‘Knight Life’ Jousts With Medieval History

Getting killed in battle and having your spouse chosen for you notwithstanding, life in the 12th century had its perks, as we quickly discover when a tuneful trio of shapely “wenches who visit the trenches” regale an armored army with a bluesy opening lyric--fronted by a well-endowed singer who campily identifies herself as “Maiden Form.”

Groaners like these prove the pun is mightier than the sword as “Knight Life” at the Granada Theatre in Santa Barbara shows us a kinder, goofier side of the Middle Ages. In the course of an unapologetically lowbrow evening, this new musical from the Music Theatre of Santa Barbara gleefully rewrites history, infusing the era of jousts, crusades and courtly intrigue with women’s liberation, fast-food logos and even the birth of rock ‘n’ roll.

It sounded like a good idea on parchment, and there is a wealth of comic potential here. But in its present form this sprawling, unwieldy octopus of a show is a far cry from the Broadway-style musicals it seeks to emulate.

In adapting “Knight Life’s” book and lyrics from a project originally conceived as a TV sitcom, Robert Sternin and Prudence Fraser (who created “The Nanny”) recall the whimsical irreverence of historical parodies such as “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” and Mel Brooks’ “Robin Hood: Men in Tights.” To realize their vision, they enlisted talent with impeccable credentials, including pop songwriter Jeff Barry to write the music, and veteran stage director Michael Michetti, who helped them reshape a season’s worth of story lines into a promising first effort.

The story revolves around the very progressive Princess Katherine (Kirsten Benton), who would rather be a soldier than a demure maiden. Benton’s strong singing puts real passion into Katherine’s chaffing at the chauvinistic shackles of chivalry. In the best fairy tale tradition, Katherine falls in love with a peasant, William of the Field (Paul J. Green), and is not about to let class differences stand in their way (only the prospect of becoming “Mrs. Fields” gives her pause).

Opposing their union is Katherine’s stepmother, the gold-digging Queen Cecile (Rende Rae Norman) who fears for her own position as her husband’s deteriorating health forces him to spend “more and more time in the little king’s room.” Norman’s brassy torch number about the hazards of being “Middle Aged in the Middle Ages” proves one of the few songs that come across as a fully realized show tune in a score that relies on sparse staccato rhythms to punctuate.

To secure power, Cecile plots to marry Katherine to her foppish, equally unscrupulous nephew Geoffrey (camped to the hilt by Chad Borden). They conspire to get William out of the way with a trumped-up claim that he’s already been betrothed by his dead father.

After a big show about honoring his commitments, William promptly ducks out on his bride-to-be by embarking on a crusade to avoid going through with the arranged marriage, which doesn’t do much to enlist sympathy for an already paper-thin character.

Even more muddled is the way Katherine becomes completely passive despite her carefully established independent spirit. She has nothing to do with the eventual resolution of a second-act threat from a menacing leather-clad Dark Knight (an amusing Eric Martsolf)--that comes through a left-field subplot involving Geoffrey’s identical twin lifted from Mark Twain’s “The Prince and the Pauper.”

Lenny Wolpe provides a well-delivered punch line in the unintentionally existential predicament of a Shakespearean-style court jester trapped in a Three Stooges universe--how do you provide comic relief from wall-to-wall comic relief?

Lee Martino’s tight, muscular choreography succeeds particularly well in the opening number--a “Stomp”-inspired cacophony of knights and their armor. And in the epilogue, a superb rocker spearheaded by Rana Davis’ Maiden Form, the entire ensemble cuts loose and achieves what the show should have been all along. All that needs work is the stuff in between.

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“Knight Life,” Granada Theatre, 1216 State St., Santa Barbara. Wednesday, 3 and 8 p.m.; Thursday, Friday, 8 p.m.; Saturday 2 and 8 p.m.; Sunday, 2 and 7 p.m. Ends March 24. $16.50-$58. (805) 966-2324. Running time: 2 hours, 40 minutes.