By Dale King
There was a time, not too very long ago, when the mention of Monty Python raised specters of irreverent humor, out-of-control mirth and a general demeanor of silliness. It was the post-Beatles era when Brits began to show their funny sides — sometimes literally — and the Python crew held sway on the stage of craziness, challenged perhaps only by Benny Hill.
Before they left TV barren of their farcical fare in the mid-1970s, they filmed a motion picture called Monty Python and the Holy Grail. That spawned Monty Python’s Spamalot, a stage play based on a book by Python mainstay Eric Idle and a score by Idle and composer John Du Prez. Like the film, it’s a totally irreverent and typically Pythonesque parody of the Arthurian legend.
The Entr’Acte Theatrix group is presenting the whimsical, offbeat musical to rounds of well-deserved laughter, applause and standing ovations, at the Crest Theatre in the Delray Center for the Arts in downtown Delray Beach.
Entr’Acte has assembled a talented cast to populate the surreal world of Python. The suitably kingly John Costanzo is certainly regal as King Arthur, accompanied by his diminutive, load-bearing lackey, Patsy (Greg Holmos, who is also the show’s co-producer).
Sharyn Peoples is a charm to the eye and ear as the Lady of the Lake, whose presence and delightfully strong voice are welcome on the stage. She is accompanied by her leggy and luscious entourage of appropriately named “Laker Girls.”
Other cast members include Carbonell nominee Mike Westrich as Sir Dennis Galahad, Darrick Penny as Sir Robin, Mike James as Sir Bedevere and Dan Thagard as Sir Lancelot.
Spamalot – which in truth has very little to do with everyone’s “favorite” canned meat — delivers 26 songs by soloists or configurations of actors with nary a bad note. Accompanying them is a five-piece instrumental group headed by Roger Blakenship, musical director for the Lake Worth Playhouse, along with percussionist Sandi Hagood, bassist Branden Stair, trumpeter Albert Perera and Karen Nagy on second keyboard.
Spamalot follows the adventures of King Arthur and Patsy as they travel through his kingdom collecting men for his Knights of the Round Table and searching for the Holy Grail, the vessel used by Jesus Christ to hold wine at the Last Supper. When told of this, one of the less-savvy knights comments, “Vessel? I didn’t know he had a boat.”
Without real horses, the performers improvise by clopping together two coconut shell halves as they “gallop” through forests and dales on their treacherous journey.
“I have always wanted to direct Spamalot and I’m so happy to finally have the chance,” says director and choreographer Kevin Black. “Every rehearsal has been a barrel of laughs.”
For Pythonian Knights, a march through the woods is no walk in the park. On their way to find the grail, they come upon a castle occupied by an Anglophobic Frenchman (Carlo-Rubino Sabusap) who screams contemptible things at them (You have to listen closely to the rant). They also encounter a wrathful Black Knight with a talent for losing body parts and a bad, bad rabbit with a sly cartoon smile that conceals bloody fangs.
Of course, Spamalot packs a bushel of puns to keep the audience tittering. And what would a Monty Python musical be without a rendition of Always Look on the Bright Side of Life, Idle’s song from 1979’s Life of Brian,which teaches us to “give a whistle” while we’re “chewing on life’s gristle”?
Most of Spamalot’s songs are witty and silly. The play begins with a musical miscue called Fisch Schlapping Song showing a bunch of people from Finland slapping fish in rhythmic fashion. The song He’s Not Dead Yet introduces us to Not-Dead-Fred (Ross Parris), who keeps protesting he’s not ready for the plague wagon. Partway through Act II, Sharyn Peoples complains about her lack of time on stage in The Diva’s Lament. And then there’s His Name Is Lancelot, which outs the errant knight in a bouncy Village People-style rendition. Lancelot comments to his same-sex partner: “You know, this is still going to be a problem 1,000 years from now.”
Time is also not on King Arthur’s side. As a means to finding the grail, he is directed to create a Broadway show — no easy task, he says, since Broadway is still a millennium away, in a country that that hasn’t been discovered yet. Leave it to the Lady of the Lake to straighten him out, bringing a conclusion that’s very happy for her, the king – and all.
At times, you have to listen closely to catch every word, given the multiplicity of dialects.
The set design – by Black and Carlo Sabusap – is exceptional. Using some on-stage props and a lot of computer-generated scenery, the play moves along without a hitch. Costumes – the work of Sabusap, Parris, Ilana Lifschitz and Maja Kaczmarska – are stunning, considering the large number of cast members and the need for frequent clothing changes.
Spamalot is a laugh-a-minute satire that makes fun of itself and others as it takes the audience down a fanciful, fantasy road.
Monty Python’s Spamalot runs through June 30 at the Crest Theatre at the Delray Beach Center for the Arts at Old School Square, 51 North Swinton Avenue, Delray Beach. Tickets are available by calling 561-243-7922, Ext. 1 or online at http://delraycenterforthearts.org