Took one of my dates out last night to see Spamalot (yes, that’s Clay Aiken now appearing in the Broadway version). Fun times were had by all.
I don’t know that I’m crazy about the ways they chose to “reimagine” Monty Python & the Holy Grail for the stage. I was overly worried there at the beginning that they were just going to do a line-by-line retelling of the whole damn movie. In which case, what would be the point?
But they mainly just hit the iconic scenes and add in some silly bits. The interesting choice was to… well, make everything make sense. Everything was connected, there was the silly plot, yes, but this one had a resolution. They find the grail. There’s a wedding. All the iconic scenes are full of knights Arthur brings on board.
What made Holy Grail so wacky was, in fact, the total lack of any real connection or continuity. It just made no bloody sense (they’re taken off in police cars at the end? WTF?).
But there were some good numbers (Lancelot’s being one of the best), and the highlight of the night was standing up with the whole audience at the end of the night and singing “Always look on the bright side of life.” Which, of course, I belted out loudly and enthusiastically.
The tickets cost an arm and a leg (especially in Dayton dollars), but it was worth it. It’s good to know that I can, on occasion, get a big city show (as it shuttles its way from Columbus to Cincinnati) in Dayton.
