It's the Monty Python ballet

After the musical and the oratorio, Eric Idle is planning a BALLET based on Monty Python.

The comic says he has been working with composer John du Prez, who wrote the songs for the Spamalot stage show, to turn old sketches into a dance extravaganza.

He told New York magazine: ‘It's perfect. John and I are always interested in doing something nobody wants, so it seemed to be the natural thing.’

The pair have already turned their hand to classical music, as earlier this month they staged Not The Messiah (He’s A Very Naughty Boy), an oratorio based on The Life of Brian, at a Toronto arts festival.

The 50-minute piece for five vocal soloists, chorus and orchestra, included a Gilbert and Sullivan version of I’m A Lumberjack.

Published: 11 Jul 2007