I was truly honoured
when, hardly daring to believe my luck,
our founder and chief the great and
good Dr. Len Mullenger entrusted me
with the job of reviewing this gravestone,
sorry, milestone of a disc.
Spamalot is
very much Broadway Musical, and very
loosely based on ‘Monty Python and the
Holy Grail.’ ‘Loosely based’ when applied
to bowel movements can of course be
a Very Good Thing, but when British
Humour is transported across the Atlantic
Ocean caution is very much advised.
Being vegetarian (lapsed) I have no
beef with Broadway Musical as such,
but my concern is for that vulnerable
crowd of pale, undernourished-looking
Monty Python fans huddled shivering
underneath Eros in Piccadilly Square,
London, England. They will see this
disc, graced as it is with Terry Gilliam-a-like
illustrations, and might easily be fooled
into thinking that this is in some way
has any resemblance to original genuine
Chesham-hallmarked real Monty Python.
This is not the case.
There are of course
some remnants of the original film,
songs like ‘Knights of the Round Table’
and ‘Always Look on the Bright Side
of Life’ (oops, wrong film) which wave
somewhat pathetically over a raging
battlefield of Broadwayiana like white
flags riddled with musket shot. We are
also told that Eric Idle has written
a number of new songs for this production,
but as the track listings are uncredited
it is a guessing game as to which these
might be. The orchestrations are percussion-heavy
and all Broadway – shiny, brash and
clean as a new horn.
To quote Greg Proops,
‘so, we’re American – where’s the problem?!’
Monty Python’s Spamalot won three
Tony Awards in the categories of Best
Musical, Best Performance by a Featured
Actress in a Musical (Sara Ramirez)
and Best Direction of a Musical (Mike
Nichols). It features a cracking cast,
including at least three stars which
many will recognise: David Hyde Pierce
(Frasier) as Sir Robin, Tim Curry (The
Rocky Horror Picture Show) who is excellent
as King Arthur, convincingly sounding
like Graham Chapman at times, and Hank
Azaria (The Simpsons) as Sir Lancelot.
Sara Ramirez also deserves a big mention
for carrying the typically Monty Python
female minority role with smoky romantic
schmooze and some amazing parodies and
jazz scat singing. True, we miss all
of the reportedly ‘hilarious, highly
choreographed production numbers’, but
if you can get past the ‘in your face’
and manic up-beatness of the whole thing
then even I have to admit that there
is a great deal of fun to be had here.
The whole point is being able to take
it at ‘in your face’ value. This kind
of issue has most value as a souvenir
for those who have seen the show, but
as a true studio recording some effort
has been taken in making sure that the
audio-only version stands alone, with
a wealth of sound effects, extra comic
commentary and a few admittedly rather
lame comedy links. The creators of this
production know exactly what will succeed
and make a great night out on Broadway,
and the audiences apparently loved every
minute of it. Composer John Du Prez
also has an excellent Python pedigree,
having already worked on ‘A Fish Called
Wanda’ and ‘Monty Python and the Meaning
of Life.’
The dilemma here is
a purely British one. Monty Python used
to have great fun taking the mickey
out of this very kind of production,
and so in a strange way seems to have
come full circle. Spamalot is
a parody of a parody of a parody (possibly
unwitting): a hall of wobbly mirrors
which takes things like the original
disco and show parodies, brings them
up to date and places them in a context
where they could easily be taken to
be intended as deadly serious ‘funny’
entertainment. There are one or two
amusing lines here and there, but also
a great deal of padding like the Song
that Goes Like This and Diva’s
Lament (Whatever Happened to my Part?)
ideas. Even listening very hard
indeed, I found it hard to discern any
kind of plot – not that that was the
original film’s strongest point, but
we all like a good tale. Aside from
some Knights here and there and one
or two vague references to The Grail,
the true story ultimately revolves around
the musical itself, and a seemingly
unconsummated, or even unexpected relationship
between King Arthur and the Lady of
the Lake.
If you love high-kicking
up-beat Broadway Musical with added
humour and some eminently singable tunes
then this could be your disc of the
year, but I look forward more to a completely
new all-British Pythonesque comedy production
based on the life of Oscar Wilde: De
ProFindus, the Ballad of Ready Meal.
If you are a true, pale, under-nourished
Monty Python fan huddling under Eros
in Piccadilly Circus, then I advise
you try before you buy.
Dominy Clements
Orchestra conducted by TODD ELLISON 
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