Sanjeev Bhaskar, star of television comedies including The Kumars At No. 42 and Goodness Gracious Me, is the fifth performer to be crowned King Arthur in the London production of Monty Python’s Spamalot.
Bhaskar follows former mythical monarchs Tim Curry, Simon Russell Beale, Peter Davison and Alan Dale on 23 June.
Monty Python’s Spamalot has also announced that it will close its run at the Palace on 3 January 2009 after more than two years of “coconut smashing, fish schlepping and grail searching”. The production will embark on a UK tour in April 2009.
Bhaskar’s previous West End credits include Yasmina Reza’s hit comedy Art, while on film he has been seen in Scoop, Anita And Me, The Guru and Notting Hill. He joins a cast that includes Nina Söderquist, who won the role of The Lady Of The Lake through a Swedish reality television contest, Gerard Carey, Ross Dawes, Jake Nightingale, Andrew Spillett, Adam Stafford and Michael Xavier.
Monty Python’s Spamalot is “lovingly ripped-off” from the hit film Monty Python And The Holy Grail and boasts book and lyrics by original Python Eric Idle, who also collaborated with John Du Prez to compose the Grammy Award-winning score. The stage show features all of the popular film’s highlights – flatulent Frenchmen, vicious rabbits, knights who say “ni” – alongside new material, and tells of legendary British leader King Arthur and his team of hapless knights as they embark on a mission from God.
MA