Not the Messiah (He's a Very Naughty Boy) is a comedic oratorio based on Monty Python's Life of Brian . It was written by former Monty Python cast member Eric Idle and collaborator John Du Prez, and commissioned by the Luminato festival.
With the success of Spamalot , Eric Idle's musical retelling of Monty Python and the Holy Grail , Idle announced that he was giving Monty Python's Life of Brian a similar treatment. The oratorio, called Not the Messiah, was commissioned to be part of the Luminato arts festival in June 2007. It was written and scored by Idle and John Du Prez, who also worked with Idle on Spamalot. Not the Messiah is a spoof of Handel's oratorio Messiah . "If our [Life of] Brian was by Matthew then this is by John (but more John Lennon and John Du Prez). In other words, it isn't sketches at all, but recitative and songs and the occasional Nine Carol Service Reader." [1]
The musical style jumps around, and Idle described it as "baroque 'n' roll". [2] It is a pastiche, reflecting pop, Welsh hymns, country and western, doo-wop, hip hop, Broadway, Greek chorus, and Bob Dylan (in his mumbling, electric guitar and harmonica phase, solo-ed by Idle). "Hail to the Shoe" is sung in the style of Handel's Hallelujah Chorus from the Messiah oratorio. The final song is the sing-along "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life", reflecting the British Music Hall tradition, but originally written for the Life of Brian.
The oratorio had its world premiere in an hour-long performance at the Luminato festival in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on 1 June 2007 in Roy Thomson Hall. It received its United States premiere on 1 July at Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts in Katonah, New York, during the International Music Festival. An expanded 90-minute version premiered at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre in Brisbane, Australia, on 5 December 2007. [3] There were also performances of it at the Sydney Opera House, Civic Theatre, Auckland, and Perth Concert Hall during December. On 24 July 2008 a performance was given at the Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts in Northern Virginia, followed by a performance in Philadelphia at the Mann Center for the Performing Arts on 12 August 2008. [4]
At the premiere, Idle performed as a "baritone-ish" soloist and narrator as well as reprising some of his roles from the film, including Mr. Cheeky, a man in the crowd who asked if Mandy is a virgin, and the Lead Singer Crucifixee. The other soloists were Canadian bass-baritone Theodore Baerg, Canadian soprano Shannon Mercer (as Brian's lover Judith), American tenor Christopher Sieber (as Brian) and Canadian mezzo-soprano Jean Stilwell (as Brian's mother). Other active participants were the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, members of the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, and four stolid and kilted bagpipers in British 19th-century army regalia (they were members of the 48th Highlanders of Canada Pipes and Drums).
The Toronto Symphony's involvement was no coincidence. Conductor Peter Oundjian is Idle's first cousin. "We've been talking for a long time," said Idle, "about wouldn't it be fun to do something with an orchestra." [5]
To commemorate the 40th anniversary of the original Monty Python television program, Idle, Michael Palin, Terry Jones and Terry Gilliam appeared in a remount of the full, 90-minute version of Not the Messiah at the Royal Albert Hall on 23 October 2009.
It was produced by Geoff Foulkes and directed by Aubrey Powell. When interviewed about this production, Idle commented: "It is rare you get to be silly on a mass scale." [6] Idle reprised his role, as did Shannon Mercer that of Judith, while the other soloists were William Ferguson as Brian, Rosalind Plowright as Mandy and Christopher Purves as Reg. [7] The cast was backed by the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus conducted by John du Prez. "You're the One" and "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" included pipers from the Pipes of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards. The special performance ended with Palin reprising his role as Pontius Pilate from the original movie. Palin segued into a performance of "The Lumberjack Song" accompanied by the other Pythons as well as Python regulars Carol Cleveland and Neil Innes, with former Python collaborator and record producer André Jacquemin and comedian Sanjeev Bhaskar among the chorus of Mounties. Costume design was by longtime Python collaborator Hazel Pethig.
It was recorded for television and distribution on DVD, and BBC Radio 3 also broadcast a recording of this performance on New Year's Day 2010.
All songs by Eric Idle and John Du Prez, unless otherwise noted.
Introit: Overture
Part One: Apocalypso Now
Part Two: The Boy Next Door
Part Three: The Temptation of Brian
Part Four: Baroque and Roll
Part Five: Miserere Loves Company
Finale
DVD and Blu-ray versions of the Royal Albert Hall show were released on 8 June 2010 in the United States, September 2010 in Australia and on 14 June 2010 in the United Kingdom and Germany.
Monty Python's Life of Brian is a 1979 British comedy film starring and written by the comedy group Monty Python. It was directed by Jones. The film tells the story of Brian Cohen, a young Jewish-Roman man who is born on the same day as—and next door to—Jesus, and is subsequently mistaken for the Messiah.
Monty Python were a British comedy troupe formed in 1969 consisting of Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin. The group came to prominence for the sketch comedy series Monty Python's Flying Circus, which aired on the BBC from 1969 to 1974. Their work then developed into a larger collection that included live shows, films, albums, books, and musicals; their influence on comedy has been compared to the Beatles' influence on music. Their sketch show has been called "an important moment in the evolution of television comedy".
Monty Python and the Holy Grail is a 1975 British comedy film satirizing the Arthurian legend, written and performed by the Monty Python comedy group and directed by Gilliam and Jones in their feature directorial debuts. It was conceived during the hiatus between the third and fourth series of their BBC Television series Monty Python's Flying Circus.
