It seems fitting that I was just spending the afternoon the other day watching several hours of behind the scenes features on my Blu-ray copy of Monty Python’s Life of Brian, as news from the Python camp today is that the gang is getting back together to celebrate their 40th Anniversary later this year.
According to The Independent, four of the main six stars – Michael Palin, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Terry Gilliam – will get together for the first time in over a decade to take part in the musical adaptation of Life of Brian, called Not the Messiah (He’s a Very Naughty Boy). John Cleese will be unable to attend due to a previous engagement and as you probably know, Graham Chapman died in 1989.
Idle, who stars in the production which he co-wrote with composer John Du Prez, said: “It is rare you get to be silly on a mass scale. It ranges in reference from Handel, through a naughty Mozart duet, to the Festival of Nine Carols, Bob Dylan, and the classic finale Always Look On The Bright Side of Life.”
Not The Messiah features guest appearances from Palin together with other original Pythons Terry Jones and film director Terry Gilliam. Carol Cleveland, another regular from the TV series, is also to appear, together with songwriter Neil Innes. There will also be a six-part documentary series, Monty Python: Almost the Truth (The Lawyer’s Cut, which is being created to celebrate the 40th anniversary. That will be screened later this year (date unknown) in the United States and released later on DVD.
For Monty Python fans, this is fabulous news. And even though the show will make its run at Royal Albert Hall in Westminster, London, here in the states we can always hold out for the DVD. As a rabid Python fan – it is a common lunchtime event at Reject HQ for us to watch an episode or two – I can say that this is something worth being excited about. Especially when you consider what Terry Jones said of the doc series: “This is a documentary I always hoped that would be made – something so complete and so faithful to the truth that I don’t need to watch it.”
Yeah, color me excited.
Are you a Python fan? If so, are you now as excited as I am about this upcoming documentary series?
