LONDON lad Joe Pasquale is going all posh in York for a second time on his return to the Grand Opera House.

In October 2013 he played suave super-sleuth Sherlock Holmes in the spoof Ha Ha Holmes! And The Hound Of The Baskervilles.

From Monday he will be in regal mode as King Arthur in the nationwide tour of Monty Python’s Spamalot.

“l found playing Holmes very similar to playing King Arthur, as I’m not Sherlock and I’m definitely not a king,” says the 53-year-old Grays comedian, actor and television presenter, who took on the role of King Arthur in the West End last summer.

“Coming from a comprehensive school background, I have to posh up for these roles, not being like Benedict Cumb...what’s his name?!” Er, batch, Joe. Cumberbatch. “Yes, that’s him.”

He is delighted to be donning the crown once more. “‘I loved my time as King Arthur in the West End production,” says Joe. “I’m very excited to have been asked to return for the new UK tour. I’m joining a fantastic Spamalot cast and can’t wait to get back on my invisible horse as we search the land for The Holy Grail.”

Joe is joined on the road by company regular Todd Carty, the former Grange Hill and EastEnders star.

 

York Press:

He is in the doomsday dogsbody role of Patsy in Eric Idle and John Du Prez’s musical, “lovingly ripped off” from the 1975 film Monty Python And The Holy Grail. Spamalot tells the legendary tale of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, who will encounter a bevy of beautiful show girls, cancelled witch burnings, cows, killer rabbits and French people in their quest to locate the Holy Grail.

Idle has written the musical’s book and created an entirely new score (well, almost) with Du Prez, featuring the likes of He Is Not Dead Yet, Knights Of The Round Table and Find Your Grail.

The “well, almost” caveat is a reference to the show’s one extant number, Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life, first sung by Idle in Monty Python’s Life Of Brian in 1979.

As with last year’s West End run, Joe is being directed by Christopher Luscombe, whose gift for comedy has so impressed Idle.

“The new production is funnier. It’s more like a Python show,” says the Python stalwart. “There are new costumes and new sets and a new director, so it’s just got a whole different spirit to it.”

Joe has appeared in such productions as the UK tour of Mel Brooks’s The Producers, The Wizard Of Oz (playing the Scarecrow) and Tom Stoppard’s play Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead, and he has been thrilled to add Spamalot to that list after landing the role of King Arthur via an unconventional casting route.

Bonnie Langford and Joe had appeared together in pantomime, ITV1’s Dancing On Ice and The Pirates Of Penzance, so she contacted him on Twitter when she was playing The Lady of The Lake in Spamalot, inviting him to see her in the show.

“She introduced me to Christopher and said I’d make a good King Arthur, and he asked me: ‘What are you doing in two weeks’ time?” recalls Joe. “He gave me the role with no auditions, which is the first time that’s happened for me. So he took Bonnie at her word.”

Joe has brought a lovable quality and ad-libs to Arthur since being thrown at the deep end after only a fortnight’s rehearsals.

“I love being the central character. He’s the glue in the show that holds it together, though he’s not the central comedy role. He’s the straight guy but a bit of a fool too, so there are certain places where Christopher has let me have my head with ad-libs,” he says.

“I subtly change the king on a nightly basis depending on what mood he’s in and how he might be feeling, so Christopher always lets me bring my strengths as a performer to it. A lot of kings tend to be stand-offish, but I bring warmth to Arthur, which Todd [Carty] says adds something different to the show.

“Normally you have a cold king and a sympathetic Patsy, but with us as the partnership, we’re both sympathetic characters. You can only bring yourself to it, as I’m not a straight actor, so it’s something different for me to do.”

Joe describes himself as a “huge fan” of Spamalot and Monty Python’s anarchic work in general.

“Monty Python were the first people to bring alternative comedy to this country 40 years ago and we must all stand on their shoulders,” he says.

“We’re all nostalgic about our childhoods and I remember watching Monty Python and crying with laughter all the way through Monty Python And The Holy Grail.

“And now, especially in this day and age, comedy is vital as we’re in such a distraught age, compared to the Sixties when I was growing up. Because of the technology around us now, everyone is under pressure – and comedy always does well in bad times.”

Joe is contracted to the Spamalot tour until mid-March but he may take up Arthur’s sword once more.

“I’ll always come back to this part as I feel it’s a role that could have been written for me,” he says.

• Monty Python’s Spamalot, Grand Opera House, York, Monday to Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm, Thursday and Saturday. Box office: 0844 871 3024 or at atgtickets.com/york