This rib tickling, rip-roaring rip-off of the comic film of 1975, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, is the most hilarious musical on Broadway running to hysterical packed houses since its opening night on March 17, 2005. It won the Tony Award for Best Musical in 2005 and has been receiving rave reviews from critics all over. The Sunday Times says that it “raises silliness to an art form" and it has been hailed as the “no holds barred smash hit" by The New Yorker.

Monty Python is not one person, but a group of comedians and writers, five British and one American, who are famous for their comedy television show, Monty Python’s Flying Circus, which ran from 1969 to 1974. They are popular for their spoofs and satires against the British snobbish ruling class as well as European history. The members of Monty Python are John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Terry Gilliam, Michael Palin and the late Graham Chapman.

The musical Monty Python’s Spamalot is based on the story of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table and their quest for the Holy Grail. The show has hilarious situations and features beautiful showgirls, dancing men in tights, killer rabbits with big pointy teeth, a legless Knight and flatulent Frenchmen. It guarantees to make you fall off your seats with laughter. The play pokes fun at the Broadway musical formula and also makes a humorous commentary on historical events. It leaves no scope for serious thought or sorrow of any kind, only roaring laughter. You can imagine the hilarity of the play just by the names of some of the characters, such as Not Dead Fred and Sir Not Appearing!

The play has been written by Eric Idle, one of the members of Monty Python. He has also written the lyrics and composed the music along with John Du Prez. The director Mike Nichols has been one of the leading directors of both theater and films for the last 30 years. The choreography has been done splendidly by Casey Nicholaw for whom this is his Broadway debut.

There are several songs from the original film as well as some new ones added by Idle. Some of the songs are guaranteed to make you sing along such as “Find Your Grail" and the catchy “Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life". The Broadway cast of Spamalot includes Jonathan Hadary as King Arthur, Marin Mazzie as the Lady of the Lake, Lewis Cleale as Sir Dennis Galahad and Rick Holmes as Sir Lancelot. The show is so popular that it is going to premiere in Australia as well in December 2007.

For tickets to this hilarious musical comedy, you can go in person to the box office of Schubert Theater where the show is being staged. In case you do not want to step out of your house, you can book online or order by phone. But you need to do so as soon as tickets go on sale if you want good seats to fall off from!