I'm not much of one for paying big bucks to see movies recreated as stage plays ("Legally Blonde: The Musical"--really!?)--an idea I find only slightly less offensive than three hours of live ABBA covers--but Eric Idle's Tony-Award winning/now-playing-just-about-everywhere "Spamalot" was a complete hoot for this long-time, hopelessly-devoted Pythonphile.Idle's followed it up with a riff on 1979's controversial "Life Of Brian" and Torontonians are getting it first!
"Not The Messiah (He's A Very Naughty Boy)" is described as a 50-minute oratorio, written by Idle and "Spamalot" collaborator John Du Prez. There's a family connection, too: The Toronto Symphony Orchestra's music director, Peter Oundjian, is Idle's cousin. Idle promises "it will be funnier than Handel, although probably not as good." Too bad they already used LOB's signature song, "Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life", in their last hit.
It's part of the Luminato Arts Festival which runs in Toronto from June 1-10. While many of the events are free events, Idle's is not (he didn't title his last book "The Greedy Bastard Tour" for nothing). The show will be performed only four times between June 1-4 at Roy Thompson Hall, and tickets can be purchased here.
