I'm so glad I went to see Spamalot!

Back from the matinee from yesterday. This was my first and only show. I went with Marlyne and it was her second. We came up using Greyhound which drops you off at the Bus Port Authority 3 blocks away. We got on an earlier bus and had plenty of time to walk around and see St. Patrick's Cathedral, Rockefeller Center, GMA studio, NBC, the Empire State Building from a distance, etc.

We had lunch at Sardi's - Junior's was packed. Sardi's was nice and relaxing. Our waitress, a young woman asked if we were going to the theater and we asked how could she tell? She said just a lucky guess. I automatically assumed she was referring to Spamalot, forgetting that Cat on a Hot Tin Roof was performing next door.

Marlyne and I were standing in line to get in to the matinee and behind us were a gentleman and his wife that came from around Allentown PA. His name was George Di Domizio. Both he and his wife were Clay fans. I forget how the subject of Elvis came up unless he brought it up, but he was in the same company as Elvis when he was drafted. He gave Marlyne and I pictures of him and Elvis when Elvis was filming Flaming Star" in 1960. He was a guest of Elvis for 2 weeks on the set and had kept in touch with him over the years. It's a great picture - both of them are so young and handsome. Thank you George and I hope that the two of you had a safe trip back home!

Our seats were fantastic - row L and a perfect shot of Clay when he peeks out of the tower. We were also sitting about 5 rows directly behind Kevin Bacon and Kira. I recognized Kira first when she walked past us down the aisle (but not her name until I saw it in the review thread), but I wasn't too sure until Kevin stood up to let her into her seat. That was pretty cool.

Marlyne said Clay was much more animated than the last time she saw him. That goes right along with what I've read from everyone else that has reported in. I couldn't believe has close he was and I know that I was forcing myself to watch the other actors as well when Clay was on stage with him. I couldn't take my eyes off of him. His expressions were spot on and I was waiting for Clay to lose it during the Knights of Ni. It was like he was biting his finger to keep from laughing. Tom Deckman was bent over laughing so hard.

I must admit that after reading all of the recaps prior to my trip yesterday, I expected to see Clay's Brother Maynard and the drunken guard at different times during the show. I looked at Marlyne at intermission and asked her if they did come up in the second half - I was hoping that I didn't miss anything! LOL!

Clay was WONDERFUL in all of the scenes as everyone described. He does seem like one of the "veterans" of the show now. His expressions were perfect for each segment, his solos weren't long enough, the horse riding was almost erotic , the soling of his pants and squeels when he was frightened were hysterical. He looks like he's been a dancer forever as well. He definately belongs on the stage! He also gave us the two finger salute at the finale.

I'm still in such a fog from the whole experience so the details are kind of running together. Sir Galahad almost seems like he's a non-issue now in the show. From what I gathered from the earlier reviews on Chris Sieber, he seemed more involved. Lancelot, Herbert and Patsy had more going on than he did.

It was great to see pretty much the whole cast on stage with no subs except for Anthony Hold.

Hannah is AMAZING! I knew she had a powerful voice, but I didn't realize how powerful. She's perfect for the part.

I don't know who was the peasant during Saturday's matinee. There was a lot of applause and cheering and I figured it was a Clay fan.

Anyway, we lucked out with the weather which initially was supposed to be rainy. I was hoping our luck would run through to the Stage Door, but it didn't. I don't remember seeing Jerome there at all. I thought it was one of the security people that said that Clay wasn't coming out. We were so far back that we wouldn't have been able to get an autograph anyway, but I would've loved to have seen him come out. That's okay, I saw OUR MAN IN SPAMALOT TODAY!!

EEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!

Thank you Marlyne for a fun trip to see our MAN! :)