The Book That Goes Like This: “The Spamalot Diaries” Takes Fans Behind the Curtain of the Broadway Hit

Monty Python's Eric Idle takes 'Spamalot' fans behind-the-scenes with excerpts from his personal diary and emails during the production's rehearsal process

Want to know how Eric Idle brought Monty Python and the Holy Grail to Broadway?

The Spamalot Diaries, a compilation of former Monty Python member and comedian Idle's diaries and email exchanges while he worked on and produced the Tony Award-winning musical Spamalot, has arrived. The new book tells the full story of how Idle, 81, and Mike Nichols brought the legendary British comedy troupe's iconic 1975 movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail to the stage in N.Y.C., from the production's first table read in April 2004 until the 59th Tony Awards on June 5, 2005, where Spamalot won in three categories, including best musical.

The original Broadway production starred Tim Curry in its lead role as King Arthur of Britain. Sara Ramirez, Hank Azaria, Michael McGrath, David Hyde Pierce, Christopher Sieber, Seve Rosen and Christian Borle also starred; the musical later received a 2023 revival on Broadway. 

Here are the biggest revelations from The Spamalot Diaries.

Eric Idle Praised His Working Relationship and Friendship with Spamalot Director Mike Nichols

The Spamalot Diaries is dedicated to the late Mike Nichols, who directed the original Broadway production. Nichols was a renowned film and theater director, as well as a comedian in his own right, also known for directing movies like Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, The Graduate and The Birdcage.

Idle effusively praises his friend of 15 years' work ethic, dedication to the production and enthusiasm for the material throughoutThe Spamalot Diaries. Nichols was the first person who came to mind for the production and while the pair naturally disagreed a number of times while producing the musical, the author "deliberately left these moments in because they show that it is possible to disagree with someone and still continue happily working together."

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Related: John Cleese Says His Remark That He 'Loathed and Despised' Monty Python Costar Eric Idle 'Was a Joke'

Idle additionally jokes in his introduction that his diary "lays the blame for success squarely on" Nichols, as well as producer Bill Haber, choreographer Casey Nicholaw and John Du Prez, who cowrote the show's music.

"It was the best working relationship I have ever experienced as a writer," he added of working with Nichols.

Eric Idle Reunited with Surviving Monty Python Members at Spamalot's 2005 Broadway Premiere for the First Time Since 1998

Spamalot proved something of a solo effort for Idle, who had not worked with the other Pythons since the group disbanded following their 1983 movie Monty Python's The Meaning of Life. (Graham Chapman, one of the group's co-founders who portrayed King Arthur in their Holy Grail film, died in 1989 at 48.)

While Idle remained the lone Python to adapt Holy Grail for the stage, John Cleese visited the production in October 2004 to record voiceover as the voice of God, who appears once in the musical.

Related: John Cleese Says His Remark That He 'Loathed and Despised' Monty Python Costar Eric Idle 'Was a Joke'

Idle emailed the other Pythons at least once during the pre-production and rehearsal process to suggest they "drop by" a rehearsal and spend time with the production. However, he wrote in December 2004 that he did not believe the rest of the group's presence would have helped the show, since the other Pythons "have done everything they needed to do to make it work, including stay out of the way."

The surviving Pythons did ultimately reunite on March 17, 2005, when the show premiered on Broadway. On that date, the group took their first photo together since 1998; Idle wrote that being together with his former collaborators felt "strangely familiar" and that taking the stage with them following the performance proved "a historic moment."

Eric Idle Worried How His Work on Spamalot Affected His Relationship with Wife Tania Kosevich and Daughter Lily

Idle did worry that his near-constant work on the production through 2004 and 2005 may negatively affect his relationship with his wife Tania and their daughter Lily, who was a young teen when the production was in the works.

He remained in New York to work on the show's second act rather than travel with his family to Chicago for Thanksgiving in 2004; his daughter was the first audience member to receive the Holy Grail during the show's December 2004 world premiere in Chicago.

10 days before Spamalot opened on Broadway in 2005, Idle wrote that Lily had been hospitalized following a mental health emergency. Though Idle wrote that his daughter felt better within days, he initially reacted in his diary by wondering if he were to blame for his daughter's poor health.  "I, of course, feel responsible. I have been absent these many months, fathering a musical. What a terrible price to pay for success," he wrote at one point.

The Spamalot Diaries is available now, wherever books are sold.

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