April 10, 2005

Bringing the Frat Boys Back to Broadway

What - They left? OK, I kid. This feature in today's New York Times notes that Spamalot is tapping into a desperately prized demographic that the Great White Way has had some trouble (relatively speaking) attracting of late.

"Spamalot" may have created an entirely new breed of raving musical theater fan, one who has probably never heard of Rodgers and Hammerstein or Kander and Ebb or even - gasp - Stephen Sondheim, but who can quote full stretches of dialogue from 30-year-old films by British sketch-comedy troupes.

Oh, but wait. It gets better. Apparently the appeal is that it's just not very Broadway - or Broadway as perceived by young straight guys anyway.

That's because "Spamalot," Broadway's hottest show, drawn from the 1975 cult film "Monty Python and the Holy Grail," has managed to tap into a rare, highly prized Broadway demographic: men; specifically, the kinds of teenagers and 20-somethings who find jokes about fish, flatulence and the French absolutely sidesplitting and who normally wouldn't be headed to the theater unless dragged by a girlfriend, school trip or court order.

So here's to what's going to save New York theater and keep actors and artisans employed (and I'm not being entirely condescending - I mean I want to see artists and theater succeed) - jokes about fish, flatulence and the French.

Posted by armand at April 10, 2005 11:03 AM | TrackBack | Posted to Culture


Comments
Post a comment









Remember personal info?