KEY POINTS:
REVIEW
What: Not the Messiah (He's a Very Naughty Boy).
Where: The Civic Theatre.
When: Saturday and yesterday.
Reviewer: Shannon Huse.
And they held their Zippo lighters aloft and waved them to the music. And some did wave their mobile phones. And it was good.
Eric Idle proved himself the messiah of orchestral-backed Monty Python silliness in a two-nights-only spectacular at the Civic Theatre over the weekend. From the moment he took the stage on opening night he had the crowd wrapped around his little finger.
He showed sharp comic timing with well-aimed jokes about himself and Auckland (It's a lovely city. It'll be even nicer when it's finished) and entertained with his humorous singing and storytelling skills. We even forgave him the dodgy Bob Dylan impersonation and shameless plug of his award-winning musical Spamalot, which is playing in Melbourne.
I've always found the Python humour funnier in the retelling and Not the Messiah (He's a Very Naughty Boy) is a retelling on a grand scale. It's a comic oratorio which means that Idle is backed by four soloists, Auckland's Viva Voce choir and the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra (APO), conducted by long-time Idle collaborator John Du Prez.
Being a theatre reviewer rather than a music expert, I feel under-qualified to comment on the APO's performance other than to say it was fantastic to hear all the musical flourishes played out by an orchestra. There is a warmth and drama that the live music injects into a performance that a recording can't match and this show would be impossible to stage without the orchestra.
Also enjoyable were the Australian soloists Sharon Prero, Kirsti Harms, Bradley Daley and Michael Lewis for throwing themselves into the various roles that they sang and acted.
Kirsti Harms was particularly expressive as Brian's mum Mandy and Bradley Daley brought just the right amount of naive enthusiasm to his role of reluctant messiah Brian.
The libretto stays faithful to the Life of Brian movie, recreating its key points of drama in 25 songs. So we follow the hapless Brian's adventures from his decision to avenge his mother's "invasion" by a Roman guard, to his political rabble-rousing with the People's Front of Judea, first love with Judith, being mistaken for a messiah and having his lost shoe worshipped by a mindless mob through to his crucifixion.
For fans it was great to see all the key skits included - sheep-loving shepherds, lisping Roman centurions, zealots preaching apocalypse (There Shall be Monsters) and the faithful singing in praise of the Lord (O God You Are So Big). And Idle also throws in a nice running joke about lumberjacks.
An oratorio is normally performed by voices and an orchestra on a sacred theme without any costumes, scenery or dramatic action. Not The Messiah departs from the sacred theme but is otherwise mainly faithful to the art form.
The choir stands at the back of the stage, the orchestra is in the middle and Eric Idle and his soloists perform from the front, dressed in spiffy evening dresses and tuxes. The overall effect was like being backstage at the posh recording of a film soundtrack or watching a sartorially elegant radio play on steroids.
But Idle and Du Prez can't keep it totally straight so there were some simple special effects in the form of a life-sized sheep puppet with a personality all its own, four bagpipe players and props for the choir, including torches and miner's hats.
It was a lovely antidote to the pre-Christmas madness and a must for Python fans. Just one small complaint really, couldn't we have had Always Look on the Bright Side of Life as an encore?
