It should come as no surprise that audience expectations of Spamalot are extremely high. As the musical version of the 1975 classic Monty Python and the Holy Grail, it inherits the legacy of one of the funniest and most quoted films of all time, at least as far as witches, condescending Frenchmen and African (or European) swallows go.

Considering that the musical’s mastermind is original Python troupe member Eric Idle, it should also come as no surprise that the show is a smash success on Broadway, and judging by the jovial mood in the audience at the Colonial Theatre after the show, it will certainly follow suit in Boston.

Indeed, most in the sold-out theatre crowd before the show seemed focused less on Spamalot living up to the rave reviews and more on not soiling themselves from the sheer excitement of witnessing new material featuring beloved Grail characters like the brave Sir Lancelot and the not-quite-as-brave-as-Sir-Lancelot, Sir Robin.

Idle and composer John Du Prez were smart enough to balance new and old, satisfying the film’s scores of rabid fans through the inclusion of some of the movie’s most beloved scenes, such as the gruesome battle with the Black Knight, the taunting of the heroes by some “snooty” Frenchmen, the rescue of Prince Herbert by Sir Lancelot and the now iconic Holy Hand Grenade.

Spamalot’s success is largely due to the strength of its new material, such as the jabs at other Broadway musicals with the purposefully sappy ballad “The Song That Goes Like This.” The addition of The Lady of the Lake and the “Laker Girls” both struck gold by adding that certain something that was lacking from the original Python film … actual women.

As has always been the Python way, the musical takes a self-referential turn when the Knights-who-until-recently-said-Ni command King Arthur to put on a Broadway musical if he wishes to pass through the forest.

Sir Robin, though initially excited about the task, laments in song, “You won’t succeed on Broadway if you don’t have any Jews.”

Though Arthur and Robin do indeed go searching for Jews, the musical subplot disappears as they later resume their quest for the grail.

Spamalot is a must-see, a triumph as a musical and as a celebration of the timeless work of Monty Python. Python fans and the uninitiated alike left the theatre humming “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life,” and the show answers any remaining critics with the immortal line of the character of the taunting Frenchmen — “I fart in your general direction.”

Spamalot runs until April 15th at the Colonial Theatre.