Camelot

Whether you are speaking historically, theatrically or politically, the word “Camelot” conjures up a special time, a special magic.

Music Circus’ current production — its first in the Wells Fargo Pavilion, the previous production of “Camelot” having played in the old tent in 2002 — does not disappoint and hits all the right magical points throughout.

For starters, there is Davis Gaines as Arthur, the unexpected king who is poised on the brink of greatness, but still needs to turn to his friend, the magician Merlin (Time Winters) for advice.

Gaines, with a hefty biography including more than 2,000 performances as the Phantom in “Phantom of the Opera” on Broadway, is an unforgettable Arthur. He neatly balances the uncertainty of a fledgling king with the nobility of a king who is reaching his full potential. His is an Arthur to rival Richard Burton’s, though he has a much better voice.

A newcomer to Music Circus is Lisa O’Hare as Guinevere, the princess brought to Camelot to marry the king in a trade agreement. She’s angry about the her “youth being sold” and afraid she will never have the “simple joys of maidenhood.”

“Shall two knights never tilt for me
and let their blood be spilt for me?
Oh where are the simple joys of maidenhood?”

O’Hare has an elfin charm about her that makes her mesmerizing. There is a special charisma with Gaines that makes it almost impossible to understand how she could be drawn away from the king to an attraction with Lancelot.

The story follows the reign of the idealistic Arthur, who develops the idea of the Round Table, a guild of Knights, that would promote justice and use strength for purposes of good — might for right, rather than might makes right (i.e., no more whacking the heads off peasants just for the fun of it).

One of the knights answering the call is Lancelot du Lac (Sean Hayden), a pompous, self-adulating Frenchman who desires only to serve the great King Arthur. He’s confident, almost swaggering, and his quest for inner perfection to go with his physical prowess annoys everyone, especially Guenevere, who bribes three of the best knights to joust with him.

When Lancelot surprises everyone by winning the jousts and mortally wounding (and then bringing back to life) one of the three, the queen begins to see him in a different light and falls in love with him.

Shannon Stoke is Arthur’s illegitimate son Mordred, determined to destroy Arthur’s dreams for a world of laws. He’s a spoiled, bitchy young man whom Stoke played to the hilt; Stoke enjoyed a chorus of boos at the curtain call.

Time Winters is the wise Merlin in the opening scene, the magician who lives life backwards and is able to help Arthur because he can “remember the future” and knows what is coming. But, alas, he is spirited away by the spell of Nimue, the Lady of the Lake (Karen Culliver), leaving Arthur to his own devices.

Winters returns as the delightfully befuddled, eccentric Pellinore, who has been roaming the lands for 18 years looking to fight “the beast.”

(Culliver also returns as Guinevere’s best friend, Lady Anne.)

“Camelot” is the story of honor, of love, of friendship, of betrayal, of remorse and of honor again, as Lancelot and Guinevere deal with their love for each other and their mutual love for Arthur, whom they do not wish to hurt.

Arthur also must deal with his love for his wife and his best friend, but sets thoughts of revenge aside following their betrayal, because he still loves them both and would rather see them happy together than to lose them completely.

In the end, nobody wins.

But it is young Tom of Warwick (Alex Greenlee) who saves the day. He is a lad who has heard tales of the work of the round table and who was inspired to come and serve. Arthur realizes it is Tom who will carry his message to a new generation, and perhaps his work will not have been in vain after all.

Glenn Casale has directed a beautiful production, made more enchanting by the costumes, especially for Guinevere. The costume designer is listed as Mark Koss, with a notation that the original costumes were designed by Marcy Froehlich, with additional costumes designed and built by the Utah Festival Opera. It’s not clear who gets the credit for Guinevere’s costumes, but they were outstanding.

This is a beautiful, memorable production for Music Circus.

Camelot

Camelot.

The word immediately conjures up mental images of knights in shining armor, castle pageantry and magical happenings.

All those things can be found in the Woodland Opera House production of Lerner and Loewe's classic musical, adapted from T.H. White's 'The Once and Future King.'

Director Rodger McDonald has created a world that is long on talent, opulent in terms of costumes (by Laurie Everly-Klassen), spare on actual set pieces, but effective on suggested scenes (set and lighting design by Jeff Kean).

One cannot go wrong with Bob Cooner's Arthur. The precision that Cooner brought to WOH's recent 'Noises Off' - as director - beautifully translates into his performance as the reluctant king, who is afraid to meet his new bride. As the play progresses, Arthur grows into his role as king, as his love for Guenevere (Alexandra Ralph) deepens.

His pain at discovering her betrayal - and the anguish of sending her off with Lancelot (Ryan Favorite), as Arthur watches his dream of a world ruled by law crumble - are palpable.

Alexandra Ralph is a mesmerizing Guenevere, whose 'youth was sold' when she was given in marriage to this stranger, King Arthur. Guenevere isn't ready for maturity, since she hasn't yet had an opportunity to experience the 'simple joys of maidenhood':

Shall two knights never tilt for me
and let their blood be spilt for me?
Shall a feud not begin for me?
Shall kith not kill their kin for me?

Ralph sings beautifully, and her manner and bearing are so reminiscent of local actress Lenore Turner-Heinson, that I was surprised to discover that her previous performances have been in the Bay Area. Ralph is wonderfully sympathetic, warm and flirtatious all at once; it's obvious that while Guenevere has come to love Lancelot, she still has feelings for Arthur as well.

As for Lancelot, what can I say about Ryan Favorite?

