Find Your Grail 'cause We're Not Yet Dead!

It feels good to be doing another proper blog doesn't it? Things are starting to die down now, after the mad rush of March and April - I've even had one show I want to see cancelled due to poor ticket sales earlier in the tour (you'd think more people would want to see Godspell wouldn't you). Having said that, I would rather have that cancelled than what I am about to talk about now. I suppose it's something special for both me and my friend who came with me to see it in Liverpool. As you can see, what I am going to talk about is the current UK Tour, of the Monty Python musical Spamalot, which is "lovingly ripped off" from their 1975 film, Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

When my friend and I were teenagers, we used to be in an orchestra together, and there was an exchange with another youth orchestra in Paderborn, Germany. We had the cast album for this show pretty much on repeat throughout the 16 hour (!) coach ride from Bolton to Paderborn, and the "not dead yet" gag has been a running gag for us ever since.

Created by Eric Idle and John Du Prez, the musical version of this classic film was premiered on Broadway in 2005, and came to the UK shortly afterwards, with tours going up and down the country every so often. It just so happens that my friend and I just couldn't get round to seeing it until now.

You should hopefully know the story: King Arthur travels across the country to gather knights to sit at his round table, then gets a quest from God himself to find the Holy Grail (The all-knowing Father has misplaced a cup?), and of course hilarity ensues.

The script is the real star of the show - though there may be some new bits such as the Lady of the Lake being included and a change of heart (I suppose) for Lancelot - at the heart of it, it's good old Monty Python at it's best, using everything to its advantage to take the complete piss out of the musical genre - just listen to The Song That Goes Like This. Pretty much all the big moments from the original film are in there, from the French taunts and the Swallows and Coconuts debate, to the Black Kinght, Killer Bunny and the Knights Who Say Ni! What else can I say about that?

We had 2 understudies for the show - Matthew Dale was playing Lancelot, while Jamie Tyler (who normally plays Lancelot) was standing in for Joe Pasquale as King Arthur. The rest of the cast included Joe Traciani as Arthur's loyal servant Patsy, and Sarah Earnshaw as the diva Lady of the Lake. Another person I have to mention is Richard Kent. He was playing the Historian, the Minstrel, Prince Herbert and Not Dead Fred (that made my mate chuckle). As you can see, he had a lot of characters to switch from throughout the show, and he did that effortlessly. Each and every performance was just brilliant, especially Herbert. I would pick him as the performance of the show, closely followed by Sarah Earnshaw's Lady of the Lake.
And finally, last but not least, was God Himself. Now, people could vote on who they wanted to play God: from Micheal Ball to Brian May or Hugh Bonneville (who I think would have been hilarious!) - but we instead got Michael Palin and he was really really good!! I suppose it's fitting that God is played by an original Python in this scenario.

The songs from the film (and of course Always Look on the Bright Side of Life, originally from Life of Brian), are all there, but of course there are some newer ones written just for the show. I have already mentioned The Song That Goes Like This, but I also have to mention His Name is Lancelot, Not Dead Yet (and the reprise) and the hilarious Diva's Lament sung by the Lady of the Lake - Sarah Earnshaw's performance in that song was amazing!!

Was it the best show I have seen recently? No, I don't think so. Comparing it to the closest I can, I thought The Producers was a better made show than Spamalot, so if you want something very well made with a full story and lots of character development, then this is not for you; but Spamalot is something different. It's a parody more than anything, and you can't help but laugh all the way through. If you haven't wet yourself in the first 5 minutes, you're funny bone is either very rusty or non-existent. Sometimes you don't want to dive into a deep story. Sometimes you just want something which you know is going to make you happy and laugh like hell; Monty Python is perfect for that - so go and see it. You won't be disappointed.

There was only one thing my friend and I were sad about - they didn't have any t-shirts left in our size.....