Eric Idle is an English actor, comedian, songwriter, musician, screenwriter and playwright. He was a member of the British comedy group Monty Python and the parody rock band the Rutles. Idle studied at Pembroke College, Cambridge, and joined Cambridge University Footlights. He reached stardom when he co-created and acted in the sketch series Monty Python's Flying Circus (1969–1974) and the films Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975), Life of Brian (1979) and The Meaning of Life (1983) with John Cleese, Michael Palin, Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones, and Graham Chapman.
"The Lumberjack Song" is a comedy song by the comedy troupe Monty Python. The song was written and composed by Terry Jones, Michael Palin, and Fred Tomlinson.
Monty Python Sings is a compilation album of songs by English comedy troupe Monty Python. Released in 1989 to celebrate their 20th anniversary, it contains popular songs from their previous albums and films. The album was dedicated to the memory of founding member Graham Chapman, who died two months before its release.
Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl is a 1982 concert comedy film directed by Terry Hughes and starring the Monty Python comedy troupe as they perform many of their sketches at the Hollywood Bowl. The film also features Carol Cleveland in numerous supporting roles and Neil Innes performing songs. Also present for the shows and participating as an 'extra' was Python superfan Kim "Howard" Johnson.
John Du Prez is a British musician, conductor and composer. He was a member of the 1980s salsa-driven pop band Modern Romance and has since written several film scores including Oxford Blues (1984), Once Bitten, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990), and the final Carry On film, Carry On Columbus (1992). He contributed to The Wild (2006) soundtrack.
Monty Python Live at Drury Lane is a live album released by Monty Python in 1974. It was recorded on the final night of their four-week run at the Drury Lane Theatre in London earlier that year and edited onto disc with new studio linking material by Eric Idle and Michael Palin. The majority of the sketches are from Flying Circus and vary slightly from their television counterparts, although "Cocktail Bar" was written for the third series but not used. The team also revived sketches from At Last The 1948 Show, including "Secret Service", "Wrestling" and "Four Yorkshiremen" - the latter on its way to being adopted as a Python standard. Neil Innes provided the musical interludes, while Eric Idle's then wife Lyn Ashley replaced regular Python actress Carol Cleveland in supporting roles.
Monty Python Live at City Center is a US-only live album by Monty Python, recorded at the New York City Center in April 1976 and rush released by Arista Records the following month. In order to get the album out in the shops quickly, the recordings were made early on in the run, where some of the performances were affected by faulty microphones. The team were joined onstage by regular actress Carol Cleveland and musician Neil Innes, who also performed in some sketches.
Monty Python's Contractual Obligation Album is the final studio album by Monty Python, released in 1980. As the title suggests, the album was put together to complete a contract with Charisma Records. Besides newly written songs and sketches, the sessions saw re-recordings of material that dated back to the 1960s pre-Python shows I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again, The Frost Report, At Last The 1948 Show and How To Irritate People. One track, "Bells", dates from the sessions for Monty Python's Previous Record, while further material was adapted from Eric Idle's post-Python series Rutland Weekend Television. The group also reworked material written but discarded from early drafts of Life Of Brian, as well as the initial scripts for what would eventually become The Meaning Of Life.
Python Night was an evening of Monty Python-related programmes broadcast on BBC2 on 9 October 1999, to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the first broadcast of Monty Python's Flying Circus. It featured newly written sketches, three documentaries and a screening of Monty Python's Life of Brian.
Monty Python Live (Mostly) (also billed as Monty Python Live (Mostly): One Down, Five to Go) was a variety show by the Monty Python comedy group at The O2 in London in July 2014. Planned as a single performance for 1 July, it was expanded to 10 shows due to the high demand for tickets. It was their first live performance together in 16 years, the second without member Graham Chapman (who died in 1989) and the last with Terry Jones (who died in 2020).
Monty Python's Total Rubbish is a 2014 boxed set collecting remastered editions of the nine original albums of British comedy troupe Monty Python on nine CDs or ten LPs. It was released on 30 June 2014.
Monty Python: The Meaning of Live is a 2014 British documentary telefilm, directed by Roger Graef and James Rogan, about a 10-day series of live performances at London's O2 arena. The film features interviews with Monty Python members John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin as they perform on stage together for the first time in 34 years. Also appearing are Carol Cleveland, Prof. Brian Cox, Stephen Hawking and Mike Myers. The documentary is dedicated to Graham Chapman.
And Now for Something Rather Similar is a documentary about the Monty Python team as they prepare for their first live performances in 34 years. Airing on BBC 1 on 29 June 2014 as part of the Imagine series, the programme is presented by Alan Yentob, who tracks down the five surviving Pythons in the months leading up to their Monty Python Live (Mostly) shows at the O2 arena in July 2014.
The Fairly Incomplete & Rather Badly Illustrated Monty Python Song Book is a compendium of songs by Monty Python, released in 1994 on the occasion of their 25th anniversary. The book contains the lyrics and musical scores for songs from the group's Flying Circus TV series, albums and films. Also included are "The Ferret Song" and "Rhubarb Tart Song", which originate from I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again before appearing on At Last The 1948 Show. The musical scores were edited by regular Python collaborator, John Du Prez.
A Pocketful of Python is a series of five books by the Monty Python team, in which each of the surviving members selects their favourite material from the group’s TV series, films, records and books. The first two volumes, by Terry Jones and John Cleese, were released in 1999 as part of the team’s 30th anniversary celebrations. Two further volumes, by Terry Gilliam and Michael Palin, followed in 2000 while the final volume, by Eric Idle, was eventually released in 2002. Each team member’s volume includes a preface written by one of the other Pythons. In 2006 all five volumes were released as a single paperback edition, entitled The Very Best of Monty Python.
Monty Python Live! is a book detailing the various live performances of the Monty Python team between 1971 and 1980.
