie about the killer rabbit and the black knight. What were you gratified that they kept it in?
Chris Collins-Pisano: I’m grateful because I get to do a lot of things that I love. Getting to do the Knights That Say Ni and the French taunter, that’s a dream come true in itself…I’m glad that we toss a cow every night onto [the character of] Patsy. It really brings my heart a lot of joy.
Theater Mirror: What is your favorite song in the show, whether you get to sing it or not?
Chris Collins-Pisano: I think it’s “Find Your Grail.” I really get down to that song. I mean, that’s what we’re supposed to do, because it’s a big pep rally song, but there’s something about it that just really gets me going. Often my favorite thing to do in the show is the end of “Knights of the Round Table” when we all just go crazy and we do a big Broadway finish to that number. It’s rare that you get to do a show where you get to do a big schmaltzy Broadway number. That’s why we get into acting: We want to be in a big Broadway song. The smile on my face during the end of that number is never faked.
“Spamalot” plays at the Boch Center Wang Theatre from Oct. 8 – 11, 2026. For tickets and more information, go to https://spamalotthemusical.com/
