Mangalore: Musical Spoof on King Arthur Tickles Funny Bone

Pics: Dayanand Kukkaje
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangalore

Mangalore, Aug 6: Monty Python’s Spamalot musical comedy promoted as an amusing spoof on King Arthur and Camelot lived up to the expectations it raised and thoroughly entertained the audience at the Town Hall in Mangalore. Though it was a rainy and chilly evening musical comedy lovers had gathered in huge numbers and  the venue was fully packed for the 2-hour musical comedy that began at 7 pm Friday August 5.

It was a comedy which was entertaining, quite amusing, funny and fully loaded with oodles of fun and humour. Needless to say, at the end of two and half hours that included a 15 minutes interval people could be seen coming out with gratifying smiles. Many of them came over to the stage to congratulate the director of the comedy and for the wonderful performance of the entire team. This musical play has proved that given a good product people would throng to see and thoroughly enjoy it.

Directed by Leila Alvares the show was presented by CAUSE Foundation (Cooperation of the Arts for the Underprivileged in Society and Environment), a non-profit organization. CAUSE was formed with the primary objective of providing a platform for existing local talent in the field of creative arts and culture and is always involved in the promotion of various charitable causes.

Monty Python’s Spamalot deals with the adventures of legendary King Arthur and his Knights of Camelot. The musical is ripped off from the motion picture “Monty Python ad the Holy Grail, which was incidentally the first film feature from a troupe that revolutionized sketch comedy. The Holy Grail is believed to be the cup which Jesus used at the last supper.

The story begins with a historian introducing the scene followed by a Fisch Slapping Dance. King Arthur then sets out on his horse to find men to recruit for his army to help him find the Holy Grail. He is able to gather a group of men who join him in his quest to find the Holy Grail. On his journey he encounters numerous problems including his efforts to convince a peasant girl that he is the king of Britains. There is a Diva who laments; there are his own guards who prove to be his nightmare and trange elements he encounters in forests during the sojourn etc. Finally the play ends with the King and his Diwa all set to marry but singing the song “we are not yet Wed”. Talented artistes like Vikram Kiran, Hemant Hegde, Lionel De Nazareth, Russ Peterson, Vivek worked in tandem to present a decent, enjoyable and entertaining programme.

It has to be admitted that the soul of the play was the live band which played the music on the stage. That made whole lot of a difference to the performance of the artiste and also to the final product in toto. The artistes and the performers came alive on stage as live singing calls for complete concentration and dedication at the time of staging the show. The live band was indeed the heart and soul of the comedy the lively performance of the artistes too contributed a great deal for the success of the comedy. The British have been historically known for their stiff upper lip and blitz spirit but the play gave a glimpse of the British society then and also their dry homour which was dealt with quite finesse in this musical play by the Director, though it is said that certain below the belt humour has been chopped off mercilessly by the Director. The dances were also quite elegant and their colourful and appealing clothes were an added attraction. Finally to make it more appealing, the man or the peasant with the Holy Grail is made to be found among the audience.

The musical comedy featured Priya Mendens, Jude Lazaro, Prem Koshy and Arvind Kasthuri as King Arthur, Rijul, Mark Swaroop, Jerusha, Vivek June, Shyju and others. Music Direction for the play was by Vivek Menzel and music was by John Du Prez and Eric Idele. The efforts of back stage artistes also deserved a special mention as ultimately it was the performance in toto including the lighting, stage set up, makeup, wardrobe etc. that made the play a true entertainer.