Before Spamalot became a hit on Broadway, where it won multiple Tony Awards, the musical began life at Chicago's Schubert Theatre. I happened to be working in Chicago at that time, so I bought a ticket and witnessed the original production. That impressive 2014-15 cast included Tim Curry, David Hyde Pierce, and Hank Azaria.

Two decades later, I returned to the same theatre (since rechristened the CIBC Theatre) to see the current touring company of Spamalot.

The Thursday evening performance was a joy to behold. While the set featured upgraded video screens, the thrust of the play remained the same - a musical adaptation of the classic film, "Monty Python and the Holy Grail," which is an irreverent interpretation of the legend of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table.

The audience - including me - was familiar enough with the "Holy Grail" movie that they began laughing at the start of a scene before the actors revealed their jokes. The recognition of a black knight or knights saying "Ni" or a cart filled with plague victims was enough to inspire chuckles. It did not matter that we had heard the jokes before. We loved them, and we could not wait to hear them again.

Major Attaway was marvelous as King Arthur, and his barely competent knights (Sean Bell, Chris Collins-Pisano, Leo Roberts, and Ellis C. Dawson III) had us all rolling with their antics. Amanda Robles played the Lady of the Lake completely over the top, effectively hamming up her performance in every scene in which she appeared.

While lacking the star power of the original cast, this version of "Spamalot" was hilarious and delightful.