I have to admit I’ve never really been a fan of Monty Python, and had never seen the film upon which this show was based when we went to see the show. But I couldn’t turn down the chance to see this fantastic cast, and Krista was more knowledgeable about all things Python than me, so we decided to make the effort and wait in line for standing room tickets. We got there maybe a tad bit early (okay, a couple of hours earlier than we needed to), but it was worth it to make sure we got in!
As predicted, most of the crowd was much more familiar with the material than I was. 🙂 There was laughter or applause at lines which I didn’t think were particularly funny – so I knew people must have recognized them from the film. Still, in some ways it was nice not to know what was coming, it made many of the “old” jokes fresh for me.
My favourite parts, though, were those that have been added to the story for the Broadway show. I particularly loved the spoofing of over shows that went on – the lake scene in “The Song that Goes Like This”, Eponine coming out of the French castle, and of course, the fantastically funny “You Can’t Succeed on Broadway” with its bottle dance, which was the highlight of the show for me.
Also as predicted, the cast were very good – Tim Curry, Hank Azaria and David Hyde Pierce were all just as enjoyable as you would expect them to be. Of the three, David Hyde Pierce had some of the funniest lines, and his deadpan delivery was well suited to them. The real highlight in terms of the cast, though, was Christian Borle, who I felt was easily the funniest person on stage. Many of the cast play a multitude of characters, and it’s fun to see how well they pull it off. I did feel that some of the cast were just not as “into” the show as I’m used to, but maybe we just had a slightly off performance.
This is certainly not what you would call an intellectually challenging piece of theatre, but if you are a fan of the film, and even if you’re not, I think there’s a lot here to be enjoyed. Still, I must admit, I had more fun this weekend at Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.
The marquee
Me waiting in the standing room line
 Krista posing in the cutout outside |
  Â Â | Â |  Me in the same pose |
The Cast: (in order of appearance)
Historian, Not Dead Fred, French Guard, Minstrel, Prince Herbert |
CHRISTIAN BORLE |
Mayor, Patsy, Guard 2 |
MICHAEL McGRATH |
King Arthur |
TIM CURRY |
Sir Robin, Guard 1, Brother Maynard |
DAVID HYDE PIERCE |
Sir Lancelot, The French Taunter, Knight of Ni, Tim the Enchanter |
HANK AZARIA |
Sir Dennis Galahad, The Black Knight, Prince Herbert’s Father |
CHRISTOPHER SIEBER |
Dennis’ Mother, Sir Bedevere, Concorde |
STEVE ROSEN |
The Lady of the Lake |
SARA RAMIREZ |
Sir Not Appearing |
KEVIN COVERT |
God |
JOHN CLEESE |
French Guards |
THOMAS CANNIZZARO GREG REUTER |
Minstrels |
BRAD BRADLEY EMILY HSU GREG REUTER |
Sir Bors |
BRAD BRADLEY |
Ensemble |
BRAD BRADLEY THOMAS CANNIZZARO KEVIN COVERT JENNIFER FRANKEL LISA GAJDA JENNY HILL EMILY HSU ABBEY O’BRIEN ARIEL REID GREG REUTER BRIAN SHEPARD SCOTT TAYLOR |