Not the Messiah (He's a Very Naughty Boy)

Not the Messiah (He's a Very Naughty Boy) is a Monty Python comedic oratorio based on Monty Python's Life of Brian. It was written by former Python Eric Idle and collaborator John Du Prez, and commissioned by the Luminato festival.

Blu-Ray release cover art

The oratorio had its world premiere in an hour-long performance at the Luminato festival in Toronto, 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.^[1] There were also performances of it at the Sydney Opera House, Civic Theatre, Auckland, and Perth Concert Hall during December.

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 (conducted by Idle's cousin Peter Oundjian), 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."^[2]

Production

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. Du Prez owns a cottage in the French town of Condom, which is where the show was conceived.^[2] Not the Messiah is a spoof of Handel's famous 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."^[3]

The musical style jumps around, and Idle described it as "baroque 'n' roll".^[4] 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.

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. When interviewed about this production, Idle commented: "It is rare you get to be silly on a mass scale."^[5] BBC Radio 3 also broadcast a recording of this performance on New Year's Day 2010 with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus conducted by John du Prez. Idle reprised his role, as did Mercer that of Judith, while the other soloists were William Ferguson as Brian, Rosalind Plowright as Mandy and Christopher Purves as Reg.^[6]

Programme

Introit: Overture

1. The Liberty Bell.
   • Sousa arr. Du Prez

Part One: Apocalypso Now

1. Chaos and Confusion!
   • A parody of Shostakovich
2. There Shall Be Monsters.
3. O God You Are So Big.
   • A reference to one of the lines in Monty Python's The Meaning of Life

Part Two: The Boy Next Door

1. Mandy's Song.
2. Woe Woe Woe!
   • A doo-wop type song, including a reference to the famous Flying Circus sketch Nudge Nudge.
3. We Love Sheep.
   • A spoof of "And There Were Shepherds" and "All We Like Sheep Have Gone Astray" in Handel's "The Messiah".
4. Spiritual.

Part Three: The Temptation of Brian

1. Brian's Dream.
2. What Have the Romans Ever Done For Us?
3. The People's Front of Judea.
4. I Want To Be A Girl.
5. The Market Square.
6. You're The One.
   • Composition is similar to "Find Your Grail" from Monty Python's Spamalot. Orchestra is joined by a quartet of bagpipe players.

Part Four: Baroque and Roll

1. Hail To The Shoe!
   • Spoof of "Hallelujah" from Handel's "Messiah," also contains "beatboxing" by Idle.
2. Amourdeus.
   • A movement of "choral sex".
3. The Chosen One Has Woken!
4. When They Grow Up.
5. Take Us Home.
6. The Chosen One (cont.)
7. Individuals.
   • A Bob Dylan spoof, complete with harmonica, guitar and sunglasses.

Part Five: Miserere Loves Company

1. Find Your Dream
2. Arrested!
3. A Fair Day's Work.
   • References "The Lumberjack Song".
4. The Final Song.
5. "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life."
   • From the original movie, has the audience singing along with the soloists, narrator, orchestra and bagpipe quartet.
6. Encore Lumberjack Song sung by Michael Palin

DVD release

DVD and Blu-ray versions of the Royal Albert Hall show were released on the 8 June 2010 in the United States, September, 2010 in Australia and on the 14 June 2010 in the United Kingdom and Germany.

External references

• Robert Cushman, "Not the Messiah (He's a Very Naughty Boy)", Festival07 Luminato Festival 2007 Program, pp. 17–21).
• "Not the Messiah." Roy Thomson Hall Performance Program Insert, Summer 2007. pp. 5–13.
• "Not the Messiah." Australia and New Zealand Tour 2007 Program.

References

1. ^ Eric Idle, introducing the performance 5 December 2007
2. ^ ^{a b} Robert Cushman, "Not the Messiah," Festival07 Luminato Festival 2007 Program, p. 19
3. ^ Eric Idle, [Email letter to] "The Pythons," December 20, 2006. Reprinted in Roy Thompson Hall Performance Program Insert, Summer 2007. p. 6. www.roythomson.com
4. ^ "Idle’s Not The Messiah (He’s A Very Naughty Boy) / The Official London Theatre Guide:". http://www.officiallondontheatre.co.uk/news/latest/view/item106497/. Retrieved 1 October 2010. 
5. ^ Monty Python stars to stage reunion, 6 July 2009 – The Independent, retrieved 6 July 2009
6. ^ Not the Messiah, BBC Radio 3 Programmes

External links

• Official Not The Messiah Facebook Page