There's a very good reason Monty Python's Spamalot is the hottest ticket on Broadway and that it won several Tony Awards, including Best Musical. OK, so Eric Idle, one of the original magnificent seven Monty Python comic actors, wrote the book and lyrics. And John Cleese, my favorite Python, even lent the show his voice as the voice of God (a recording, I'm sure, but it felt like he was giving the show his blessing - apropos, since he was God, after all). And the cast includes David Hyde Pierce ("Frasier") and Tim Curry ("Rocky Horror") and a lot of other funny and talented actors, singers and dancers. And the sets and effects were 100% pure Python - including the cartoon hands and feet and clouds.
But that's not why the show is a hit. The show won all those Tonys because you quite literally can laugh your ass off while watching it (I'm quite sure I left part of mine in the theatre), and who wouldn't love a show where you can lose part of your ass? Seriously, folks, it is just so freakin' funny. I hear it is now impossible to get tickets until some time into 2006 (even the crappy seats are probably sold out). I only managed to get tickets because I bought them about a week before the Tony Awards aired. We had front row mezzanine seats which were pretty good, considering how late I ordered them, but they were at the far end of the row so we had a partially obstructed view. But we didn't care... we were THERE, and that's all that mattered.
As I mentioned the other day, I decided to get tickets to the show as an extra special gift for my nephew, Steve, because he just turned 18 and is heading off into the starring role as "College Student" in the hit show of his own life. Steve and I have a very close relationship - he's the son I will never have, for one thing - and we share a freakish sense of humor; he gets that from his dad, Brian, who is my brother-in-law. My sister says Brian and I have the same sense of humor because there was something in the water during the spring of 1961 when we were both born.
So we got to the city, had a nice dinner, and then trotted off eagerly to the Shubert Theatre, which has been there on 44th Street since 1913 when they mounted a performance of Hamlet (by another amazing Brit, Will Shakespeare). The theatre is one of those beautiful, old, restored spaces, with gilt-edged frescoes on the ceilings... and tiny seats with no leg room (much as we find on the airlines in coach class).
True to Pythonesque form, the show was a non-stop rollercoaster ride where you would wet yourself from laughing if you hadn't already stood in line for 20 minutes waiting to get into the ladies' room. Based on the original Monty Python and The Holy Grail movie, we followed King Arthur (brilliantly played by Tim Curry of Rocky Horror fame - this time, he wore tights but no bustier or red lipstick) and his Knights (including David Hyde Pierce as Sir Robin - hysterical!) on their quest to find The Grail.
Along the way, the updated plot includes modern dance numbers (including a reference to the Las Vegas Excalibur Casino, complete with Vegas showgirls, a craps table and dice: "What happens in Camelot, STAYS in Camelot!") and some twists in the plot - such as the Knights deciding to look for a mythical place called "Broadway" where they have to find some Jews in order to have a successful hit show. (No, I'm not kidding.) Lancelot turns out to be flaming gay and marries Prince Herbert ("Just think, 1,000 years from now, this will STILL be controversial!"), and Arthur gets married to the Lady of the Lake (Tony award-winner Sarah Crowley, who was perfect in the role).
And they DO find the Grail... under seat B101, where the unsuspecting occupant of that seat was brought up on stage (he must have been having an out of body experience - I sure would have been!) to shake hands with the stars and have a Polaroid taken of him standing with the entire cast.
There were explosions, confetti shot into the audience during the curtain calls, and a wedding bouquet tossed into the audience during the wedding scene. Nothing like a little audience participation to bring down the house.
For Python fans, all the familiar classic bits were there... the killer rabbit (what a ham HE was), the French taunter who will fart in your general direction, the Knights who Say "Ni" and the Knight who fights with no arms or legs, "Bring out your dead" (with a singing and dancing cast of corpses), fruity Prince Herbert, and Tim the Enchanter... not to mention flying cows ("Fetchez la vache!", "Run away!"), coconut shells and swallows (of the European variety), and trojan rabbits. It was all there, and it was perfect.
And perhaps, as the final perfect touch, the official playbill contains an "extra" playbill... for "Dik Od Triaanenen Fol" (Finns Aint' What they used to be) - a story, of music and song, of Finland's transformation... well, you'll have to see the play or watch the movie to understand what Finland has to do with the comic tale of King Arthur and his quest. The mooses among you get the joke.
My nephew hugged me when we got home and said it was the best birthday present he'd ever gotten. For me, although the show was amazing and well worth the price of admission, dinner, parking and tolls, the best part was getting some one-on-one time with my favorite (OK, my ONLY) nephew.
Photos, except for the Playbill photo which I shot with my new D70, courtesy of the Tony Awards web site. I absolutely did NOT attempt to sneak my camera into the theatre... but I did think about doing it.
To get the coveted tickets to Spamalot (probably for 2006), try Telecharge.com - or good luck bidding for some on eBay if anyone's scalping them there.