‘Spamalot’ garners standing ovation

The opening scene of “Monty Python’s Spamalot” sets the tone for this outrageously grand musical comedy spoof of many seemingly unrelated subjects – the Broadway musicals “Camelot” and “Fiddler on the Roof,” the excess of Las Vegas, Nev., ’50s girl singing groups, Cher. The French. The plague. Yes, the plague.

Back to that first scene. It presents men slapping their female dancing/singing partners with small fish. It ends with the women slapping down the men with much larger fish.” The “Fisch Schlapping Song,” in all its silliness, is supposedly set in Finland. Finland? Sorry. The show’s narrator/historian announces that the ensemble misheard him. He said England, not Finland. The scene quickly shifts to the proper setting – gloomy medieval England where King Arthur (Arthur Rowan) and his sidekick Patsy (Glenn Giron) set off to find knights for his round table and together they’ll all begin their obstacle-laden search for the Holy Grail.

	If you go “Monty Python’s Spamalot” WHEN: 1 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. today (April 7) WHERE: Popejoy Hall, Center for the Arts, UNM campus HOW MUCH: Only $75 tickets available for the 1 p.m. show. $35, $50 and $75 tickets available for the 6:30 p.m. show in advance at www.unmtickets.com or at the Center for the Arts box office.

Their song of unity, “All for One” isn’t that unified when they note ”Some for some” and “None for none.” Oh well. Quite the search it is. The knights aren’t what you’d expect. Remember this is a spoof. Sir Robin is afraid of fighting. And Sir Lancelot is gay.

Scenes with very funny digressions. Like the one about the coconut halves Patsy bangs together to imitate the sound of hoof beats.

Or the moments with equally funny wordplay.

Or the squealing Knights of Ni who live in the Dark and Very Expensive Forest. Or the murderous Rabbit of same Very Expensive Forest.

Or Arthur singing “I’m All Alone” which naturally puts his loyal pal Patsy in a funk. (Reviewer’s note: Giron is from Santa Fe)

Or the actors coming out of character. Like The Lady of the Lake (Abigail Raye), who sings “The Diva’s Lament.” She tells the audience about how really upset she is because she hasn’t been on stage for a good chunk of Act II. And don’t forget she was the one responsible for Arthur becoming king.

The audience loved Saturday’s night’s performance. They gave the show a standing ovation. What’s more even those folks who like to race to their cars before the final curtain stood, held back and sang along with the cast in the encore number “The Bright Side of Life.”

The Broadway production won a Tony in 2005 for Best Musical. “Spamalot” is itself a spinoff of the film “Monty Python and the Holy Grail.”