Not The Messiah at Bootless Stageworks

Not The Messiah tells the tragic tale of Mandy, impregnated by a Roman soldier, giving birth to Brian, a reluctant revolutionary of the People’s Front of Judea who falls in love with Judith, gets mistaken for a Messiah and is arrested by the Romans and sentenced to be crucified.

The musical style jumps around, and Idle described it as “baroque ‘n’ roll.” It is a pastiche, reflecting pop, Welsh hymns, a naughty Mozart duet, country and western, doo-wop, hip hop, Broadway, Greek chorus, and Bob Dylan (in his mumbling, electric guitar and harmonica phase). “Hail to the Shoe,” “What Have The Romans Ever Done For Us,” “We Love Sheep,” “I Want To Be A Girl” and the classic sing-along “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life” are just a few of the glorious musical selections.

“It’s lively stuff, to be sure. In true Monty Python fashion, it’s a crazy soup-to-nuts, heavy on the nuts…. There’s bawdy music-hall humour, a touch of Noel Coward cleverness in the lyric…and a range of musical styles from gospel to mariachi. – Colin Eatock, Globe and Mail