He makes his entrance through the boxes on the side of the theater, and when he bursts out with the first lines of 'C'est moi,' he leaves the audience stunned at the force and tone of his voice. Favorite is a real treasure and perfect for the role: full of himself but later softening, as he becomes the king's friend and, later, the queen's lover.

My only complaint with his performance is that he speaks in a French accent, but inconsistently. Sometimes it's a thick accent, sometimes it's barely noticeable, and sometimes it's not there at all. When one can sing like this, it's a minor point ... but it does jar the suspension of disbelief.

McDonald, also taking an acting role, dominates the stage during his first scene as the eccentric Pellinore, who becomes Arthur's oft-befuddled aide. McDonald is delightful.

It's a wonder that Steve MacKay's Merlin has such a stout figure under his flowing robes, because with that unbelievably thick mustache, I can't imagine how he could eat anything at all. Still, his brief appearance - before being lured away by the spell of Nimue, the Lady of the Lake (Laura Wardrip) - adds just the right touch.

Dan Sattel also turns in an outstanding performance as Mordred, Arthur's deliciously bitchy illegitimate son, who is responsible for bringing down the king's dream of a world where disagreements are solved by rule of law, rather than by swordplay. Sattel enjoyed the loud round of boos that he received at the curtain call.

Young Liam Murdock, as Tom of Warwick, is earnest in his desire to become a knight of the round table; he gives an excellent performance.

In the opening scenes, Arthur tells Guenevere that 'there's not a happier spot for happily ever-aftering' than Camelot. Even though Arthur's dream ultimately falls apart, we're fortunate that this happy spot can be seen for a few more weeks at the Woodland Opera House.

Camelot

There are stunning moments that one finds in theater. Moments that surprise you and take your breath away.

There was such a moment at Friday night’s Davis Musical Theater opening of Lerner & Lowe’s classic “Camelot,” directed by Lenore Sebastian (in her first directorial position with DMTC). The show had opened well. The set design by John Ewing and Steve Isaacson was not opulent, but utilitarian and for the low-budget production it worked just fine. The pared down orchestra, under the direction of Steve Isaacson was adequate, if lacking in the richness that one would like to hear in a big work such as “Camelot.”

Gil Sebastian’s King Arthur was fine, nicely balancing the shyness of the boy who never expected (or wanted) to be king with the man who has become one of the most powerful rulers of the land and yet is terrified to meet his bride-to-be.

Paul Fearn, returning to DMTC after an absence of 13 years, was a wise Merlyn, Arthur’s mentor, soon to fall victim to the spellbinder Nimue (Bridget Maguire, vocalist and Meg King, dancer). (Fearn would go on later to add delightful comic relief as the doddering old Pellinore.)

Marguerite Morris gave one of her better performances as Guenevere, whose “youth was sold” when she was given in marriage to this stranger, King Arthur. Guenevere is not ready for maturity before she has had an opportunity to experience the “simple joys of maidenhood” -- “Shall two knights never tilt for me / and let their blood be spilt for me?” “Shall a feud not begin for me? / Shall kith not kill their kin for me?” Morris had the lovely bearing of a queen, and the voice of an angel.

Arthur admits his own nervousness about the upcoming nuptials, but convinces Guenevere that “there’s not a happier spot for happily ever-aftering” than Camelot.

Up to this point it has been a delightful first scene. As the royal couple exited, the curtains closed and Lancelot du Lac (Tae Kim) appeared in a spotlight. When Kim opened his mouth to sing, everybody in the near-capacity audience sat up straighter. We all experienced a stunning moment together. Kim, a medical student newly moved to the Davis area, is, amazingly, making his very first theatrical appearance--ever, yet he has the confidence of a seasoned professional and a voice worthy of any professional production. He lifted the production to a higher level. It is unfortunate that he had slight pitch problems in Lancelot’s signature,“If ever I should leave you,” and seemed to be unable to get solidly back on pitch throughout the song, but other than that slip, he was first rate throughout the evening.

Another outstanding performance was turned in by Jon Jackson as the deliciously bitchy illegitimate son of Arthur, Mordred, who is responsible for bringing down Arthur’s dream of a world where disagreements are solved by rule of law rather than by swordplay. Like Kim, Jackson lifted the production to a higher level and made it something more than a run-of-the-mill, decent community theater production of an old classic.

“Camelot” is the story of honor, of love, of friendship, of betrayal, of remorse, and of honor again, as Lancelot and Guenevere deal with their love for each other and their mutual love of Arthur, whom they do not wish to hurt. Arthur must also deal with his love for his wife and his best friend, but sets thoughts of revenge aside following their betrayal, because he still loves them both and would rather see them happy together than to lose them completely.

In the end, nobody wins.

Sebastian and Morris, who give fine performances at the start of the production, grew into their roles and their relationship as the evening (and the Camelot years) progressed, so that by their final scene together, there was genuine affection between them and their farewell was wrenching.

The supporting cast is small, lacking the “oomph” for a production this grand, but they do the best they can to be a decent crowd.

Jan Isaacson choreographed a May pole dance for “The Lusty Month of May” which was colorful, and gave the chorus lots of business to do.

Young Griffin Jackson is Tom of Warwick, on whose shoulders Arthur places the responsibility of keeping the dream of the principles of the Round Table alive. Jackson is very cute, but could speak up a bit more in order to be heard.

Jean Henderson designed the costumes and Morris, in particular, has never looked lovelier.

This production of Camelot has a lot of good things going for it, but it is worth seeing especially for the debut of Tae Kim who, if he chooses to continue doing theater, has a long successful career ahead of him.