Eric Idle of Monty Python's Flying Circus and John Du Prez, two of the creators of the Broadway musical Spamalot, composed a comic oratorio called Not the Messiah: He's a Very Naughty Boy based on the movie Monty Python's Life of Brian. Commissioned for the 2007 Luminato arts festival in Toronto, the "baroque 'n' roll" oratorio will receive its New York premiere just in time for the holidays, with performances December 15-16, 2014 at Carnegie Hall.
Performing Not the Messiah will be the Collegiate Chorale with Conductor/Director Ted Sperling and the Orchestra of St. Luke's, along with Eric Idle himself, operatic tenor William Ferguson, and three Broadway veterans: Tony Award winner Victoria Clark (The Light in the Piazza, Cabaret, Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella), Tony nominee Marc Kudisch (Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Beauty and the Beast) and Drama Desk Award winner Lauren Worsham (A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder).
Rather than taking the form of a musical theater piece, as Spamalot did in its retelling of the movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Not the Messiah spoofs the world's most famous oratorio, Handel's Messiah, with, as press notes describe it, "a lively pastiche of musical styles ranging from pop, country, and Broadway to doo-wop, hip hop, and Greek chorus. Hit songs include 'Hail to the Shoe,' 'We Love Sheep,' and the audience favorite and sing-along 'Always Look on the Bright Side of Life.'"
Founded in 1941, the Collegiate Chorale has a history of presenting new and seldom-heard works, including the world premiere of Ned Rorem's Now Voyager and the U.S. premiere of Paul McCartney's Liverpool Oratorio. In 1987 the Chorale performed the New York premiere of Ottorino Respighi's La fiamma, and in 1989 recorded the New York premiere of Strauss' previously unrecorded one-act opera, Friedenstag, for the Koch label.
Tickets to Not the Messiah start at $30 and are available at Carnegie Hall's website, by calling CarnegieCharge at 212-247-7800, or at the box office at 57th and Seventh.
