Spamalot

Spamalot, the musical "lovingly ripped off" of the movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail, is in town, and as this is one of my favorite movies from childhood, I determined that we weren't going to miss it. The musical follows the basic premise of the movie, with King Arthur gathering his Knights of the Round Table in a quest to find the Holy Grail. Much of the dialogue is ripped verbatim from the film, though the songs are obviously new material. The music serves to push the musical in a few new directions, namely the requisite jokes about gays, Jews and meta gags about Broadway itself.

Live theater will always edge out film in my mind for its ability to innovate and adapt to changing times and surroundings. Much to my amusement, this performance included a number of somewhat topical additions, as the Lady of the Lake broke into bits of "Put a Ring On It" and "Umbrella" in the midst of various songs, and mockery of Blagojevich's fresh impeachment was in full force. The French taunting scene, for instance, went something like this: "I fart in your general direction. I impeach your corrupt governors. Your mother is a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries!"

Going into the show, my biggest concern was whether Spamalot would still feel fresh and funny, or whether it would merely be a shadow of a bygone era. And for those who had not seen the movie, would they get the humour as well? All in all, I thought the musical was pretty well-done, with enough of the original movie thrown in to keep the purists happy, but sufficient amounts of new material to make it interesting. Highlights included "The Song That Goes Like This," a passionate ballad that well, goes like this, and "You Won't Succeed on Broadway (If You Don't Have Any Jews)."

If ever there were a musical written for times of recessionary malaise and social insecurity, Spamalot would be it. It's fun and silly, filled with shiny objects and pithy aphorisms. Do not go in expecting a grand, life-changing drama on the order of Les Miserables, and you will come out happy and whistling "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life." And what more could you ask for?

Jersey Boys

In recent years, Broadway has seen the debut of a slew of shows based on existing musical acts. There's Mamma Mia!, based on songs from ABBA, and Movin' Out, presenting the Billy Joel catalogue. After all, baby boomers who grew listening to bands from the '60s and '70s are now in their prime earning years, and regularly frequent the theater.

Then again, though these are some of the more popular "jukebox musicals," Good Vibrations and All Shook Up (featuring songs from the Beach Boys and Elvis Presley) certainly demonstrate that having a large fan base doesn't necessarily translate to Broadway success. Personally, I have mixed feelings about writing musicals around a pre-existing band, since it seems like it would stymie the creation of original material and dumb down Broadway. Besides, isn't the point of musical theater to discover new music, not just rehash old favorites?

My misgivings aside, I still happily agreed to go see Jersey Boys with Britton last night. The musical is a fictionalized account of Frankie Vallie & the Four Seasons and their rise to stardom. Take the usual hard-knocks tale of struggling teens with a gift for music, add in some Jersey mobsters and a cameo by a young Joe Pesci, and presto, you have yourself a plot. The play is divided into four parts, or movements, if you will, each named after a different season and narrated by one of the four members. My favorite band member was Bob Gaudio, who shot to fame after writing "(Who Wears) Short Shorts" at age 15. He is considered the most cerebral of the bunch, and is responsible for writing many of the Four Seasons' hits.

Joisey Girl: So, who's the girl in the song? Your girlfriend?
Gaudio: No, it could be any girl. Every girl. It's what T.S. Eliot called the objective correlative.
Joisey Girl: You're not from around here, are you?

The true star of the night though was the Four Seasons' music itself. I've casually listened to many of their songs on the radio, but this was the first time I'd examined their discography in detail. And some of their lesser known hits are incredibly catchy. Take a listen to "Rag Doll"; supposedly it's based on the true story of Gaudio who was approached by beggar girl in Manhattan. In between an incredible falsetto from the actor playing Frankie Valli and the cute doo-wop choreography, I was pining for the good ol' days of boy bands wearing suits. By the end of the night, we were all singing and clapping along to the encore of "December 1963 (Oh, What a Night)." I've never seen an auditorium so full of smiles.

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One more aside: I needed to fix a bike flat before the show, so I trekked to the nearest bike shop looking for help. They were closed for the day, but luckily, a cop was around and offered to help me fix my flat. (Brings new meaning to the phrase "to serve and protect.") In the midst of this, who strolls out of the shop?! Joe, whose last 4-5 messages I've been ignoring. Cue awkward conversation...Go figure, a city of 8 million people, and I manage to run into the one person I'm actively trying to avoid. After he left, my friend Britton (and the cop) were gut-busting laughing at me. Now that, was the clutch part of the evening.