The holy grail

Correction: CityLife erroneously identified the actor who plays Prince Herbert. The actor’s name is Steven Strafford.

LAST YEAR'S OPENING of Cirque du Soleil's Love at the Mirage meant it took four decades for the Beatles to be enshrined in the dazzlingly compromised Hall of Las Vegas Strip Theater, however long it lasts. Now comes the mounting of Monty Python. It only took us 30-odd years to snare this other British national treasure, but the real question is why the troupe's work never found this kind of outlet even earlier than Spamalot's Broadway opening in 2005. Rollicking, musical theater interludes were always built into their stuff: A chorus line of the crucified in Life of Brian; "Every Sperm Is Sacred," the memorable vaudeville burlesque from The Meaning of Life; "The Lumberjack Song" from the Flying Circus TV gig; and countless others.

As a result, Spamalot's official opening this month at Wynn Las Vegas has an inescapably redundant feel, though most of that probably stems from the torrent of Monty Python references dropped by everyone from high-school chess clubbers of the '70s to the two bantering computer technicians hovering over your sick PC at work. (They're the same guys, actually.) If this production has any real detractors, it'll be them -- those nit-picking obsessives with their Python-loving hearts in the right place, but their minds built without a "let it go" switch.

Founding Python member Eric Idle found his switch. He wrote the book, the lyrics and part of the music for Spamalot, something you can't bring yourself to do without first abandoning stubborn notions of the original material's sanctity. Idle has always been a little like Paul McCartney -- not so much "the cute one," as "the unquestionably gifted but vaguely creepy one you were never quite sure about." Whatever his deepest sentiments are with regard to 1975's Monty Python and the Holy Grail, he's "lovingly ripped off" the film (even re-adapting it for the standard 90-minute Strip blitz) in service of something that works and is genuinely funny.

After a somewhat laggy start, wherein King Arthur (John O'Hurley of Seinfeld fame) assembles his rag-tag band of Knights of the Round Table, Spamalot takes off with "Find Your Grail," an R&B gospel platitude of self-actualization sung with perfect, over-the-top earnestness by stage and TV veteran Nikki Crawford. As the mysterious Lady of the Lake, Crawford balances grim formidability with basic pettiness ("Whatever happened to my part?" she sings in "The Diva's Lament," after a long absence from the stage). That right there -- the gravely serious character with the hilariously mundane hang-up -- has always been at the core of Monty Python. It's good to see it so well preserved here.

Despite the stage treatment, Spamalot doesn't really feel any more piecemeal than the original arrangement. A French soldier (J. Anthony Crane) peeks over castle ramparts to unleash a barrage of taunts at the knights. New York resident Crane is one of several multi-part players here. The roles of closet-case Sir Lancelot (extended gay and Jewish jokes abound -- the clearest sign of Broadway-ization), Knight of Ni and Tim the Enchanter are also his, and he plays them all well.

Everyone plays everyone well. Sketch-based comedy may not be the most challenging material for actors, but timing is everything, and the timing is there. Justin Brill's performance as poor, underappreciated Patsy is charming. Edward Staudenmayer triples-up as Sir Galahad, fey Prince Herbert and the infamously funny Black Knight -- a goading annoyance to the Round Table crew even after he loses both arms and legs to Arthur's sword. It all works, it's integrated and it's worth seeing. Even modern references to Britney Spears, Simon Cowell and David Hasselhoff can't keep Spamalot from being what it is: a solidly fun time, and a theater mission that may even offer some closure for those awkward PC repair guys, should they choose to accept it.

Spamalot

Mon., Wed., Sun.: 8 p.m.; Tue., Fri.-Sat. 7 p.m. and 10 p.m.; dark Thu.

Grail Theater at Wynn Las Vegas

770-9966

$49-$99