I never really liked "Monty Python and the Holy Grail." I thought it was typical male-dominated slapstick comedy with absolutely zero charm or uniqueness to offer. I didn't think the coconut thing was funny, and I didn't understand the point in copious bleeding from wounds.
Boy, was I wrong.
"Spamalot," the musical theater version of "Monty Python and the Holy Grail," is clever, hilarious, catchy and utterly full of charm. It erased my previous perceptions of the movie completely.
Based on the 1975 film, "Spamalot" tells the tale of King Arthur through immense sarcasm and ridiculous jokes. Its originality earned it the 2005 Tony Award for Best Musical.
I was curious how the show would portray the fake blood on stage, but instead of the liquid form, the absent limbs spewed long, red pieces of string-like material that closely resembled red Play-Doh being pushed through a plastic mold.
Surprisingly, it wasn't distracting at all.
The effects of "Spamalot" also are incredible. A man is literally pinned to the wall with a sword, and I'm still wondering just how they did it.
I don't typically laugh out loud during Broadway shows in order to concentrate on the play and to not distract people around me. But with "Spamalot," it's impossible to hold it in.
MSU alumnus Christopher Sutton is, without a doubt, the funniest person in the show, playing five different characters - the Historian, Prince Herbert, Not Dead Fred, the French Guard and the Minstrel. He dances around with a monstrous basket of fruit on his head, he plays a gay man, he is dragged around stage and he even manages to wear pink fluffy slippers and keep a straight face.
This is probably the most hilarious series of characters I have ever encountered in a musical.
Sutton isn't the only actor to play various characters. Patrick Heusinger also tackled four characters, including Sir Lancelot. As a vicious knight and then a homosexual, Heusinger left nothing to the imagination.
The show does have one weak part, however - Esther Stilwell's rendition of the Lady of the Lake. While her vocals are decent, her acting is irritating and harsh.
It's the sort of acting that makes you wonder what the understudy could have brought to the table, who, in this case, is Sutton's wife, Lyn Philistine.
It's obvious the show was written by straight men. There are dozens of beautiful, scantily clad women, penis jokes and sexual innuendoes.
Although I'm just a 19-year-old girl, I laughed hysterically.
"Spamalot" is one of those plays that you want to bring your whole family to see. You want to laugh alongside your uncle and to sing along with your grandma.
If you have a remote chance to get tickets to this show - do it.
From vicious bunnies to daring visual effects, "Spamalot" is simply magnificent.