A full house will gather at the Performing Arts Center (PAC) to watch the Tony Award-winning musical theater comedy Monty Python’s “Spamalot.” The show, which is packed with British humor that sold out the PAC months before its actual date will take place Feb. 28.
“It’s one of our most popular shows this year,” PAC ticketing office employee Mike Jones said. “We still get calls about it every day, but unfortunately no one has returned any tickets.”
“Spamalot” is advertised as “lovingly ripped-off” because it is largely based on the popular 1975 comedy film “Monty Python and the Holy Grail,” which tells the story of King Arthur and his knights of the round table embarking on a journey to find the Holy Grail.
Cows, killer rabbits, show girls and quirky Frenchman all find their way into the show, which The Sunday Times said “raises silliness to an art form.
“Monty Python and the Holy Grail” is one of five films created by Monty Python, a British comedy group.
Music professor Alyson McLamore said since “Spamalot” is a Monty Python product, it is sure to be filled with zany and sometimes off-color humor that characterizes the group’s work.
“There’s political humor, sexual humor, body function humor,” McLamore said. “There are jokes about anything you could imagine. A lot of it is very intellectual humor, though. It grows on you.”
McLamore said the humor was not designed for the overly sensitive viewer.
“I think it’s going to appeal to anybody who is not easily offended,” McLamore said. “They do not take prisoners.”
Despite the musical’s success nationally and even locally, some Cal Poly students did not express enthusiasm for Monty Python.
“I saw (Monty Python and the Holy Grail) a long time ago,” modern languages and literatures freshman Danny Brosnahan said. “It’s not that funny. I don’t really like British comedy.”
While the musical is largely derived from “Monty Python and the Holy Grail,” McLamore said it is laced with references to some of Monty Python’s other works, as well as other Broadway shows.
McLamore will present a pre-show lecture at 6:30 p.m. History and facts will be explained about the Python troop and Broadway musicals in general.
McLamore said this will help viewers catch on to jokes that might have otherwise gone unnoticed.
Cal Poly Arts public relations director Lisa Wokse said Broadway musicals are some of the most popular events at Cal Poly.
“We feel it’s worth bringing quality Broadway tours to the Central Coast, so our audience doesn’t have to travel to catch the tour,” Woske said.