Monty Python’s SpamALot

Posted on July 23, 2007 in Events by DM

spam a lot graphic The problem with going to the Civic Center these days is that everything is going to pale in comparison to The Lion King, which we saw last year. Once a show overtakes the boundaries of the stage and expands into the audience, any other show that does happen to be stage-bound is going to feel - well, small. So, inasmuch as “Monty Python’s SpamALot” was mostly confined to the stage, which was bound to make it seem more conventional, it was indeed a vey unconventional show.

As a lifelong Monty Python fan, I was thrilled to be able to go and see this show on Sunday night. Expecting a high degree of irreverence and silliness, I was not disappointed by this musical version of “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” - one of my all-time favorite movies.

The show overall was a blend of the film (covering King Arthur’s quest to find the Holy Grail and assemble his Knights of the Round Table at Camelot), Vegas-style song-and-dance, and the “new” Broadway experience. It also pulled in a couple songs, namely “Finland” and “Always Look On the Bright Side of Life,” from Python albums and other films, as well as bits from some of the better-known TV show skits. I thoroughly enjoyed how all this familiar material came together with some new songs, which were largely designed to poke fun at the Andrew Lloyd Webber-style of Broadway show - “Find Your Grail” being the “inspiration” song and “The Song That Goes Like This” being the key-changing (and seemingly ever-lasting) love ballad.

Some of the stuff translated well onto the live stage - the song and dance surrounding Not Dead Fred was delightful, and the Fisch Schlapping Dance was much better as a brightly-costumed Finnish folk dance than it was on the small screen. But some of it didn’t: The Frenchman taunting Arthur, and Arthur approaching Dennis and the ensuing argument about forms of government seemed flat compared to the movie.

But it was all worthwhile in the name of silliness, the highlights of which were Arthur singing “Bright Side” in the forest as he tries to find a shrubbery to placate the Knights Who Say Ni, and the Copa Cabana-style “His Name is Lancelot” in which one of Arthur’s Knights discovers a bit of self-truth.

The “Bright side” sing-along at the end was a hoot of an epilogue. Only better way to end would have been to have the giant foot come down on the cast taking their final bows.

Anyone else see the show? What did you think?

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