[ATTENDED: May 3, 2015] Camelot
I have been raving about every show that I’ve seen lately, so it’s really about time that I wasn’t head over heels by something, right?
Sarah and her mom love Camelot, the musical–Sarah grew up listening to it. When I saw that it was being staged at The State Theater, it seemed like a great Mother’s Day present for both of them. Well, a last minute change of plans meant that Sarah’s mom couldn’t go. So we took Tabitha, who enjoyed Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.
I don’t know the Camelot story at all, in fact, despite my (what I assumed was good) knowledge of King Arthur, I was not aware of the love triangle with him Guinevere and Lancelot (I guess I just liked the fighting). I also had no idea that Arthur was trying to set up a law by court rather than a law by might. Which is pretty interesting. Sarah said I should read The Once and Future King which the musical is mostly based on.
The set was fascinating. Gigantic metal “waves” on the right side that represented a forest and/or a tree and/or other things dominated the scene. The left side of the stage had various set that dropped from the rafters–a kingly backdrop, a bed, and other items.
I knew when the musical opened–and the lights dimmed and Arthur came out and sang in a kind of slow operatic voice–that I was in trouble. For reasons unclear to me I tend to get very sleepy in dark theaters anymore–sometimes even if I’m enjoying the show. (It didn’t help that we were waaay up in the top). So, after a few songs I was drifting in an out. I could hear the songs, but wasn’t really paying too close attention to the show. It felt slow to me and I didn’t recognize any of the songs, which is surprising since Sarah has listened to it a bunch on CD.
She later told me that she found the music to be quite unlike the album (which I understand is fairly common), and that she didn’t really like it all that much either. We both agrees that Guinevere (Mary McNulty) had an amazing voice (she could really belt out the notes) but that Arthur (Adam Grabau) was somewhat less spectacular–and a very different style to the album.
Tabitha (who is 7 remember) could barely follow the story, but she liked the songs and the beautiful costumes.
So the story is, briefly, Arthur loves Guinevere, then Lancelot comes along and he and Guinevere fall for each other. Arthur doesn’t know at first and he thinks that Lancelot is pretty awesome too. There’s a joust (which was handled in a kind of cool modern way with strobe lights) and essentially Lancelot comes out as a hero. Oh and there’ s a bit with Merlyn in which he is whisked away unable to help Arthur through this whole story. As the first act ends, Arthur is trying to convince everyone including comic relief King Pellinore (Mark Poppleton–who I feel could have been used more) that the rule of law is better than rule by force.
Sarah joked that the entire album is only 40 minutes, so they must have really stretched out the dialogue for it to be 90 minutes in the first act alone. And it did seem rather slow to me.
The second act fared much better. I enjoyed the whole thing immensely (and didn’t fall asleep at all). The second act opens with the introduction of Mordred (Kasidy Devlin), a wonderfully impish and mean-spirited character (and the highlight of the show). He is the illegitimate son of Arthur and while Arthur accepts that Mordred can stay, he tells him that he cannot expect any favoritism. Mordred will have to earn the right to be a knight of the round table.
Mordred (with a hilariously wicked laugh) sets about a plan to make Arthur pay. He is aware of the love triangle and according to the 7 rules of virtue (which Arthur is trying to impose), infidelity is tantamount to treason. He works up the knights (with a rousing rendition of “Fie on Goodness,” the best song in the show–culminating in this shot of Mordred on the table). There’s even a sword fight.
I felt that the second act ground to a halt when Lancelot (Tim Rogan) sang “If Ever I Would Leave You.” And Sarah agreed. She said that the song is beautiful and on the album it’s really moving, but that this rendition was really slow. So that’s a shame.
The play ended with a local 2nd grader (Max I. Schragger) playing the part of Tom (which seems an unlikely name). There was much excitement made about him being in the play (and lots of awwws when he came out). And he was great. He nailed his lines and had great emotion. I can’t help but think the proper actors were pissed to be so upstaged.
The orchestra was very good–the drumming at the beginning and end was loud and intense.
I certainly enjoyed moments of the show. But I suspect that Sarah’s mom would have been disappointed–she had seen it on Broadway many years ago, and I imagine this wouldn’t have lived up to her expectations.
At the same time, there were several people standing for ovations and it seemed like the people in the front seats really enjoyed it. perhaps being closer to the action would have made it more enjoyable.
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