The Ogunquit Playhouse debuts its new open-air Leary Pavilion with a slimmed-down but faithful-to-Broadway version of Monty Python’s “Spamalot.” The musical comedy opens for previews on Wednesday and will run through July 10 on a massive stage in a new covered outdoor pavilion.

Charles Shaughnessy stars as King Arthur, reprising a role he played at Ogunquit in 2010. The stage show is based on the 1975 movie “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” and ran on Broadway from 2005 to 2009, telling a skewed version of King Arthur’s quest for the grail. This version highlights the vagabond storytellers who arrive with their wagon full of tricks and set up stage in the center of a Tudor village during the midst of the plague.

Monty Python’s Eric Idle was involved in crafting the new version, Shaughnessy said. BT MacNicholl, who is directing the Ogunquit production and also directed the first national tour, counts Idle among his friends. “He knows him well, and they came up with this version together,” Shaughnessy said.

“For all intents and purpose, it’s a slimmed-down version of the Broadway show. It doesn’t lose a beat,” said Shaughnessy, who arrived in Ogunquit with the rest of the cast in early June to begin rehearsals. “It’s a fast, furious romp through the Middle Ages, and performed in this huge pavilion tent with a spectacular set that will be just amazing. People are going to have a blast. It’s so funny, the music is fantastic and the big numbers are dazzling.”

As part of its pandemic strategy, the playhouse erected a 25,000-square-foot outdoor pavilion for this season. When Shaughnessy saw the tent after arriving on campus last week, his reaction was, “Wow! It’s huge.” At first, the playhouse planned to present “Spamalot” in a single act, without intermission. Shaughnessy said “Spamalot” will now roll out as a two-act musical, with each act clocking in at about 50 minutes.

“Spamalot” is Shaughnessy’s first show back since the pandemic shutdown. A Los Angeles resident who was born in London, he’s made most his career on TV, as Maxwell Sheffield in the sitcom “The Nanny,” and as Shane Donovan in the soap opera “Days of Our Lives” for nearly a decade. He also won a daytime Emmy for his work voicing Dennis the Goldfish in the Disney cartoon “Stanley.”

He sees common ground between King Arthur and Max Sheffield, a family patriarch and somewhat successful Broadway producer. “I think both are trying to do their best in the face of a world that simply doesn’t want to behave in the way they think it should,” he said. “Their worlds are just slightly out of control.”

Shaughnessy spent the pandemic at home in Los Angeles. He hiked in the Santa Monica mountains, read a few books – he recommends the sci-fi novel “The Three-Body Problem” by Liu Cixin – and watched a lot Netflix and Turner Classic Movies.

He’s ready to get back to work. All the actors are vaccinated, they get tested for COVID-19 three times a week and follow other safety precautions, he said.

“I am recharged and ready to go. Being away for so long makes you appreciate why you want to get back to this, which is making people laugh and having this big communal experience. That is exactly what live theater is, and we are coming at it with renewed energy and renewed passion.”

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