Open up a brand new can of 'Spamalot' and a still unspoiled gift of 'Christmas Carol'

'Tis the season for old favorites on Playhouse Square, be it an adaptation of Dickens' consummate Christmas tale, or the hit musical Broadway take on the venerable comedy troupe Monty Python. 'Spamalot' Nothing seems so fresh as "Spam," especially when it's mixed and stirred with an unrelentingly hilarious dollop of "Camelot." But the better surprise on Playhouse Square's launch of a new Broadway tour of "Spamalot" is that the non-stop comedy cavalcade of King Arthur shennanigans seems fresher than ever. Naturally, any production under the wickedly, hysterically cynical hand of the legendary British comedy troupe Monty Python means sure-fire entertainment. But by the time this 2004 Tony-winner is making its third Northeast Ohio tour (not including local theater productions, most notably at Beck Center), some Python and Broadway fans may fear some of the intricate comedic mechanizations might start to squeak. Not to worry. The production here triumphs as even fresher and more elaborate than the first national tour, which came to Cleveland in October 2006. It remains the holy grail of musical comedy. A major adornment for this production is an astounding cast lead by Major Attaway as the delightfully dim and perceptively portly (at least in the case of this production) King Arthur. Here, this legendary royal ruler becomes the penultimate straight-man (in the old sense of the word), singing, fake-tapping and galloping his way through a myriad of Medieval-burlesque situations to get to the Holy Grail and land the goddess-diva Lady of the Lake in marriage (majestically beautiful, talented and hilarious Amanda Robles). All the comic set pieces that made the Python film a sensation are intact here: Lancelot, gayer than ever (Chris Collins-Pisano, equally adept in a myriad of other signature Python characters, saving a damsel in distress who's really a limp lad in a dress (sultry Steven Telsey, who doubles as the professorial narrator); the grating voices of the Knights of Ni!" the finger-flipping French, literally flatulating into their royal horns (once again lead by Collins-Pisano), the carnivorous bunny rabbit (Telsey once again); and the show-stopping Python anthem "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life," (extrapolated from the Python film "Life of Bryan," brassily performed by Blake Segal as King Author's kicked-around sidekick). For the purposes of a lively Broadway life, Python's legendary performer and script writer Eric Idle, who wrote some of the movie's original iconic ditties, teamed up with Hollywood composer John Du Prez for extra Broadway songs. The result is a fetching score that serves up some rather memorable showstopping numbers that never betray "Spamalot's" hefty humor needs. Another star of this production is scenic and projection designer Paul Tate DePoo III, whose elaborate name pales in comparison to his ingeniously elaborate new sets. He melds physical set pieces into a fantasy of video backdrops that makes a touring production more visually resplendent than most other more expensive and expansive productions mounted exclusively for Broadway stages. Occasionally, one may miss designer Tim Hatley original sets -- giant visuals of the original "Monty Python's Flying Circus" animated sequences of TV fame as well as the look and feel the "Holy Grail" film, plus the indelible backdrop of Las Vegas' Excalibur Hotel for the Camelot sequence. But the new sets, as well as many more subtle touches, brilliantly update "Spamalot" for a whole new generation of Python fans -- some of whom, like the cast members, were but toddlers looking forward to the bright side of life when the show debuted more than two decades ago. 'A Christmas Carol' A production that goes back nearly two decades before the debut of "Spamalot" is the Great Lakes Theater's original stage adaptation of the Charles Dickens perennial Christmas classic, "A Christmas Carol." Not too surprisingly, without any major updates or touch-ups, this production also triumphs with freshness and vitality. One reason is the original script by the theater company's then artistic director -- Lorain native and Broadway veteran, the late Gerald Freedman. His adaptation heightens the theatricality of the stage adaptation by framing it as an annual family tradition of re-reading the Dickens novel, where the children's imaginations metamorphosize into live enactments of the tale, with the family and servants doubling as the illustrious characters. The most notable is the stodgy miser who becomes one of Dickens' most iconic characters, the miserly Mr. Ebenezer Scrooge. Portrayed this time by Nick Steen in an undeniably bravura performance, Scrooge endeavors through the trilogy of ghostly encounters of Christmases past, present and future to find the meaning of kindness and philanthropy. The Great Lakes players rise to the double- and triple-cast occasion with alacrity to spare. Freedman's script at times stalls on heavy narration, but it nevertheless reminds us of the beauteous prose of one of the world's most cherished novelists. Freedman's original direction has ably carried into this latest edition of the annual production (perhaps adapted this year by the Great Lakes Theater's new artistic director Sara Bruner, although not specified in the program notes). Likewise, the astounding Broadway-caliber sets by John Ezell and Gene Amerson Friedman seem like new, with nary a piece of masking tape in sight. So, by all means, join the fictitious "Cleaveland Family" onstage as they reencounter a magical and mythical nocturnal Yuletide dream. Contact Howard Gollop at howieeg@gmail.com.