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gretriever
Hipster Doofus
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Joined: 16 Jul 2003
Posts: 19385
Location: A moving target in a firing range.
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 Posted: 05/21/06 - 20:21 Post subject: Musical Theatre Review - Monty Python's Spamalot
A joint review with Library Chick.
A musical by Eric Idle and John Du Prez.
Even if you know the lines from Monthy Python and the Holy Grail - and anyone who attended college from the mid-seventies through the eighties should - MPFC's Eric Idle's theatrical send-up will pleasantly surprise you. While it starts, and stays, fairly true to the movie plot, Spamalot throws in a love story, satire on contemporary things and musical theater, special effects, and audience participation.
King Arthur (Michael Siberry) rounds up his knights of the Round Table before getting a message from God (the voice of John Cleese) to find the Holy Grail. It takes a twist in that King Arthur develops a romantic interest with the Lady of the Lake (Pia Glenn) which runs through much of the second act. In the end, she reveals that she is Arthur's Grail. If there is a moral to the musical, it comes at the end, when everyone is encouraged to find their own Grail. In its own Monty Python way, it is very charming and touching.
All the MP & HG stories are there - the wooden rabbit, the knights who only say "Ni!", the killer rabbit, the Black Knight. Some of the movie's scenes are filled out into funny numbers, such as the "Bring out yer dead!" turning into "I'm Not Dead Yet." Many of the songs written for the show are over-the-top spoofs of Broadway musicals from the past several decades, especially "You Won't Succeed On Broadway" and "The Diva's Lament." And lest the Python afficiandos wonder, a couple of bits from their other works are brought in - the opening number "The Fisch Schlapping Song", and opening the second act, "Always Look On The Bright Side of Life" (which is brought back at then end as the audience joins the cast in a sing-along).
We were mildly disappointed they did not have opening show "Dik Od Triaanenen Fol (Finns Ain't What They Used To Be)" available, even though it was in the program.  And even though we missed seeing the original cast - this production of Spamalot was totally worth it - it was a wonderful way to spend the afternoon. If you are a Monty Python fan (or of any of its offshoots), we thoroughly recommend it should it come to your area.
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