"Camelot" - Shakespeare Theatre Company (from June 26)

As if the day wasn't busy enough?  That evening I had tickets to see Shakespeare Theatre Company's production of "Camelot".  "Camelot" is without a doubt one of cannon from the golden age of American Musical Theatre.  It is also a mainstay of High School drama clubs since it's initial run back in 1960.  And I had never seen it performed on stage!  Oh, I know the music and have the CD--everyone who cares about musical theatre knows the music and have the CD.  When that's all you have, you use its reputation to create an image of what it is.  At least, I did.

Now a word to the Shakespeare Theatre Company: it is without dispute one of the great companies of the DMV.  Its reputation is national.  It owns not one, but two of the premiere performance spaces in the heart of the nation's capital.  I have seen many productions there including several musicals: "The Man of La Mancha," "Kiss Me Kate," "The Magic Garden."  Their productions are exquisite.  The reviews for "Camelot" were likewise very positive.  Therefore, I can assume that I saw as nearly perfect a production of this musical as I am likely to have anywhere.

Perfect summer evening for theater in DC.

Overall impression?  "Camelot" is not a very well written musical.  It's just not.  The music is beautiful.  The music is its legacy--the story, meh.  As to the particulars of this production, I loved the costumes.  They were gorgeous and gave visual support to every scene.  I loved the acting.  Once again, STC assembled an amazing cast with the primary members of the love triangle shining like three suns in a symbiotic orbit about one another.  My favorite is the one I am talking about at the time--that just how good they were.  I loved the way Ken Clark took the character of Arthur from the carefree bon vivant to the reluctant ruler to the tortured moralist.  Alexandra Silber's Guenevere was sassy and self-assured until her bitter fall from grace with joy and sorrow played to a tee.  But perhaps, just perhaps, Nick Fitzer's Lancelot du Lac takes the prize.  He was every once the delightful puritanical rouge in his version of "C'est Moi" and later he owned a song that has been the property of others for so long that no one even suspected it could be up for sale.  It was as if "If Ever I Would Leave You" was written for his rendition in this moment. 

What didn't work?  The staging was mixed.  The love scene with the deluge of flower petals was magical, the warring scene with dummies in suits of armour descending from above was dumb.  The greatest disappointment was the choreography.  I've seen what this choreographer is capable of doing.  Michele Lynch won a Helen Hayes award for "Kiss Me Kate" and more than deservedly so--it was brilliant.  I guess I didn't expect brilliant, but boring was not what I was imagining either.

 Arthur and Merlin set the stage.

 Ken Clark as Arthur

 The new queen arrives

 Alexandra Silber as Guenevere

 The Merry Month of May

 Floyd King was an excellent King Pellino

 Nick Fitzer as Lancelot du Lac

 Forbidden Love Blossoms

 What Do the Simple Folk Do?

 The Fruit ripens and rots.

 Patrick Vaill as Mordred comes to destroy Camelot.