I went yesterday to a preview matinee of Monty Python's Spamalot.

    T hough still in the rough stages, this show promises to follow in the footsteps of "The Producers;" hysterical for Python fans, and really fun for those unfamiliar (is that possible) with the original Holy Grail. Sara Ramirez is OUTSTANDING. Tim Curry is in his usual, beautifully rich voice, though he hasn't much to do (Holy Grail is far more about the incidental characters than anyone as boring as the lead). David Hyde Pierce and Hank Azaria are both strong in this show (and uphold Python traditions well). Michael McGrath (Patsy), Steve Rosen (Bedivere) , and especially Christopher Sieber (Dennis/Galahad) are all very good.

    & nbsp; Not only is there plenty of the original Holy Grail in this show, but nods to many other famous Python bits as well. Watch for the myriad silly asides and sight gags.

    & nbsp; Dance & monk lines are rough, and the theater’s sound is terrible. Sightlines far left and right are somewhat incapacitated. Best seats are central, near stage in Orchestra or from center forward in Mezzanine.

    Now, for the bitterness: I was fortunate to purchase the tickets through a friend, instead of paying through the nose to some awful thing like Ticketbastard. We had six seats: two for me and DH, two we purchased as an anniversary gift for my parents, and two we purchased intending to take friends of ours. However, our friends Eric & Leslie announced in October that they were picking up and moving to Michigan, so I stupidly assumed they were not going to be in town for Spamalot. I then offered the tix to a friend of mine and her boyfriend. I didn't hear back from Liz and Aadam very quickly, so I figured they didn't want to go. Meanwhile, Leslie let me know that she and Eric would be back in town for Christmas and, therefore, available to attend the show.

    So, naturally, I got a voicemail from Liz letting me know she would be interofficing me a check for her and Aadam's tix. Crap. I felt badly about the whole botched thing, so I explained what had happened to Leslie, who sweetly demurred the tix.

    I got the check from Liz about a week ago. I then left a message for her on Saturday, saying to please call me on my cell phone and confirm that she and Aadam would meet us at the box office at 1:15-1:30 (show was to start at 2 pm).  On Sunday morning, I hadn't heard back from her and started to panic that I would be left holding the bag (or rather the tickets). So I called her at 10:45 am.... and woke her up .... to confirm that we were meeting up.

    At 1:45, we finally found Liz and Aadam and shuffled into the theater. Now, the disapppointment -- while we were in rows S & T, our seats were at the very edge of the theater, right under the loge. Okay, I could deal, right? I was so fricken' glad to be there that it wasn't much of a problem for me. Figuring DH and I should sit with my parents, I gave the two seats in row S to Liz and Aadam.

    Not five minutes after we sat down, a production staff member came by and swept Liz and Aadam away. I looked up, and saw Liz gathering her coat.

    "Where are you going?" I asked.

    "Better seats," she shrugged. Without so much as a by-your-leave, she and Aadam trotted off to the fifth row, center.

    My mother thought they should have offered the seats up to me and DH, at least as a gesture. Frankly, I kind of agree, but felt I was being petty and selfish (as I am wont to do). I was less pleased when, during Intermission, we saw Liz and she wearily said she spent most of Act I lying on the floor of the restroom. She said she's sick, but didn't elaborate. Neither she nor Aadam were apologetic or thankful in any way.

    The little green nasty inside of me wishes I'd kept the tickets for Eric and Leslie. Isn't that terrible?

    So I kind of have this bad taste in my mouth, combined with my crankiness over not being able to swallow my pills for two weeks, combined with not being able to eat a real meal for same, combined with a three-day-weekend spent yelling at correcting my son Jacob for being bratty.

    It's hard to believe I'm glad to be back at work.