Original cast!
*swoon*
Show me a Pagan who doesn't know Monty Python and the Holy Grail by heart; and I'll show you someone who needs an education ;) I'm kidding, of course....kind of.....Monty Python was the first group to ever teach me to laugh at myself, and I did.....and do....often......just ask Frenchie......
Last night Seren and I took our kids to Borders to peruse the book, movies and CD's, we each found our big goals....a DVD for Seren, and this CD for me. I took it home stroking it like some long-lost treasure. If you've read back in my blog you'll have seen my comments about the blurb the cast of Spamalot did during the Tony Awards, and from that moment, I couldn't wait to hear the whole thing.
Now please keep in mind, I'm not a huge Broadway fan. Most Broadway music makes me shudder, some I like but most.....not so much. What I do enjoy, however, is parody. There are shades of many, many Broadway musicals in this, from Pirates of Penzance (He is Not Dead Yet) to of course, Camelot (Come with Me), Smoky Joe's Cafe (Knights of the Round Table) though this version includes the Lady of the Lake and her Laker Girls (Laker Girl Cheer....you guessed it "READY? OK! K-I-N...G-A-R....T-H-U-R, KING ARTHUR! ~Who's the King? YOU ARE!" Tossed in the mixed salad of Broadway Musical are some old favorites (Always Look on the Bright Side of Life), (Knights of the Round Table), (Monk's Chant - complete with bible bonking the noggin effect), or (Run Away) which includes the French Taunts/farts in their general direction done to the tune of "La Marseillais". There's even a nod to the Lumberjack Song in which a military chant and the end of which is the line, "Become a Knight and you'll go far in suspenders and a bra-r"
What I love about this is that it's irreverent, silly, the music itself sounds typcally Broadway but the lyrics are pure Monty Python. (The Song that Goes Like This) is a fantastic example, in which Dennis and the Lady of the Lake battle it out lyrically speaking (while she's trying to make him a man) with lines like: "Dennis: Oh where is the song that goes like this? Where is it? Where? Where? Lady: A sentimental song that casts a magic spell they all will hum along, we'll overact like hell, oh this is the song that goes like this......." later on they're telling each other off ending with, "Both: For this song is far too long, Jesus Christ, GODDAMMIT! Lady: We'll be singing till dawn Dennis: You'll wish that you weren't born. Lady: Let's stop this damn refrain before we go insane" The effect is quite subtle but you catch yourself listening and catching one particularly horrid line or another put to cheery lines: "We do routines and chorus scenes that are too hot for cable" where you may once have thought you could sing along, now you just sing and laugh.
Indeed even the singing methods are hard at play with making fun of vocal stylings. (Find your Grail) is one brilliant example. Not even Liza Minnelli could match the Lady of the Lake's attempts at busting out in immitations of everyone from Aretha Franklin to Christina Aguillera and yet in (Diva's Lament: What Happened to my Part?) she wonders why she's been replaced by Brittney Spears.......
It's hysterical. Once you get past the Broadway music, listen to the words and have a laugh....a long laugh....a long, musical laugh.....don't think, just laugh.
Enjoy that laugh.
Know you can pop this CD on at just about any time you're in need of a laugh. It might never leave my office.
Do I suggest it? Absolutely. But only if you love Monty Python's work. This is pure Eric Idle.