Snakes In My Spam

Strictly speaking, SPAM is a cooked-meat product containing bits of many long-dead animals — pigs, chickens, turkeys, clumsy factory workers — jammed together and canned for the gastronomic pleasure of Hawaiians and others. Spamalot is not a dissimilar product. Part of former Monty Python Eric Idle’s never-ending quest for money, it fits in nicely with his Master Plan and Long-Held Professional Ethic: recycle old, not-necessarily-related bits of beloved Pythonism repackaged in shiny new wrappers to make dedicated fans euphoric and drive new fans back to the source material. Some people call this “synergy”; most former Pythons call it “dumbfuckery of the purest ray serene,” though only when speaking off the record.

Whatever the word, everybody but Terry Jones (one of the Python boys) agrees that Eric Idle has managed to bring the funny with Spamalot. As you most likely know, it’s a Tony Award-winning retelling of Monty Python & The Holy Grail, liberally spiced with pieces of The Life of Brian and parodies and assorted Broadway musicals. Hewing close to the original, Spamalot has managed to attract the love of critics and audiences alike, and now it’s coming here to seek the Grail in our very own backyard. (Actually, that would be The Arscht Center, so recently known as The Carnival Center, at 1300 Biscayne Blvd. The Grail’s not there, by the way. I’ve checked. Don’t tell them.) The show runs from March 4 to 9, and tickets run $24 - $72. Visit ticketmaster.com.
Tue., March 4, 2008