Way back in days of old,
There was a legend told,
About a hero known as...
It’s a truth universally
acknowledged that there are few good shows on TV these days—let alone
musicals. Glee has had its day in
the sun (if you liked it), Nashville is…an acquired taste not
everybody acquires, and Fame is a tale told of days gone
by. Fact of the matter is, TV musicals
are rare animals because they’re risky. But
as of last winter, and again this January, one such unicorn is breaking all the
rules. This hero’s name is Galavant,
and I’ll give you five good reasons to come and see his legend told.
1. The characters. Galavant’s not your typical knight; he’s human—a heart of gold but rude
and arrogant at times and also charming and genuine. Princess Isabella can use a sword as well as
Galavant; she's smart, a little bossy at times, but brave and compassionate. King Richard comes off as the typical
bad-guy, but he wouldn’t hurt a flea and he’s got a surprisingly whimsical and
innocent side.
2. The humour. Timothy Omundson, who
plays King Richard, describes Galavant as The Princess Bride, Monty
Python, and Mel Brooks all getting together and having a baby and that
baby singing songs written by the great Alan Menken, godfather of Disney music. I could not have described it better myself.
3. The length of the
episodes and season. Galavant
is a “Four-Week Extravaganza,” and this year it’s a “Five-Week Extravaganza.” That means that every Sunday, two
twenty-minute episodes air back-to-back, making for an eight-episode—and this year a ten-episode
season. No grueling twenty-two episode
seasons here, thank you very much.
4. The story. Because of aforementioned short season, there
are no “filler” episodes, and the action can keep marching right along from
Episode One on through Eight (or Ten).
It reads like your typical Princess Bride-style fairytale, the
brave knight going to save his lady-love when she’s kidnapped by the evil
king. But within the first fifteen
minutes, the writers turn that on its head.
The lady-love turns around and happily marries the evil king for fame
and fortune, and the brave knight is literally knocked down and has his world
turned upside-down (not literally).
5. Did I mention the
songs? Who of us has not at one time or
another fallen in love with a Disney song?
If any of them were from Aladdin, The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the
Beast, Pocahontas, Tangled (do I have to name them all?), odds are that
they were written by the great Alan Menken, who also incidentally has written
all the songs for Galavant. They’re witty,
catchy, sometimes gut-bustingly hilarious, poignant in the most unexpected of
ways, and yes…you will probably find yourself humming and singing a few.
So tune into ABC on Sundays this winter or set your DVR, and come and
attend the tale of…
Have you already seen Galavant? Are you interested?
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