 
|
|
Audio CD
Publisher: Decca Broadway
Format: Cast Recording
Monty Python's Spamalot (2005 Original Broadway Cast Recording)
As gleefully silly yet wickedly smart as the beloved British comedy troupe and their 1975 cinematic savaging of the Arthurian legend that inspired it, this adaptation of Monty Python and the Holy Grail by MP's Eric Idle and longtime musical co-conspirator John Du Prez has much more on its feverish agenda than merely trashing King Arthur and firmly upending his Round Table. The film's plot remains largely intact, but its core songs ("Knights of the Round Table," "Brave Sir Robin") and comic thrust have been both expanded and satirically redirected, a musical comedy shotgun that takes dizzy aim at pop culture in general, and Broadway in particular. After typically Pythonesque distractions that somehow find us in "Finland..," stars David Hyde-Pierce, Tim Curry, Hank Azaria and company get busy conjuring the Lady of the Lake with the unlikely help of "Laker Girls..," while cast members Sara Ramirez and Christopher Sieber deliciously skewer contemporary Broadway cliches via the loopy showstopper "The Song That Goes Like This," a tune whose reprise also deliciously sends up every overwrought stage diva from Merman to Minelli. Idle has shrewdly ripped off--well, interpolated--Life of Brian's "Always Look On the Bright Side" for the new show, and even a snatch of "The Lumberjack Song" in "He Is Not Dead Yet." "You Won't Succeed on Broadway" reveals the frankly Semitic secret to stage success, and the French get can-canned on "Run Away!" Meanwhile, our bravest knight is de-closeted on the Manilow-mauling "His Name is Lancelot" before the familiar sound of clomping coconut shells brings down the curtain on the season's goofiest if satirically dead-on comic delight. --Jerry McCulley Have Fun with More Irreverent Musicals 
Urinetown | 
The Rocky Horror Picture Show | 
The Frogs | 
Zanna Don't | 
Hedwig and the Angry Inch | 
Avenue Q |
| Customer Reviews: |
|
| |
| FABULOUSLY FUNNY |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
 |
|
Great show, very entertaining; and listening to the CD brought back a lot of fond memories of the show. It's hillarious !
|
| Arthur Mythos |
| Customer Rating: 2 out of 5 |
 |
|
This is the worst rendition of an Arthurian mythos CD I have seen. I wouldn't recommend it, it was boring. The comedic tone reakly bogs it down.
|
| Excellent Music for doing the yard work |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
|
|
I saw the travelling show but still majorly enjoyed it. I have this on my ipod and play it when I mow the grass...singing very loudly and getting the work done by the end of the cd. And I have 1/3rd of an acre to mow with a nasty hill in the back!
|
| Tappin' Knights |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
|
|
It was listening to this CD that made me want to see the show on Broadway. The show I saw had Clay Aiken in it, he did a great job. This recording has David Hyde Pierce as Robin and, of course, he is great, too. The show is hilarious and every time I hear this CD I remember the stage business that accompanied this music. These songs are send-ups of classic Broadway show tunes. I don't know if the album stands on its own if you haven't seen the show. But, if you enjoyed Monty Python's previous CD's you should like this one also. It'll make you want to dance and sing.
|
| Appalling |
| Customer Rating: 1 out of 5 |
 |
|
I saw "Spamalot" on Broadway recently, and couldn't believe how awful it was (especially given that I'm a long-time Monty Python fan). The easily manipulated audience, desperate to be in on the jokes, laughed and cheered uproariously on cue. Disconcerting and frightening to see how easily manipulated people are. I didn't join in on the laughter. How could I? After all, I'm neither chronologically nor mentally 15. In addition to being singularly unfunny, I found the show to be nihilistic, vulgar, fatuous, mean spirited, and nasty minded. Its only greatness is in how perfectly emblematic it is of our disintegrating culture.
In a word: Yecch.
|
Tuning
Overture
Historian's Introduction to Act I
Finland/Fisch Schlapping Dance
Monks Chant / He Is Not Dead Yet
Come With Me
Laker Girls Cheer
The Song That Goes Like This
He Is Not Dead Yet - Play Off
All For One
Knights of the Round Table/The Song That Goes Like This (Reprise)
Find Your Grail
Run Away!
The Intermission
Historian's Introduction to Act II
Always Look On The Bright Side of Life
Brave Sir Robin
You Won't Succeed On Broadway
Diva's Lament (What Ever Happened To My Part?)
Where Are You?
His Name Is Lancelot
I'm All Alone
Twice In Every Show
Act II Finale
Always Look On The Bright Side of Life - Company Bow
|
