spamalot

by Angela Rocco DeCarlo 3D Theatricals Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts Aug. 27 Weekend     Monty Python's Flying Circus BBC TV show ran from 1969-1974 racking up 45 episodes which morphed into film and Broadway renditions.   Either you "get" Monty Python or you don't.  No convincing way to explain the great enjoyment of such nuttiness. There is an opportunity to revisit the genius of Eric Idle, book & Lyric, music by John Du Prez and Eric Idle, at the Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts next weekend with the wonderful 3D Theatricals presentation.   As a fan of the original TV show I've kept up with the films as well as the stage shows. Like watching "Star Trek" viewers must engage in a certain amount of suspended belief.   Spamalot is set in the first millennium. But it's mocking comedy is drawn from modern cultural references. The French are lampooned, Jews are picked on for theatrical support and of course, the Brits are endlessly held up as a dim, though sincere, bunch.   The current show gives a flicker homage to various shows - "Phantom of the Opera," "West Side Story," and "Fiddler on the Roof." I last saw the show ten years ago in Las Vegas with John O'Hurley (Seinfeld's Mr. Peterman) commanding the King Arthur part. He should be seen more.   The Cerritos ...