Find your Grail...

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Find your Grail...

Posted: 7/22/05 at 9:29pm

Okay... I don't know if anyone has noticed this or W/e but "Find you GRail" sounds like John Denver's "Country Roads"...Comments?

KRISTEN CHENOWETH To show my gratitude, I'll offer you this pointy black hat, which is just like the one Original Wicked Witch Margaret Hamilton wore in the movie! IDINA MENZEL What a great idea! How about throughout the play, you continue to offer me things like a black cloak, or a black cape, or a broom to make me look more and more like Margaret Hamilton did! These attempts at humor will be painfully predictable from a mile away! AUDIENCE collectively groans.

re: Find your Grail...

Posted: 7/22/05 at 9:47pm

not at all....a few same notes maybe, but totally different.......

It is ridiculous to set a detective story in New York City. New York City is itself a detective story... AGATHA CHRISTIE, Life magazine, May 14, 1956

re: Find your Grail...

Posted: 7/22/05 at 10:03pm

Absolutely. I thought that when I first heard it in the theatre. "Hmm. It's "Country Road" with different lyrics and a pop anthem arrangement." And that's not the only song in the show that sounds to me as if it is just a "sandscrubed" version of another more popular song. ("Copacabana" anyone?)

re: Find your Grail...

Posted: 7/22/05 at 10:07pm

I've never heard Country Roads, but...umm...I'm pretty sure the similarities to Copa are intentional, even the lyrics are fairly similar. "Her name was Lola..." "His name is Lancelot" - even the costumes, while mainly an homage to Peter Allen, were a slight homage to Copacabana.

Rosencrantz: "Be happy - if you're not even HAPPY what's so good about surviving? We'll be all right. I suppose we just go on." - from Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead

Updated On: 7/22/05 at 10:07 PM

re: Find your Grail...

Posted: 7/22/05 at 10:16pm

I agree with Curtainup, not to mention the fact that I think most of the musical, besides the typical Monty Python humor, is parodying modern theatre and pop culture. The whole thing is typical Python, kind of mocking everything else, I loved it! I just don't think some people get it...

I hold a degree in Musical Theatre from Montclair State University. It is useless. Now I'm funny for money. Oh, and I sing.

re: Find your Grail...

Posted: 7/22/05 at 10:16pm

Oh, I'm sure it was intentional as well. I just think there is a fine line between parody and ripping a song off. Nearly every song in Spamalot "borrows" most of it's melody from a popular song. For instance "Come to Me" sounds like a slightly "tweaked" version of "Can You Feel the Love Tonight?" to me. I think they could have done the songs in the "style" they are parodying and still have at least somewhat original melodies. I thought Urinetown and Batboy, for instance both did that really well.

re: Find your Grail...

Posted: 7/22/05 at 10:22pm

And Taboo, I *get* Monty Python. I practically grew up with Python.

"Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" has a very catchy melody and as far as I know, doesn't ape the same melody of a song that came before it. It is somewhat original while still working as a parody. I just find the musical parody in Spamalot to be a bit more lazy then the material that Python had in it's earlier material. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed Spamalot very much, but I find the humor in the score to be a bit too easy and obvious for Python.

Updated On: 7/22/05 at 10:22 PM

re: Find your Grail...

Posted: 7/22/05 at 10:35pm

1. I didn't mean that you don't get it, I was just saying that I think it's gotten the wrong publicity. Sorry for the miscommunication. What I meant was that everyone goes in expecting a broadway musical, and in truth that's not really what it is. It's kind of depressing to know that I can't get tickets right now because Hold-Me, Touch-Me saw that it won best musical.

2. I disagree HEAVILY that Come With Me sounds anything like "Can You Feel the Love Tonight". I will admit, there are a few similar chord sequences, but if this trait were to be completely wiped out in music there would be very little to work with. I think a few slight similarities are not enough to call it a "tweaked" version of anything.

3. The reason that the humor is a little bit too easy and obvious is because they are not playing exclusively to a Python audience. To work, it still has to have some kind of musical theatre essence. I think this is far from disappointing, but rather quite notable that they were able to create a musical that appealed to both audiences.

I hold a degree in Musical Theatre from Montclair State University. It is useless. Now I'm funny for money. Oh, and I sing.

re: Find your Grail...

Posted: 7/22/05 at 11:25pm

I love Spamalot and I could care less about where it's music came from. Again, this is my opinion.

http://www.glamsmash.com/ - Glamsmash Productions, a video production company in the heart of New York City

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