Spamalot
So, what do DAME EDNA, BACH AT LEIPIIZ and SPAMALOT have in common? Well, aside from the fact that the first and last were at the Los Angeles Music Center/Ahmanson Theatre, all three were farces: extraordinary laugh-producers who took reality and extended it gamely, producing an intelligent form of entertainment rarely seen performed so well.
SPAMALOT is a superbly-goofy 2005 musical take on the extraordinarily-goofy 1975 film, MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL. (which subtitled itself: “Makes BEN HUR look like an Epic.”) As such, this inaccurate tale of King Arthur of the Round Table traveling all over Britain to find knights for his clan has been blown up into an over-the-top Broadway extravaganza that provokes guffaw-and-laughter-inducing hilarity.
What the anarchistic artists have presented us with is inspired lunacy and dazzling imagery. Erik Idle’s book and lyrics, the music by Idle and John Du Prez, combined with a supremely silly set-and-costume design (by Tim Hatley), and knowing musical direction (by Ben Whiteley), alongside all the other professional contributions were all sewn-together by the splendid direction of comedic veteran, Mike Nichols.
While this cast is not the Star Power that fueled the original, it’s still spot-on-perfect, down to the Vegas Rhine Ladies and the “outrageous” (their word, not mine) French accent for the Castle storming scene, wherein a cow is thrown onto our heroes. And, before now, who knew that Sir Lancelot was gay? Not I.
Thus, lovers of the film will not only cheer (as they did!) the remembered bits of lunacy (“The Black Knight,” who doesn’t know when he’s defeated; “Bring Out Your Dead,” which turns into a rousing number; “The Knights Who Say Nit!”; “Who Voted You King?,” the Monks who Hit Themselves on the Head with Bibles; and the incorporation of the final blasphemous and whistleable anthem to Life Just Before Death (shamelessly stolen from MONTY PYTHON’S LIFE OF BRIAN), “Always Look on the Bri-ght Side of Li-fe.” Much of the opening night audience sang or recited right alongside the actors – truly interactive theatre.
One is not sure what to make of the fake-opening of Finnish dancers and singers doing their bit to present their home country in a good light – where is BORAT when you need him? The program even has fake biographies of those involved in the Finnish beginning of Act I. Such is the insanity of the evening.
While the entire cast was on-target, the main folk stood out by truly understanding the style of comedy they’d been asked to perform. Specifically, the way in which John O’Hurley underplays the role of Arthur and how the gorgeous and sexy Merle Dandridge does her best to out-diva any of the other 400 divas that have come before her, on stage and on screen. Also, James Beaman, as a vertically-challenged Sir Robin, stood tall when dancing and re-acting, and Christopher Sutton is a Big Nance as Lancelot’s beloved, Prince Herbert.
The theatrical knowing of varied styles and the historical re-imagining was all-convulsive. And to wrap up my original thought (go back to paragraph one), to entertain is a gift unto itself. The gift that keeps on giving by taking away the pressures of the real world, allowing one to blow off steam in guffaws and knee-slapping.
“Monty Python’s SPAMALOT‘ plays at the Ahmanson Theatre @ the Music Center, downtown Los Angeles, until September 6th. The prices range from $33 for the balcony to a top of $99 for the orchestra. However, there are limited HotTix seats for $20, all performances, if not sold out.