“Monty Python’s Spamalot” galloped into the West Herr Auditorium Theatre this week on invisible horses, leaving behind a trail of flatulence, flesh wounds, flying cows and a lot of laughter, proving that this 20-year-old madcap musical of the highest disorder is“not dead yet.” If those references were lost on you, not to worry, not to worry. “Spamalot” doesn’t want you to think a lot — and that’s the point of it. It just wants you to have as much fun as its cast (which is a lot), for as long as it’s farting around town, which is through Sunday, January 18 as part of RBTL’s 2025-26 season. If you’re thinking about going, don’t think, just go. And if you go, don’t think. The musical, billed as “lovingly ripped off” from the 1975 hit movie “Monty Python andthe Holy Grail,” is stuffed with the silly-witty schoolboy humor that made the Britishcomedy troupe behind the film famous and not-so-subtle commentary that life — like“Spamalot” — is too stupid to be taken seriously. People of a certain generation already know the story, particularly middle-aged men who were once silly-not-so-witty schoolboys and who now quote stretches of dialogue from the film in a way they think makes them look witty, but really only makes them look silly. Since they have absorbed the message of “Holy Grail” into their DNA, though, they don’t care how they look. They’re cheerfully authentic and unabashed, just like the characters on the screen and, in this case, the lovingly ripped-off characters on the stage. That demographic is most likely to enjoy this production of “Spamalot,” which builds on the 2023 Broadway revival directed by Josh Rhodes and was modified for modern audiences from the 2005 Tony Award-winning original version, complete with nods to peach and eggplant emojis. View this post on Instagram But you don’t have to be able to quote the Knights Who Say “Ni” to follow along. The storyline is simple: In medieval England, King Arthur (played with majesty by Major Attaway) and his coconut shell-banging servant Patsy (played with devoted modesty by Blake Segal) roam a countryside plagued by plague in search of knights to sit at his “very, very, very round table” at his Vegas-style court at Camelot. After assembling a motley crew that includes the clueless and closeted Sir Lancelot (Chris Collins-Pisano), the hot-and-knows-it Sir Galahad (Leo Roberts), the cowardly-actor-at-heart Sir Robin (Sean Bell) and the dim and gassy Sir Bedevere (Ellis C. Dawson III), they are given a quest to find the Holy Grail by the Almighty Knower-of-All-Things (voiced by an uncredited Steve Martin), who misplaced it. While on their quest, they’re taunted by killer rabbits and farting Frenchmen. (There is so much farting in “Spamalot,” which tends to happen when one “eats Spam a lot.”) Eventually, Lancelot gets a glitzy disco-era coming-out party, and Robin summons the courage to put on a Broadway show, which they all realize they’re already starring in in Rochester, with a tiresome reference to garbage plates. (Sigh.) The talent onstage is impressive, chiefly among the actors playing the knights, each ofwhom assume various other roles of consequence. Collins-Pisano is the most effectivechameleon in this regard, delivering high-energy hilarity in his portrayals of theraspberry-spewing French Taunter and Tim the Enchanter. Standing out among the cast, though, is Amanda Robles as The Lady of The Lake. Herstage presence, stunning singing voice and steadfast commitment to the melodramarequired of her part are unparalleled. Hearing her belt out “Find Your Grail” is genuinely moving, and her reminder in the second act that she’s “been offstage for far too long” rightly earns ravenous applause. Some of the gags in “Spamalot” feel ham-fisted and shoehorned in, particularly thosethat borrow from the extended Monty Python library beyond “Holy Grail.” This is especially true of the song the show leans on most — the cheerfully absurd earworm “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life,” which plays to a glittery finale with confetti guns and an enthusiastic audience sing-along. The piece packed so much more punch when “Spamalot” creator Eric Idle sang it in themock biblical epic “Monty Python’s Life of Brian” while being crucified. Because there’sno bright side to being crucified! “Spamalot” is a lot and not for everyone. A few Rochester Broadway Theatre Leagueseason ticket-holding patrons could be spotted slipping away at intermission. But the hearty guffaws and fervent applause earned throughout the show suggests “Spamalot” plays in Rochester. More info and tickets here. The post REVIEW | “Monty Python’s Spamalot” is not dead yet appeared first on CITY Magazine. Arts. Music. Culture.. ...read more read less