On the night of Saturday, November 19, I attended the North Carolina Theatre production of Monty Python’s Spamalot. This was part of a five-night run at Raleigh Memorial Auditorium, part of the Duke Energy Center complex. It was a cold, brisk night, and the warm glow from Memorial Auditorium beckoned to me to enter. The auditorium inside in the biggest concert space I have been to not called an arena. Walking in at the second floor, the auditorium spilled out in front of me, welcoming, with large chandeliers and rich red seats. The chatter from the surprisingly mixed age group of people overwhelmed the room. From elderly couples to single women out on the town and families with kids who seemed more interested in their phones than the prospect
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The joke is that the cast “mishears” the narrator and thinks that he says the musical takes place in Finland and not England. Melody or a succession of single pitches recognized as a whole, in the “Fisch Schlapping Song” is very upbeat and boisterous. The range for the song is fairly static throughout the three choruses, and the lyrical and instrumental verses. Each section has conjunct melodic motion as well. Texture or a number of pitches or melodies sounding at the same time with reference to the things creating them, during the three choruses is very thick with the on stage cast singing and the classical strings, woodwinds, and cymbals playing. All three choruses also have homorythmic texture. The lyrical verse’s homophonic texture is largely the same; however, the singing thins to a single lead singer and the cymbals are replaced with handclaps from the on stage cast. During the instrumental verse, the homophonic texture is at its thinnest due to the lack of singing and instead of handclaps the percussion is replaced with a fish slap …show more content…
The instrumentation of the song is very uplifting with piano and strings almost constantly rising. During the climax at the end, the entire audience broke out into cheers for the amazing note held by Ta’Rea Campbell, playing the Lady of the Lake. However, the part that made this my favorite song of the show was the lyrics. Campbell hilariously complains, “Whatever happened to my part?” She sings that it is, “halfway through Act 2,” and that she feels she has, “been off stage for far too long.” Because of the way the song is played, it could be easy to ignore the lyrics and imagine it encouraging another cast member to continue the plot. In this way, it reminds me of “Hey Ya” by Outkast where Andre 3000 says, “y'all don't want to hear me, ya just want to dance.” The hilarity here is also due to the character breaking the fourth wall to clearly send a message to the audience that this musical should be her show and not any of the, “British knights, prancing ‘round in woolly tights.” Overall, the song made me very happy despite the Diva’s
The joke is that the cast “mishears” the narrator and thinks that he says the musical takes place in Finland and not England. Melody or a succession of single pitches recognized as a whole, in the “Fisch Schlapping Song” is very upbeat and boisterous. The range for the song is fairly static throughout the three choruses, and the lyrical and instrumental verses. Each section has conjunct melodic motion as well. Texture or a number of pitches or melodies sounding at the same time with reference to the things creating them, during the three choruses is very thick with the on stage cast singing and the classical strings, woodwinds, and cymbals playing. All three choruses also have homorythmic texture. The lyrical verse’s homophonic texture is largely the same; however, the singing thins to a single lead singer and the cymbals are replaced with handclaps from the on stage cast. During the instrumental verse, the homophonic texture is at its thinnest due to the lack of singing and instead of handclaps the percussion is replaced with a fish slap …show more content…
The instrumentation of the song is very uplifting with piano and strings almost constantly rising. During the climax at the end, the entire audience broke out into cheers for the amazing note held by Ta’Rea Campbell, playing the Lady of the Lake. However, the part that made this my favorite song of the show was the lyrics. Campbell hilariously complains, “Whatever happened to my part?” She sings that it is, “halfway through Act 2,” and that she feels she has, “been off stage for far too long.” Because of the way the song is played, it could be easy to ignore the lyrics and imagine it encouraging another cast member to continue the plot. In this way, it reminds me of “Hey Ya” by Outkast where Andre 3000 says, “y'all don't want to hear me, ya just want to dance.” The hilarity here is also due to the character breaking the fourth wall to clearly send a message to the audience that this musical should be her show and not any of the, “British knights, prancing ‘round in woolly tights.” Overall, the song made me very happy despite the Diva’s