Always irreverent and never irrelevant.
That’s the insane humor of Monty Python’s Flying Circus. Even as we shake our heads in I-can’t-believe-they-just-did-that style, we are already anticipating the next dose of ridiculousness.
And in a world that’s been getting crazier for – well, since dinosaurs were arguing over which caveman tasted the best and since Adam asked Eve why she didn’t eat an orange instead – a zany escape from reality is often just the thing needed.
Well, such an escape is at Bass Hall now through Sunday, May 3 with Monty Python’s Spamalot. The Tony Award-winning musical from the mind of Eric Idle and John Du Prez is the latest in Performing Arts Fort Worth’s Broadway at the Bass Series Presented by PNC Bank.
And it stars Fort Worth Arlington Heights High School graduate (2005) Major Attaway in a triumphant return to his hometown. He plays King Arthur in the musical, which bills itself as (lovingly) ripped off from the motion picture Monty Python and the Holy Grail (which was written by all six Monty Python members, Idle, Michael Palin, Terry Jones, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam and Graham Chapman).
More than 50 years after Holy Grail hit theaters, people are still enjoying its comedic genius. After half a century it’s safe to apply the term legendary to such work. But then, it was the creation of perhaps the greatest comedy troupe ever.
After all, great comedy, like fine wine, only gets better with age.
Spamalot follows the legend of King Arthur as he recruits Knights of the Round Table to embark on a quest for the Holy Grail. Forget everything you learned in school about this lore as no textbook will ever include such things as killer rabbits, taunting Frenchmen – and, of course, the scene stealing Lady of the Lake (Amanda Robles).
The Knights Who Say “Ni.” They’re in there. Arthur’s fight with the Black Knight, who insists “It’s only a flesh wound!” It’s in there. The Trojan Rabbit, yep.
And, what would the show be without the clacking coconuts knocked by his faithful servant Patsy (L’ogan Jones) as Arthur mimes riding a horse? Even folks who have never seen Holy Grail or Spamalot are familiar with the classic bit.
Attaway is superb, playing a role of the one character in the show taking the quest seriously. As the “straight man,” however, he only makes the lunacy of others that much more uproarious.
The dialogue is deliciously off the wall and filled with everything from frivolity to pop culture to just plain silly – and it’s all delivered with a perpetual snappiness. There’s even a hilarious reference to Attaway’s time as the longest-running Genie (over 1,500 performances) ever in Aladdin on Broadway.
The “fourth wall” even gets broken, because, well, why not? Trust me, it blends in well and is delightfully funny in its own right as the audience gets involved.
As for the music, well, like the story around it, it is filled with frolicking fantasy and a snub of its nose at reality. Don’t be surprised if, after seeing the show, you find yourself humming the ditty “I’m Not Dead Yet” or the jovial “Always Look On the Bright Side of Life” when no one’s looking.
Heck, even if someone is looking, sing them. You never know who might be a Monty Python fan and join in.
And, lest ye think the silliness of the evening is nothing more, there is a lesson within Spamalot. Find your own grail – in fact, there’s a song by that name in the show.
Perhaps your quest can start this week at Bass Hall.
Now, if you will, please excuse me while I begin my own quest for a doctor to look at my split side from all the laughing.
Spamalot At Bass Performance Hall 525 Commerce St., Fort Worth Now through Sunday, May 3 https://www.basshall.com/spamalot
