2008 Woodie Awards
'Tis But a Flesh Wound
Monty Python's "Spamalot" a lot of Spam?
By Greg Smith
10/1/07 - Lifestyle
The Monty Python dynasty began as a humble television show late at night on the BBC before I was born. Monty Python's Flying Circus was a sketch comedy show akin to SNL and Mad TV, only funny.
The group's first successful film, Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1969), is a large part of this Tony Award winning musical. It follows the same basic plotline as the movie, albeit rather roughly. A few songs from the movies have made a return including, "Knights of the Round Table," "Brave Sir Robin," and "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life."
Tim Curry, David Hyde Pierce, Hank Azaria (Moe from the Simpsons,) and the rest of the original Broadway cast are not to be seen in the Off-Broadway productions, like the one at Buell Theatre in Denver, but the current case will suffice. The voice of God, pre-recorded by John Cleese, is all that survived from the original Broadway production. Christopher Sutton (Prince Herbert,) is exactly like the "distressed Prince" from the movie and does an amazing job being a little girly man. Esther Stilwell (The Lady of the Lake,) has an incredible voice that nearly made me cry during "Find Your Grail," a soulful, gospel-style song that features her and a backup chorus telling King Arthur and his Court how to find the Grail.
Other characters however, such as the as the castle guards that take part in the infamous "Swallow vs Coconut" scene did not do such an amazing job. Everyone who has ever seen the movie remembers this part! "Where'd you get the coconuts?" "Coconuts are tropical, this is a temperate zone." And, "It could be carried by an African Swallow!" "Well yeah an African Swallow may be, but not a European Swallow, that's my point." This undying exchange between two castle guards and King Arthur is pulled straight from the movie, and the actors in the musical ruined it! Guard one's voice wasn't even very Cockney! (Cockney is very heavy English accent.) It's like he wasn't even trying. Even the taunting French guard began to sound more like James Brown than an angry Frenchman during his insults that were funny in the film. When they take dialogue from a movie that presumably 90% of the audience has seen, you think that they would try to match it exactly or make it better!
The group's first successful film, Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1969), is a large part of this Tony Award winning musical. It follows the same basic plotline as the movie, albeit rather roughly. A few songs from the movies have made a return including, "Knights of the Round Table," "Brave Sir Robin," and "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life."
Tim Curry, David Hyde Pierce, Hank Azaria (Moe from the Simpsons,) and the rest of the original Broadway cast are not to be seen in the Off-Broadway productions, like the one at Buell Theatre in Denver, but the current case will suffice. The voice of God, pre-recorded by John Cleese, is all that survived from the original Broadway production. Christopher Sutton (Prince Herbert,) is exactly like the "distressed Prince" from the movie and does an amazing job being a little girly man. Esther Stilwell (The Lady of the Lake,) has an incredible voice that nearly made me cry during "Find Your Grail," a soulful, gospel-style song that features her and a backup chorus telling King Arthur and his Court how to find the Grail.
Other characters however, such as the as the castle guards that take part in the infamous "Swallow vs Coconut" scene did not do such an amazing job. Everyone who has ever seen the movie remembers this part! "Where'd you get the coconuts?" "Coconuts are tropical, this is a temperate zone." And, "It could be carried by an African Swallow!" "Well yeah an African Swallow may be, but not a European Swallow, that's my point." This undying exchange between two castle guards and King Arthur is pulled straight from the movie, and the actors in the musical ruined it! Guard one's voice wasn't even very Cockney! (Cockney is very heavy English accent.) It's like he wasn't even trying. Even the taunting French guard began to sound more like James Brown than an angry Frenchman during his insults that were funny in the film. When they take dialogue from a movie that presumably 90% of the audience has seen, you think that they would try to match it exactly or make it better!
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