'Spamalot' Pokes Fun At Broadway

Eric Idle And His Star Cast Talk To Charlie Rose

(CBS)  "So you approached this as a Monty Python fan?" asks Rose.

"Fan and friend," says Nichols.

But in adapting the movie to the stage, Idle and Nichols faced a little problem. "There is no story at all in 'The Holy Grail.' It's a review. Secretly, or not so secretly, it's sketches. It's anarchy. So I said, 'Listen, Eric, 'If you have people come to a theater, there’s a kind of an understanding between you that you will tell them a story.'”

So Idle developed the characters, even added a female lead, and gave the play a new ending.

"The plot is painfully thin. There is hardly any plot. But it's enough," says Nichols. "There's only one rule: Is it funny? Is it not funny? If it's not funny, it has to go. If it's funny, it stays."

Tim Curry plays King Arthur in "Spamalot." As a veteran of the stage, he knew that big ideas for Broadway shows rarely become reality. But a year ago, Idle called about "Spamalot."

"[He said,] 'You'd be wonderful in it. And we should talk about that if and when it happens,'" says Curry. "And I had said, 'Yeah. Great. You know, sure. … Call me!'"

Curry got the call and "Spamalot" became a reality. But he’s only one part of an ensemble cast that has earned rave reviews.

"I also was a huge Python fan," says David Hyde Pierce, who plays Sir Robin, the Not-Quite-So Brave. "I read it in the paper that -- Mike Nichols is directing a musical of 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail,' and I actually had my agent call his people, but they called back."

Pierce is famous for his deadpan humor as Dr. Niles Crane on the hit TV sitcom "Frasier."

"Do you think people here see any of Niles Crane?" asks Rose.

"I think for me, this was … it's a great leap," says Pierce.

It was also a great leap for Hank Azaria, who had never been in a Broadway musical. "I got a call at home from Mike [Nichols]," says Azaria, who worked with Nichols in "The Birdcage."

"Mike knew he wanted me to do it. But they weren't so sure about my singing and dancing," adds Azaria. "Mike said, right out, 'We’re not sure about your singing and dancing so we have to see about that.' Fortunately, me trying to do those things is silly and funny, which fits right in with the theme of the show."

But most of the cast had to know how to sing and dance. They got their parts the traditional way.

"I auditioned," says Sara Ramirez, who plays The Lady Of The Lake, a part that wasn’t in the original movie -- not that she knew that when she heard about the audition.

"I'm embarrassed to say I was not familiar with Monty Python," says Ramirez. "My friends that I was living with in LA are like, 'You don't know? Come on! We're taking you to Blockbuster.'"

"It is incredibly rare that a group of people so disparate enjoy each other so much, and respect each other so much," says Curry. "And believe me, I have been in many, many, many plays where you would've, you know, I could've taken in an AK-47 any day."

"There's a rhythm in terms of the life of a country and a time. I don't want to be too heavy about this, but if you think of 'Monty Python,' you think of silliness, as you say, smart silliness," says Rose. "Is there somehow, because we've gone through a lot in this country, that there may just be the right time to see something like this on Broadway?"

"I think it's very important. I think it absolutely is right," says Idle. "I think 30 years ago, you were in Vietnam, you had Vietnam going on and Python came along and said, 'Remember, always look on the bright side. You're -- we're not dead yet.' And now, here we are, 30 years later opening a heartwarming show, a funny show on Broadway, to remind you that you aren't totally responsible for everything."

"That's the thing," adds Pierce. "That's the comment I've heard more frequently from audience members than anything else is, 'God, we needed this.'"

"You know, it's a good time for silly," says Azaria.

"For the first two weeks, just watching people rehearse this stuff made me cry all the time," says Idle. "Because there's something weird about having done something 30 years ago, and then seeing young people doing it again 30 years later in a different form, and it's going on. And, you won't go on. But, it's sort of going on."

On opening night, the five living Pythons got together for the first time in many years. And as they took the stage, Idle saw tears in their eyes.

"I touched them. I got them," says Idle. "And they were proud, because they're also seeing their lines getting laughs on stage. So, it's a gift I'm giving them also."