No trivia on Tuesday, as we changed our schedule up a bit to accomodate last night's excursion to the Colonial Theater to see Spamalot, the musical based (sort of) on Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

I put the parenthetical in there as the show, while using much from the movie, differs pretty significantly, especially in the second act. This wasn't a problem, just a difference. I think it's a pretty good difference, too, in that the show provides enough familiar stuff from the movie (and from other movies, as "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" is used in a couple of places) to satisfy fans, while providing enough new material to make the trip to the theater worthwhile.

Thinking about it, though, there were a couple of scenes from the movie that I'd like to have seen in the show. The early scene with the witch isn't included, which is too bad, as it's one of my favorites. They also didn't have the scene at the bridge (so no "answer me these questions three"), and the entire thing with the historian and the police is gone.

There were a couple of places where they were able to add some local content (most notably a line about Johnny Damon playing for the Yankees), which was interesting. I associate that sort of thing with local shows (for example, Shear Madness in Boston will adapt to current local events and give shout-outs to groups in attendance). Again, I don't think it hurt the show, I just wasn't expecting it.

While I'd recommend the show (as would the wife, I think, and she's not even a Python fan), I would not recommend the Colonial as a venue (at leat not the mezzanine) if you are over 5' 8" tall. I was much more cramped than I was at the Opera House. The orchestra seats looked to have more room, while the upper balcony appears steep enough that most of your legs is above the back of the seat in front of you. So by springing for an upgrade from the balcony, we unwittingly put ourselves in less comfortable seats (or put me in one, the wife seemed OK other than being in between me and a guy who was on the large side of average and still had trouble with room).