by Deirdre Donovan

Under the lively baton of Ted Sperling, Monty Python’s Eric Idle and John Du Prez brought to life their latest work at Carnegie Hall, giving a surreal twist to a holiday classic.

Tomfoolery with the New Testament?  You betcha.  Monty Python’s Eric Idle and John Du Prez (A Fish Called Wanda) have rocked the cradle of religion with their new comic oratorio “Not the Messiah (He’s a Very Naughty Boy).“  This five-part work is a satire of conventional religion, and how people are prone to disagree about everything under the sun.  It made its New York City debut at Carnegie Hall with St. Luke’s Orchestra for a two-night only special presentation.

Bolstered by the Collegiate Chorale’s Artistic Director Ted Sperling’s able baton, the legendary Idle returned to the stage alongside first-rate performers, including Victoria Clark, Marc Kudisch, Lauren Worsham, and William Ferguson.  And, before you could say “Jack Frost,” they uncorked a program unlike any other playing in the city this holiday season.  For amid the plethora of Handel’s Messiahs that adhered to the traditional version, Idle and Du Prez’s new-fangled one became the black sheep of the artistic flock.  Indeed they took the Messiah story and transformed it into something surreal.

Eric Idle, Victoria Clark, William Ferguson, Lauren Worsham, Marc Kudisch    Photos by Erin Baiano:

 

 Inspired by Python’s 1979 film Life of Brian, Not the Messiah follows its original plot with a few updates and retoolings.  Like the film version, it revolves around the protagonist Brian, a young Jewish man born in a stable next to Jesus and, by happenstance (people mishear the Sermon on the Mount and the Beatitudes) is mistaken for Christ.  To complicate the situation further, Brian has fallen head over heels for the young and attractive Judith and joins the ranks of the People’s Front of Judea (PFJ), a political group resisting the Roman occupation of Judea.  This creates all sorts of turmoil and confusion, ending up with Brian as a political pariah, bringing into question what people believe and why they believe it.  Little wonder that the original film raised eyebrows in many sophisticated circles across the globe and was actually banned in Ireland and Norway.

A caveat:  There no doubt that Idle and Du Prez’ Not the Messiah, which is cut from the same artistic cloth as Life of Brian, will likewise raise some eyebrows today.  However, since the controversial film has miraculously endured the test of time and is now considered a classic, could Not the Messiah also be en route to finding its own secure niche in Python and music history?

Enough of the past and crystal-ball gazing!  Let’s get right to the performance--and what a performance it was! “Not the Messiah” ignited with its overture, featuring John Philip Sousa’s march “The Liberty Bell,” as freshly arranged by Du Prez.  This anthem, adopted by the Pythons as their theme music many decades ago, immediately connected with the audience (made-up of many Python aficionados and curious music lovers) and created an esprit de corps on both sides of the footlights.

 Following this vibrant opener, eclecticism ruled.  “Apocalaypso Now” thundered to life, with the chorus and guest performers belting out the number “Chaos and Confusion,” which turned into an intentionally anarchic stage conversation that evoked the Tower of Babel’s milieu.  The piece progressed through four more movements—“The Boy Next Door,” “The Temptation of Brian,” “Baroque and Roll,” and “Miserere Loves Company”--each highlighting the misadventures of Brian right through his crucifixion.   This cutting-edge piece shuffled from Shostakovich intensity to Gilbert & Sullivan-style patter songs to Scottish bagpipe music (with real bagpipers marching down the aisles just before intermission) to doo-wop, hip-hop, country and good ol’ rock n’ roll. 

And with the legendary Idle on stage as narrator and Johnny-on-the-Spot, the show was a high-voltage venture throughout.  The best number by far was fetched from the past, however.  “Always Look on the Bright Side” was the program’s final song and turned the oratorio into a true sing-a-long, with the audience adding the real zest.

Although it was making its Gotham premiere, Not the Messiah has already touched down solidly in the music world and enjoyed a number of live performances on the planet.  It made its debut at the Toronto’s Luminato Festival on June 1, 2007, soon followed by its U. S. premiere at the Caramoor Festival.  This led to invites to perform at other prestigious venues in the U. S. (Idle wrote in the Program Notes that the work has been memorably performed in a “huge tent at the bottom of Martha Stewart’s garden”) and in Australia and New Zealand.

If you missed Idle and Du Prez’s recent program at Carnegie Hall, take heart.  You can get “Not the Messiah” on DVD (released on December 24^th, 2014) and enjoy it at your leisure.

Not the Messiah (He’s a Very Naughty Boy!)
At Carnegie Hall (at the Isaac Stern Auditorium), Seventh Avenue at 57^th Street, Manhattan.
Performances were on December 15^th and 16^th.
For more information on the Collegiate Chorale and their 2014-15 season, visit www.collegiatechorale.org.
For more information on Carnegie Hall events, visit www.carnegiehall.org.