We went into Boston on Sunday to see Spamalot, while most of the rest of NE was hunkered down in front of their TVs watching the Patriots.It was great, better than I expected. I sort of expected them to follow exactly along with the movie and just add songs to make it a musical. Instead, while still following the basic plot, they filled in the parts of some characters (mostly the Lady of the Lake) and spent a fair amount of time lampooning Broadway musicals in general.
The actor playing Arthur was especially good. He seemed to be channeling Tim Curry. The French Taunter accent was less spot on, though the gestures they had them making were even better than the movie.
What struck me is how much of the humor in Monty Python requires you to think. Sure, there is plenty of flatulence and visual humor, but bits like The Constitutional Peasant (grubby man and woman berating Arthur about his right to be king - "help, help, I'm being repressed") are filled with esoteric hilarity. Living in an anarchical syndicalist commune is really funny, and apparently funny to enough people to keep it in the musical 30 years later. It gives me some measure of hope, whereas every non-animated comedy on network television makes me weep.
Hail live theater...big and small.
4 comments:
Thank you, friend.
Hail theatre, indeed. I used to not get it. Even as I was acting in plays I just didn't get what live theatre was all about. I do now.
Awesome.
I hope someday to visit NY. I've never been there, and my fear of just being an annoying tourist has kept my motivation low.
Of course I see you went to Boston. Sorry, I assumed you traveled to New York. See, I am a yokel.
New York is GREAT, and nothing remotely to fear. The locals are much MUCH friendlier than rumors indicate (way more friendly than Boston, that is for sure), and there is so much astoundingly cool stuff to see.
Go. Leave right now.
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