BOOK REVIEW The Spamalot Diaries by Eric Idle Crown, 2024 The Spamalot Diaries is Eric Idle’s engaging and entertaining account of bringing his musical Spamalot to Broadway in 2004 and 2005, from the first read-through to opening night. Rediscovered while Idle was moving houses, these entries show all the energy, talent, trust, and humor involved in putting together a show. Photo of Eric Idle © Lily Idle Before the Broadway opening, Idle worked closely and intensely with the cast and crew, especially director Mike Nichols, choreographer Casey Nicholaw, and composer John Du Prez. Idle and Nichols had been longtime friends who vacationed and joked together, but this was their first time working together. Thankfully, their friendship survived the collaboration, and Idle includes even their arguments to show “that it is possible to disagree with someone and still continue happily working together.” The meetings are mostly productive and incredibly creative. Ideas are tossed around for shaping the musical and making it funny. Songs are proposed and cut, refined and trimmed, as everyone figures out what works and what doesn’t. Idle and Du Prez rewrite the script multiple times. Idle works through Thanksgiving Day, giving new pages to an impressed cast the next morning. Everyone is inspired to do their best work, and eventually, they discover the show’s story: Arthur and the knights are forced to create a Broadway show, with Lancelot coming out as gay. As Idle notes, “It’s not just the movie”; it is now its own creation, with new characters, songs, and a plot. Seeing the show evolve, especially with a song like “You Won’t Succeed on Broadway” (which Nichols calls “The Jew Song”), is fascinating. Idle also records the tense and sad moments. In one early meeting, Nichols makes a speech that confuses Idle and, as he later reflects, puts him back in boarding school, facing hostile teachers. It takes several conversations and the possibility of both Idle and Nichols leaving the project before they reach an understanding. In Chicago previews, Nichols cuts “The Cow Song.” Some of the cast protest, one behaving boorishly until Nichols talks with him. In New York and Chicago for weeks at a time, Idle misses his wife, Tania, and their daughter in California. At one point, his daughter suffers a mental health crisis, and he wonders whether his absences are responsible. Thankfully, she recovers and joins him in Chicago and New York, becoming the first audience member to discover the Grail under her seat. Idle makes perceptive observations throughout. As the show prepares for its Broadway premiere, he recognizes his tendency to prepare for failure, which he remarks is part of the English temperament. He notes that he must instead accept success. It is a remarkable moment, given his past successes. His analysis of the musical’s final form, showing how each song moves the story, is insightful. He is also incredibly funny. Seeing how “the quest for the Holy Grail is Wagnerian in scope,” he remarks, “Not the Ring cycle exactly, more the Rinse cycle.” Recognized in the New York streets while on a rickshaw, he pretends to be Michael Palin on a travel show, “Around the Bronx in eighty days.” For one performance in Chicago, he plays the Historian, the cast comically responding, “F**k off, Idle.” Spamalot fans will certainly enjoy the book, but even those simply interested in how a Broadway show comes together will appreciate it. Although some knowledge of Spamalot is probably helpful. The Spamalot Diaries is a testament to talent, comedy, perseverance, and, as Idle says, the results of working with “the best.” SEE ALSO: Nothing is sacred in the riotous Broadway revival of ‘Spamalot’ at the St. James Theatre (review of the Broadway revival by Deb Miller, November 22, 2023) Goofs, gags, and great performances in ‘Monty Python’s Spamalot’ at Kennedy Center (review of the Broadway Center Stage production by Megan Wills, May 17, 2023)