Real Kato Blog: Theater: Spamalot

Monty Python's famous movie brought to the stage.

"Monty Python and the Holy Grail" might just be the most popular and beloved cult movie of all time. The majority of my friends (especially my geek friends) can quote most of the movie by heart. It may have been Monty Python's finest work, and that's saying a lot.

It was with great anticipation that we went to see "Spamalot", the musical adaptation of the movie, at the Wynn in Las Vegas.

It immediately struck me as weird when they performed some well-known scenes, such as the conversation at the French castle. It was kind of like sitting in a room with a bunch of my friends as they quoted the show. It was as if they were simply paying homage to the original movie by staging a recitation, and not adding much in the way of production values or new interpretations.

The show fared better when it introduced brand new material. There were some Las Vegas bits that were surely added specifically for this production (like, having Camelot look like the Excalibur hotel, and having show girls pop out during some production numbers). And, of course, there were some new songs added, many of them quite funny.

But on the whole, it felt like something that Javi could have whipped up in an afternoon. I told Javi, "This feels like something we would have done," referring to the theater company we formed after graduating from high school. It was clever in parts, but not so clever that we couldn't have thought of it ourselves. And when you compare this show to big Vegas blockbusters (like, say, Zumanity), it seems kind of small-time.

I dunno... maybe we just were too familiar with the source material to fully enjoy the show. And to be honest, I was sleepy through most of the second half, and that was hampering my appreciation as well. And probably, the full-length production has more to enjoy than the abbreviated Las Vegas version. But still...

Rating: 3/5

Permalink