"Ugly Betty" Star Dale is New King Arthur in London Spamalot
By John Nathan
25 Jan 2008
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Alan Dale
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| photo by ABC/Andrew Eccles | The London production of Monty Python's Spamalot will have a new King Arthur. Beginning March 3 Alan Dale, who is best known as the publishing mogul Bradford Meade in the hit TV show "Ugly Betty," will succeed Peter Davison.
The hit musical, which transferred to the West End's Palace Theatre in October 2006, opened with Tim Curry, who created the role of King Arthur in the original Broadway production.
As with the New York version, Curry handed the role over to Simon Russell Beale. Dale's big and small screen credits include "The West Wing," "The X-Files" and "ER." Later this year he will be seen in Spielberg's newest Indiana Jones movie "The Kingdom of the Skull."
When Dale begins his run, he will be joining the winner of Swedish reality TV show "West End Star," who on Feb. 9 takes over from Marin Mazzie as The Lady of the Lake. The TV show's finale will be broadcast in February.
Directed by Mike Nichols (Tony-winning productions of Barefoot in the Park, Luv, The Odd Couple, Plaza Suite, The Prisoner of Second Avenue and The Real Thing), Spamalot won the Tony Award for Best Musical of 2005 plus the Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle awards in the same category.
Eric Idle based the musical's book on the 1975 film "Monty Python and the Holy Grail," the screenplay for which Idle wrote with fellow Pythons Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones and Michael Palin.
The show continues to play the Shubert Theatre, where it opened on March 17, 2005. There is also a production at the Las Vegas Wynn, and an Australian version opened last November in Meblourne.
The London production is booking until Sept. 27, 2008. For more information, call (0)870 890 0142.
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