bjarvis: (Opinionated Furry Bitch)
bjarvis ([personal profile] bjarvis) wrote2006-07-10 08:42 am

Review: Spamalot

My employer has a recreation club of sorts which three months ago offered discounted tickets to see the road show of "Spamalot". Since friends had highly recommended the Broadway production, I'm a big Monty Python fan and the tickets were (slightly) cheaper than at the regular box office, I grabbed two for last night's show.

I had no idea last night's performance at the National Theater was the closing night in that venue, the end of a month-long run. I believe the house was full --I couldn't see any empty seats, although our tickets were in the balcony so we limited viewing of the mezzanine and orchestra levels.

In all, it was a fun evening and well worth the effort to attend. Hey, it's Monty Python... how can you go wrong? Wit, silliness and an irreverent rip on the ridiculously improbable tale of King Arthur and the knights of the round table, with just enough inside jokes for regular theater queens to have a laugh and a some minor borrowings from other Monty Python productions. All it needed was a sideways reference to a Norwegian blue parrot pining for the fjords and all would have been complete.

It struck me on the way out that many --maybe a third-- of the audience weren't born yet when the movie was released years ago; I have no idea how familiar the younger generation is with the movie these days. I may go looking for a DVD set of the TV shows & movies for a weekend of viewing and nostalgia.

[identity profile] bjarvis.livejournal.com 2006-07-10 02:54 pm (UTC)(link)
I discovered them when the CBC used to show Monty Python late on Friday nights (11 PM onwards or so). I'm still amazed that even the German language episodes are still incredibly funny even though my German has long since been forgotten.

[identity profile] annoyinghandle.livejournal.com 2006-07-10 11:57 pm (UTC)(link)
There's a German-language version?! Must Google. Download illegally obtain through proper channels.

I saw them first on WTTW (Chicago PBS) while in college. Love at first sight. The Grail DVD is chock full of extras -- have fun exploring them all!

[identity profile] bjarvis.livejournal.com 2006-07-11 12:07 am (UTC)(link)
Yeah, they did several episodes of the tv show entirely in German for Deutsche Telekom. It wasn't dubbed into German: they did their own lines purely in German. I love educated comedians... it's little things like commentary on philosophers scattered here & there, and a Roman centurian acting as a Latin instructor in "Life of Brian" that kept me coming back.